Begin forwarded message:

From: Peter Suber <peters@earlham.edu> Date: Thu Sep 12, 2002 9:43:01 PM US/Eastern To: fos-forum@topica.com Subject: Information cleansing Reply-To: fos-forum@topica.com

[Forwarding from the GovDoc list, thanks to Terry Foreman. --Peter.]

Subject: ALERT! Attn: users of ERIC and Dept of Education web site To: GOVDOC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU

Fellow govdoc'rs:

I have verified the information contained in the e-mails below by directly contacting the Education Week reporter, Michelle Davis. The specific information about the web site revision is:

"the department is working on a major overhaul of the existing website. They want to remove outdated material among other things and improve graphics and make it easier to use. In a memo sent to all senior staff, the department said that all information dated prior to Feb. 2001 will be removed unless it needs to be there for a legal reason or historical reason. However, they specifically said that one of the major criteria for deleting information from the website will be based on whether it meshes with the Bush administration's philosophies. "

More information will be contained in an Education Week article by Ms. Davis that will appear in the next issue.

Let me be clear. The Bush administration has a perfect right to remove opinion papers and official policy statements of any previous administration from their current web site, PROVIDED this information is archived elsewhere for future researchers. However, removal of any peer-based research that doesn't "mesh with the current administration philosophies" is just one more sign of the government's growing hostility to the free flow of information. Please consider writing the education secretary at the address below. - Daniel Cornwall, Alaska State Library

...

Reply-To: pnla-l@mail1.krl.org Sender: pnla-l-owner@mail1.krl.org

Let's do something about this-- Bush wants to remove any information that disagrees with his views from the Dept of Education web site, AND limit funding for ERIC!

Emily Sheketoff is ALA's chief lobbyist.

Possible actions: Write your congressional representatives (including senators), and the US Dept of Education, pointing out that we as librarians need this research to support our students' learning how to be effective teachers. Write to: Secretary Rod Paige U.S. Department of Education 400 Maryland Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20202-0498

Cheerio! Jonathan Jonathan Betz-Zall, Branch Librarian City University 1000 SE Everett Mall Way Suite 101 Everett, WA 98208 425-353-0727 jbetzzall@cityu.edu URL: http://www.cityu.edu/library/home.asp The two purposes of life: to grow in wisdom and learn to love better. (R.N. Remen) "City University will change your life for good."

-----Original Message----- From: Corby, Kate [mailto:corby@MAIL.LIB.MSU.EDU] Sent: Wednesday, September 11, 2002 1:50 PM To: EBSS-L@LISTSERV.UNCC.EDU Subject: Education Department Questions

Dear Ms. Sheketoff,

I am chair of the Education and Behavioral Sciences Section of ACRL. Yesterday I was contacted by Michelle Davis who is a reporter for Education Week. I don't believe she knew of my ALA affiliation, she was contacting me because I am the Education Librarian at a top rated school of education. She was calling for my opinion of a Department of Education initiative to remove from the Department's web pages any references to non-Bush era education research. The Department maintains an extensive Web presence to assist students, parents, and teachers in their educational information needs. According to Ms. Davis, the Department has decided that information (and this is largely research results, not opinion papers) that does not support the current administration's views should not be made readily available to the public. In addition to this change on the Department of Education's site, I have heard from other sources that a move is under way to limit funding for the ERIC system, which is the other way that this information gets disseminated.

If this information is correct, I'm sure the members of EBSS would be very concerned. Any assistance that your office can provide in helping me keep the membership of EBSS informed about the veracity of this information and the possible courses of action we could take to try to counter this move would be greatly appreciated. I'm copying this note to our section listserv so everyone will know what's up so far. I know you folks have many issues you keep tabs on, and this might not be the most urgent, but it's quite important to us and I hope you will be able to provide some guidance.

Thanks

Kate Corby Education and Psychology Reference Librarian Michigan State University Libraries 100 Library East Lansing, MI 48824 Phone 517-432-1442 FAX 517-432-8050 http://www.lib.msu.edu/corby/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- Listserve for the Pacific Northwest Library Association ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ----

======================================================= Daniel Cornwall Government Publications/Technical Services Librarian Alaska State Library PO Box 110571 Juneau, AK 99811-0571 (907) 465-2927 ph (907) 465-2665 fax E-Mail: dan_cornwall@eed.state.ak.us

Learn about the Alaska State Publications Program, a system that works to make state information available to Alaskans now and in the 22nd Century. See our web page at < http://library.state.ak.us/asp/asp.html >.

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