Freedom of Information and Censorship
Freedom of Information by Irena Fitzsimon 10347649
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Freedom of Information is a core value that librarians need to be advocates of, as part of multiple guidelines of library practice. IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations) manifests this concept of the deliberate maintained status that librarians should not interfere with a patron’s perusal of information and should not reveal the viewing of information or reading matter of texts to anybody as outlined in the Code of Ethics for librarians and other information workers.
Five of the code of ethics for librarians directly relate to librarians’ delivery of freedom of Information with; “access to information, responsibilities towards individuals and society, privacy secrecy and transparency, open access and intellectual property and neutrality” (IFLA,2012). Freedom of Information and Expression (FAIFE) is one of the key drives developed by IFLA since 1997 that endorses “Freedom of thought and opinion is a fundamental of a just society” (Sturges, 2005) while FAIR (Freedom of Information to Information and Resources) is the ALIA entity within Australia Certain statements such as the American First Amendment and the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights; imply freedom of expression as an automatic right of every citizen of their country with former, or the world with the latter. A subsection of the (Universal Declaration of Human Rights,1945) includes “the right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas” which is also trumpeted by IFLA’s UAP statement of Universal availability of publications. So these statements triumphantly declare great freedoms of accessibility of information yet the reality is far murkier. Governments and cultural ideals consistently constrict freedoms of access to information in reaction to their opinions or crises. A government may react to crises by the creation of policies that undermine the value of freedom of expression such at the USA Patriot Act and the UK Anti-Terrorism ACT in 2001 after the 9/11 tragedy and these situations are driven by emotions and opinion over recognition of people’s rights to information in good times as well as bad. It is important to understand the notion of “transparency” in relation to “information access from government, business and social organizations so that the stewardship of such organisations can prove accountable to the public by access to their documentation” (Sturges, 2012) It can prove good governance or indeed the opposite but it needs to be in place to deliver a just society. (Ojala, 2013) urges librarians to “be on the front lines of defending fair use, freedom of speech and freedom of access to information while also guarding intellectual property rights and privacy.” Freedom of Expression is paradoxical as it does include the language of segregation and racism which can disturb and incite dangerous and difficult behaviour alongside that what may elevate and enchant. (Sturges, 2005) |
Censorship is the deliberate choice of individuals, groups or governments to place limits on access or publication of texts depending on their personal tastes and interests.
Some books that deal with controversial issues or content have been frequently censored since first publication. Many of these books have a high degree of longevity that appeal to many generations of people and still remain published if not always accessible in public and school libraries.
A list of banned books will almost always include the greatest classics of literature. It takes dedicated resistance to the self-interest of individuals by librarians to retain such titles.
A great conundrum of the censors is that in the rush to “protect” themselves or their family, community or interest group, they refuse to recognise that they do not have the right to suppress access of the text or information for someone else.
American libraries hold banned book week celebrations to counter the degree of complaints and lack of tolerance of individuals who wish to decide what books are available in libraries for all the public.
FAIFE plays a large part in the struggle against formal and tacit censorship
· By providing resistance to the excessive use of national and official secrecy
· Identifying the reason why information is suppressed of for public and corporate reasons
· Recognising and countering restrictions on information flows that create information poor-countries, regions, classes, social groups and individuals
· Discouraging restriction of practices in libraries (Sturges,2005)
Tactical strategies to defuse arguments to censor content within our libraries need to be part of a librarian’s toolkit and taking advise from other librarians fighting from the trenches are a good starting point.
Schliesman (2008) offers some very sensible advice to be; aware of the choice of text and why it was chosen, that the potential audience of censors are informed in writing of the choices made and that board approval is adhered to when purchasing and using material.
References |
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ALIA. (n.d) Freedom of access to information resources
Retrieved from https://napleblog.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/fair-logo-black.jpg
ALIA. (2007, 2007). Statement on free access to information. Retrieved from https://www.alia.org.au/about-alia/policies-standards-and-guidelines/statement-free-access-information
ALIA. (2014). ALIA open access statement. Retrieved from https://alia.org.au/about-alia/policies-standards-and-guidelines/alia-open-access-statement
Crockett, M. (2009). A practitioner's guide to the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Journal of the Society of Archivists, 30(2), 191-225. doi: 10.1080/00379810903444995
Foerstel, H. N. (2002). Banned in the USA: a reference guide to book censorship in schools and public libraries Retrieved from http://site.ebrary.com.ezproxy.ecu.edu.au/lib/ecu/docDetail.action?docID=10040722
Garcia-Febo L., Hustad. A., Rösch H., Sturges P. & Vallotton A. (2012). IFLA Code of Ethics for Librarians and other Information Workers. Retrieved from https://alia.org.au/about-alia/policies-standards-and-guidelines/endorsement-ifla-code-ethics
IUP libraries. (n.d) IUP libraries to host six o clock series: Censorship vs FreedomRetrieved from https://www.google.com/search?site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=656&bih=619&q=Freedom+of+information+AND+libraries&oq=Freedom+of+information+AND+libraries&gs_l=img.3...1084.17789.0.19005.76.37.11.14.5.6.588.5124.2-9j5j1j1.16.0.msedr...0...1ac.1.64.img..55.21.2569.lYfarWSNeEc#tbm=isch&q=Freedom+of+information+AND+libraries&toJSON=undefined&imgrc=VaH9lQTsgbEsaM%253A%3Bk3bV3m5DG9wyNM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.iup.edu%252FuploadedImages%252Fforbidden%252520smaller.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.iup.edu%252FnewsItem.aspx%253Fid%253D159820%2526blogid%253D3059%3B280%3B420
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Parliament UK. (n.d) Freedom of Information and Environmental Information .Retrieved from
http://assets3.parliament.uk/iv/main large//ImageVault/Images/id_16124/scope_0/ImageVaultHandler.aspx.jpg
Pinterest (n.d.) 11 quotes from authors on censorship. Retrieved from http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/a8/b9/75/a8b9750ead3be5c1ecbe4e5cd13c3dd9.jpg
Schliesman, M. (2008). Intellectual freedom. Language Arts, 85(3), 221-226. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.ecu.edu.au/docview/196910945?pq-origsite=summon
Sturges, P. (2005). Understanding cultures, and IFLA's Freedom of Access to Information Journal of Documentation, 69(2), 296-305. doi: 10.1108/0022/0410510585232
Sturges, P., & Crnogorac, V. (2012). The library and transparency. Alexandria, 23(1), 44-54. doi: 10.7227/alx.23.1.6
The Life Trends (n.d) Stand for Freedom of information. Retrieved from http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Yk6LqyG9X6w/TS_CuA2SyBI/AAAAAAAAIPc/zAl9JoUTPtc/s1600/freedom-of-information.gif
Vancouver Island Regional Library (2015 ) Our Right to Information Freedom to Read Week. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/search?site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=656&bih=619&q=Freedom+of+information+AND+libraries&oq=Freedom+of+information+AND+libraries&gs_l=img.3...1084.17789.0.19005.76.37.11.14.5.6.588.5124.2-9j5j1j1.16.0.msedr...0...1ac.1.64.img..55.21.2569.lYfarWSNeEc#tbm=isch&q=Freedom+of+information+AND+libraries&toJSON=undefined&imgrc=TlHjea8rfVd-VM%253A%3BKL2WbpepIf4JhM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fvirl.bc.ca%252Fsites%252Fdefault%252Ffiles%252FFreedom%252520to%252520Read%252520Banner%2525202015.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fvirl.bc.ca%252Fnews%252Four-right-information-freedom-read-week-celebrated-vancouver-island-regional-library%3B1024%3B321