Articles Posted in Commentary and Opinion

The e-newsletter of the American Library Association – January 7, 2009
Selected highlights*

Judge overrules Philadelphia branch closings A Philadelphia judge has ordered Mayor Michael Nutter to halt his planned closing of 11 branches of the Free Library of Philadelphia. Court of Common Pleas Judge Idee C. Fox (right) issued the ruling December 30 in response to an emergency motion filed by three city council members who argued that the closures would violate a 1988 city ordinance requiring the mayor to obtain council approval before shutting any city-owned facility….
American Libraries Online, Jan. 5
Protect patrons’ privacy ALA Editions has released a new title, Privacy and Confidentiality Issues: A Guide for Libraries and their Lawyers, by Theresa Chmara. In this clear and concise guide, set up in an FAQ format, First Amendment attorney and litigation expert Chmara shares her decades of experience in easy-to-understand, jargon-free language. Interspersed within the questions and answers, actual court case studies lend a sense of urgency to the explanations….

Date change for Los Angeles Lawyers for Libraries ALA will present a Lawyers for Libraries training institute February 27 in Los Angeles. The previously announced date was February 20. The Lawyers for Libraries Institute is primarily intended to equip attorneys with tools they need to effectively defend the First Amendment in libraries….

Internet use grows at meetings Until recently, travelers attending conferences had simple internet needs. They would check email messages and look up information on the Web or connect to the home office. Now, meetings are likely to include streaming video and online interaction. Back in their rooms, travelers are downloading movies and logging onto peer-to-peer networks. Event organizers and hotels and conference centers are struggling to keep up and prevent internet gridlock….
New York Times, Dec. 29 Continue reading

On June 29, 2008, the American Library Association Committee on Accreditation voted to release the program from its conditional status and grant reaccreditation for the full seven years to the program leading to a Master’s of Library and Information Science (MLIS) degree at Dominican University. The accreditation status of the program explicitly includes all sites offering courses that are part of the program listed above.

A Celebration of Reaccreditation was held in Parmer Hall Atrium on September 12, 2008 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., with faculty, staff, students, advisory board and Alumni Council Members, and friends of the program, along with President Donna Carroll made remarks and helped celebrate.

Also:

We received the following e-mail today from Jennifer S. Murray of the Maricopa County Superior Court Library in Arizona and would like to share it with you:

For those who might be interested, I wanted to share this link to today’s Diane Rehm Show audio file on the role of libraries in economic hard times:
http://wamu.org/programs/dr/09/01/07.php#24509

A meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee was held in the offices of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington, D.C., on Monday, December 15, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. and continued on Tuesday, December 16, 2008 at 9:00 a.m.

To see the Minutes, click on the link below:

Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee for December 15-16, 2008, Released by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

The Copyright, New Media Law and E-Commerce News is prepared by copyright lawyer Lesley Ellen Harris with the help of Beth Davies. Issues are posted here in their entirety for strictly noncomercial use in accordance with guidelines stipulated by Ms. Harris.:

Vol. 13, No. 1, January 5, 2009

ISSN 1489-954X

www.llrx.com

**Neurolaw and Criminal Justice http://www.llrx.com/features/neurolaw.htm

“Ken Strutin’s article highlights selected recent publications, news sources and other online materials concerning the applications of cognitive research to criminal law as well as basic information on the science and technology involved”.

Motion to Disclose Intercepted Communications to the Special Investigative Committee of the Illinois House of Representatives

The UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, by its attorney, Patrick J. Fitzgerald,

United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, respectfully submits this Motion to Disclose Intercepted Communications to the Special Investigative Committee of the Illinois House of Representatives, and in support of the motion,… U.S. District Court Nothern District of Illinois, Eastern Division CR 1010.

Bernard Lawrence Madoff was arrested on December 11, 2008 on a ciminal complaint and has been charged with” perpetrating the largest investor fraud ever committed by an individual.” Below are some excerpts and links to articles and documenrs related to this matter. As this matter unfolds we expect to both add and perhaps revise information as appropriate:

The first excerpt is from the WIKI posting Bernard Lawrence Madoff. Although some may question linking to WIKI postings for this type of material, we have looked at this entry and believe it is useful as an introduction to both Bernard Madoff and his alleged activities”:

“Bernard Lawrence Madoff (IPA: /ˈmeɪdɑf/) (born April 29, 1938) is a businessman and former chairman of the NASDAQ stock market. He started the Wall Street firm Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC in 1960 and was its chairman until December 11, 2008, when he was charged with perpetrating the largest investor fraud ever committed by a single individual.[1]” This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses.”

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