From the BBC:
Scores of writers are refusing to let their works be scanned for an online archive at the National Library of Wales because they are not being paid.
A year after a near-£1m project was awarded to digitise modern Welsh writing, a dispute between authors and the library has not been resolved.
Archive of entries posted on January 2008
Writers’ digital row with library
GPO’s Seal of Authenticity
From the Government Printing Office:
For almost 150 years, the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) has been the official disseminator of Government documents and assure users of their authenticity.
In the 21st century, the increasing use of electronic documents poses special challenges in verifying authenticity, because digital technology makes such documents easy to alter or copy, leading [...]
Alumnus Sues Cornell Over Article Newly Surfaced in Digital Archive
From Library Journal:
A Cornell University alumnus has sued the university over a decades-old article now available in the university library’s digital collections—and searchable on Internet. According to the Cornell Daily Sun, Kevin Vanginderen, a Cornell graduate and now a lawyer in California, filed a $1 million lawsuit against the University in San Diego County Superior [...]
OMB, GAO to Go Digital on Key Reports
From the Washington Post:
They operate in different parts of the government, but both have decided to go digital and phase out their signature paper products.
The Office of Management and Budget will not print 3,000 copies of the president’s budget to hand out to members of Congress, the Cabinet and their staffs on Feb. 4. Instead, [...]
Agencies Share Information By Taking a Page From Wikipedia
From the Washington Post:
When President Bush challenged Congress to cut the number and cost of earmarks by half, the administration’s budget chiefs turned to their wiki.
That’s right, the Office of Management and Budget, where caution and precision rule, has embraced Wikipedia as a model, hosting an online place where federal officials can swap information and [...]
Greater Use of Privilege Spurs Concern
From the Washington Post:
The U.S. government has been increasing its use of the state secrets privilege to avoid disclosure of classified information in civil lawsuits, prompting legislation in the Senate that would provide more congressional oversight of the practice.
Though there have been modest increases in the use of the state secrets privilege every decade since [...]
Disputed Iraqi Archives Find a Home at the Hoover Institution
From the Chronicle of Higher Education:
Two shipping containers’ worth of records created by Iraq’s Baath Party that have been stored on an American naval facility for the past 21 months are about to find a new home at the Hoover Institution, a conservative think tank and library affiliated with Stanford University.
Hoover signed a deal on [...]
CREW Analysis of National News at the Time the White House E-Mail Went Missing
From Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington:
CREW has completed an analysis of the national news events that took place on the dates for which there are missing White House email.
• National News Analysis for Missing White House Office E-mail
• National News Analysis for Missing Office of the Vice President E-mail
• National News Analysis for Missing Council on [...]
Google To Become Open Source Science Repository
From TechCrunch:
Google is said to be preparing to launch a massive repository of science data at research.google.com.
The project, known internally as “Palimpsest” will become a home for terabytes of open-source scientific datasets built on the data visualization technology from Trendalyzer.
According to a Wired report, the storage will be free to all scientists, access to the [...]
Publishers Announce Agreements with Universities on New Copyright Guidelines for Course Content in Digital Formats
Association of American Publishers press release:
The Association of American Publishers (AAP) today announced that three universities—Hofstra, Syracuse and Marquette—have reached agreement with the AAP on new copyright guidelines affirming that educational content delivered to students in digital formats should be treated under the same copyright principles that apply to printed materials.
The guidelines, which were developed [...]