From the New York Times:
Disputes about printing confidential national security information have flared in recent years, but this particular letter is dated July 11, 1916, and was sent by Newton Baker, Woodrow Wilson’s secretary of war. It is part of a vast collection of personal letters, financial documents, confidential reports, photographs and more — more [...]
Archive of entries posted on July 2007
For Public Library, a Trove of New York Times Records
US Senators call for universal Internet filtering
From Press Esc:
US senators today made a bipartisan call for the universal implementation of filtering and monitoring technologies on the Internet in order to protect children at the end of a Senate hearing for which civil liberties groups were not invited.
Commerce Committee Chairman Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii) and Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Vice [...]
Chairman Waxman Asks About White House Counsel’s Knowledge of Potential Presidential Records Act Violations
From the House Oversight Committee:
In two separate letters, Chairman Waxman asks when the White House Counsel’s office learned about White House officials’ use of nongovernmental e-mail accounts for official purposes, and what steps, if any, it took to preserve these records and prevent violations of the Presidential Records Act. A staff report issued by the [...]
City Hall: Toronto Public Library approves $1.23 million in cuts; Councillor Augimeri changes her mind
From Eye Weekly:
. . . Augimeri is also on the board of the Toronto Public Library (TPL), which, just this morning, approved $1.23 million in cuts to staff, services and programs for the rest of 2007 (from September to December, to be exact).
It’s worth pointing out that Toronto’s library system — named the world’s second [...]
ALA Applauds National Security Letters Reform Act
From ALA’s District Dispatch:
Today, bipartisan legislation was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives that will provide crucial checks against the National Security Letters (NSLs) authority expanded under the USA PATRIOT Act, which has impacted numerous library patrons across the country. . .
. . . The National Security Letters Reform Act of would address many [...]
Energy Task Force Advisors Revealed, Six Years after Meetings
From OMB Watch:
In the long-standing struggle to gain access to details regarding Vice President Dick Cheney’s energy task force meetings in 2000 and 2001, the Washington Post reported last week some of the many players who influenced the vice president’s policy recommendations. An undisclosed former White House official gave the Post a list of approximately [...]
Database Cuts, Spending Caps Threaten NJ Libraries
From Library Journal:
New Jersey library advocates are scrambling to respond to legislation that cuts database funding and caps municipal spending increases. The New Jersey Knowledge Initiative (NJKI), launched in 2005, aims to help entrepreneurs, small business owners, researchers, and students with free web access to science, technology, medical, and business databases. However, the FY08 budget [...]
Defending against the digital dark age
From ZDNet UK:
While in no way unique in facing the challenge of how to preserve digital documents, the UK’s National Archives certainly faces the issue on a larger scale than most organisations.
States of Disclosure: Tracking the Private Interests of Public Officials
From BeSpacific:
“The Center for Public Integrity researched state requirements on the filing of Personal Financial Disclosures by all three branches of state government — executive, legislative and judicial — to help the public hold officials accountable and determine the potential for conflicts of interest.” [Note: see the drop-down menu on the right hand side to [...]
What should be America’s national broadband strategy?
From Dick Durbin on Open Left:
Today I’m writing to invite you to participate in an experiment — an interactive approach to drafting legislation on one of the most significant public policy questions today: What should be America’s national broadband strategy?
Starting this Tuesday, July 24 at 7pm EST on OpenLeft.com, I will be engaging in a [...]