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Access to Information

By Beverly Burmeister

We have two new titles in the Law Library which focus on access to information, from the vantage point of protecting ourselves from government intrusion into our privacy as well as having appropriate access to government information.

Who Needs to Know? : The State of Public Access to Federal Government Information by Patrice McDermott discusses the dangers of withholding of information in a democratic society. Topics covered include the history, use and abuse of national security classification, the suppression of government science and scientists and the impact on policy, and the current state of the Freedom of Information Act. McDermott is a former deputy director of the American Library Association's Office of Government Relations and is currently director of OpenTheGovernment.org which seeks to advance the public's right to know and to reduce secrecy in government.

The Patriot Act : A Documentary and Reference Guide by Herbert N. Foerstel brings together relevant data about the genesis, passage and reauthorization of this legislation which affects individual privacy and free speech. Foerstel has a history of looking at these issues from a library perspective. The law library also has his first book on this subject, Refuge of a Scoundrel : The Patriot Act in Libraries.

Both books can be found on the "New Books" display in the library.

Full post as published by V.U.Lawcity - The Valpo Law Blawg on February 21, 2008 (boomark / email).