(949) 235-5420 or email: emfuture@hotmail.com

Weekends: 2/1-2; 3/1-2; 4/5-6.

Saturday 9:15 am – 4:30 pm; Sunday 9:15 am – 1 pm

Harvill Building, Room 316

The class incorporates a mix of lecture, discussion, guest speakers, film and students presentations. The question to be considered throughout the course: Are the professional information policy positions responsive, and culturally representative of 21^st Century populations? Future directions for an agenda for libraries and information policy will be considered, and students will write a paper on a current information policy issue from a cultural perspective.

Course Objectives: Students will:

• Acquire a basic understanding of current national information policy issues including various cultural perspectives.
• Identify information policy players, issues, organizations, and resources.
• Discuss leadership and advocacy roles for the public interest.

1. Leadership & Information Policy: Politics and Policies Who are the Players? What is at Stake? Advocacy Roles for Librarians?

2. The Public Interest: User rights; Communities; Cultural perspectives; Information environments; Global views; Economic Value of Information.

3. The Issues: US Patriot Act; Intellectual Property Rights; Access; Cultural Voices; Copyright; Intellectual Participation; Digital Divides.

4. The Internet: Local and National Politics; Filtering and the Protection of Children; Intellectual Freedom; Information Literacy; Privacy.

5. The WIRED Voices: Information Technology; Politics of Influence.

COYLES INFORMATION HIGHWAY HANDBOOK; A Practical File on the New Information Order, American Library Association, 1997. This provides a good background on ALA librarians and national information policy

The following websites contain valuable information on information policy:

ALA Washington Office, ALAWON

ALA Office of Information Technology Policy (OITP)

ALA: See Interests & Activities; Library Advocacy & Support; Governance; and Key ALA Reference Documents under Divisions

Center for Democracy & Technology

Adams, Helen R. "Privacy & Confidentiality: Now more than ever, youngsters need to keep their library use under wraps," American Libraries, November 2002.

Barlow, John Perry. (1994) "Economy of (everything) Ideas." WIRED, March: 126-129.

Blau, Andrew. "Access Isn’t Enough," American Libraries, June/July 2002, p. 5-52.

Chu, Clara M. "Multiracial/Multiethnic People: Selected Resources," prepared for Racially and Ethnically Mixed People: Information Needs, Services, & the 2000 Census, ALA Conference June 1999. Access at: www.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/chu/mrace.htm

Esterbrook, Leigh A. (1997). "Polarized Perceptions," Library Journal, February: 46-48.

Gellman, Robert. (2000) "Taming the Privacy Monster: a Proposal for a Non-Regulatory Privacy Agency." Government Information Quarterly. 17: 235-241.

Janes, Joseph. "The Second Internet and the Next Big Idea," Internet Librarian, American Libraries, November 2002, p. 66.

Metoyer-Duran, Cheryl. Gatekeepers in Ethnolinguistic Communities. (2^nd ed.) NJ: Ablex Pub., 1993.

National Public Radio Homepage. See coverage of the US Patriot Act (August 10, 2002).

Seadle, Michael. "Whose rules? Intellectual Property, Culture, and Indigenous Communities," D-Lib Magazine, March 2002.

See www.firstmonday.org for the following articles:

1. "Freedom of Information? The Internet as Harbinger of the New Dark Ages" by Roger Clarke.
2. "The Battle to Define the Future of the Book in the Digital World" by Clifford Lynch.
3. "Intellectual Value" by Esther Dyson.
4. "Libraries, the Internet and September 11" by Judy Matthews and Richard Wiggins.
5. "Positioning the Public Library in the Modern State: The Opportunity of the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA)" by Joyce M. Latham.
6. "Privacy Protection: Time to think and Act Locally and Globally" by Esther Dyson.
7. "Reaching Across the Divide: The Challenge of Using the Internet to Bridge Disparities in Access to Information" by Andie Miller.
8. "Rip, Mix, Burn: The Politics of Peer to Peer and Copyright Law" by Kathy Bowrey and Matthew Rimmer.
9. "Workforce Literacy in an Information Age; Policy Recommendations for Developing an Equitable High-Tech Skills Workforce" by Joseph Slowinski.

Biglow, Jane M.H. "Library and Information Services for Native Americans,"

Multicultural Review, 3(4):20-24, 1994.

Guerena, Sal. (ed.). Latino Librarianship: A Handbook for Professionals. (2^nd ed.) Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 2000.

Schull, Diantha D. (1998). "Innovating to Serve the Global Village: Thought about Multilingual and Multicultural Services," Reference Services Review, Summer: 59-63.

Stoffle, Carla J. and Patricia Tarin. "No Place for Neutrality: The Case for Multiculturalism," Library Journal: 46-49, July 1994.

Wiley, Terrence G. "Myths about Language Diversity and literacy in the United States." ERIC Digest (Report No. EDO-LE97-01, 1997-04-00).

See www.jointcenter.org for abstract of Changing of the Guard: Generational Differences Among Black Elected Officials.

See www.Slashdot.org for article "Building Anonymous-Friendly Computer Libraries."

(August 11, 2002)

1. Resource Analysis. Working as a team (2 people or more), select from the following list of information policy resources to analyze; identify purpose, key issues, players, publications, funding source, board members, and utilization by librarians. Report to class on March 1. No written paper required.

• ALA Washington Office & ALAWON
• ALA Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP)
• ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom & Freedom To Read Foundation
• Asian American Policy Review (Harvard)
• Benton Foundation
• Center for Democracy and Technology
• The Electronic Frontier Foundation
• Joint Center for Political & Economic Studies
• Libraries for the Future
• The Long Now Foundation
• Native American Public Telecommunications
• Tomas Rivera Policy Institute
• WIRED periodical (2002/03)

1. Interviews. Interview two library and information professionals on current information policy issues. Discuss (1) what is the most important issue facing the profession and why, (2) what are the cultural issues involved, and (3) their leadership and advocacy of the issues. Report to class on March 1. No written work required.
2. Research Paper or Project. Select a current information policy issue for a paper or project that includes (1) a thorough discussion of the issue from a cultural perspective, (2) identification of players, stakeholders, the public interest, and (2) your position on the issue, and how you can influence policy development. Due April 5 with a 5 minute synopsis presented to the class.

Resource Analysis: 20%

Interviews 20%

Research Paper or Project 50%

Class Participation & Attendance 10%

2/1 TBA

3/1 Carol Erickson, International Library Program, Bill & Melinda Gates

Foundation

4/5 Anthony Bernier, Teen Services, Oakland Public Library

I will set up a listserve for communication and discussion. Provide your email address on the first day of class.