BU prof denies privacy rights in libraries, makes fool of self
Richard Cravatts, you’ve going to have a lot of explaining to do after insulting some of the brightest—and increasing influential—professionals in the country: library scientists. Your Boston Globe op-ed today “When Librarians Protect Terrorists” is the #1 e-mailed story of the day. You take a controversial stand on the legality of investigative seizure of library records, and you make a good point, that records aren’t private because a library itself is public, at least in the recent case of a Waltham Newton, MA, librarian who denied the FBI access to a library computer after a bomb threat against Brandeis University was traced back there.
But then you write:
More to the point, why are librarians, whose professional training concentrates on mastering the use of the Dewey Decimal System, making any decisions that affect law enforcement?
How can someone be so naive? You’re just asking for letters to pour in from around North America—some probably addressed to the Globe and to Boston University—pointing out the mind-boggling rigor of a librarian’s education and the importance librarians now hold in the fields of computer science, corporate archiving, curating, records restoration, and—above all—law. Let’s look at a sample of coursework from the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information Science, which along with Michigan and UNC is probably the best program on the continent:
FIS1210H Information and its Social Contexts
An introduction to the economic, political and sociological dimensions of an information-rich environment, including the historical development of information studies, knowledge production, issues of control versus free flow of information (such as intellectual freedom, intellectual property rights, and public policy), the social organization and distribution of knowledge, and ethical and legal aspects of information services. (Caidi)
FIS1342H Designing Information Systems
Designing information systems in the face of competing goals from multiple stakeholders, e.g., efficiency, cost, reliability, security, privacy, usability, adaptability, reusability, time-to-market. Systematic techniques and models for identifying and evaluating alternatives. Non-functional requirements and architectural design. Organizing design knowledge for reuse. (Yu)
FIS2158H Management of Corporate and other Special Information
CentresCritical survey of theory and current practice pertaining to information services in special libraries. A major component of the course is a professionally supervised practicum which provides students with opportunities to apply management and information practices and skills.
FIS2165H Social Issues in Information and Communication Technologies
Examination of major social issues related to the computerization of society. A unifying theme is the view of information technology as providing the means for social as well as technical control, with the various advantages and drawbacks this can mean. The social issues that are explored in greatest depth are those related to the computerization of work (displacement, skill, control, monitoring) and access to information (privacy, surveillance and freedom of information). Additional topics may include: information infrastructure development, social vulnerability and risk, militarization, social choices in design and the ethical responsibilities of information professionals. (Clement)
FIS2181H Information Policy
Introduction to policymaking and the players and stakes involved in information creation, access and use. Emphasis on the political, economic, legal and social issues affecting information and its institutions, including relevant social theory and analytical methods. The focal policy issues considered in depth will vary from year to year: e.g. government information, intellectual property, intellectual freedom, (universal) access, cultural content, community networking, and privacy. (Caidi)
As if that weren’t enough, check out the requirements for Toronto’s combo J.D./M.A.I.S. program. And so you know the kind of people who will be writing those letters, you might want to look at these biographical sketches of graduated FIS students.
Librarians, archivists, and the like are some of the most important behind-the-scenes actors in our society. They’re the keepers of our collective memory and take their jobs—and the law—very seriously. Librarian Kathy Glick-Weil’s intransigence was nothing short of noble civil disobedience: there’s a bad law on the books, it allows for undue collection of information on peaceful persons, and she took a stand. She deserves our admiration, not a derision of her education, intelligence, or calling.
Write to Richard!: cravatts@bu.edu
Or better yet, write to the Globe!: letter@globe.com
Update: The anti-privacy trend continues . . . as of today, by law, all job sites, even ones run by private universities, are required to keep a copy of your resume—that is, a copy of your whereabouts from one year to the next. BoingBoing: “Feds require job sites to keep copies of resumes”. Just like telecom companies allowing the feds to wiretap you because “senior government officials” asked them to, job sites are now making resumes permanently available to the government without first informing their users. USA Today “Telecoms let NSA spy on calls”
