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[RRE]Information Studies Seminar: Natalie Cole on June 10th
``` Please forward this announcement to anyone who might be interested.
The UCLA Information Studies Seminar presents
Natalie Cole UCLA Department of Information Studies
on
Sex, Drugs and Librarianship: Intellectual Freedom and Stock Management in the British Public Library
In the UK, intellectual freedom is not a popular area of research or debate. Few studies have looked at the extent to which intellectual freedom or censorship are practised by public librarians; even fewer have examined librarians attitudes towards these concepts. Correspondingly, this subject is rarely discussed formally at professional gatherings or in the professional and academic press. In recent years the most significant studies of intellectual freedom, censorship and British public library stock management have been Thompsons Censorship in public libraries in the United Kingdom during the twentieth century (1975), Malleys Censorship in libraries (1990), Attons Alternative literature (1996), and Currys The limits of tolerance: censorship and intellectual freedom in public libraries (1997). Of these, only Currys comparative study of 30 British and 30 Canadian library directors comprises an original examination of librarians attitudes towards stock management, intellectual freedom and censorship.
In response to this paucity of data, between 1994 and 1998 I conducted a study which, using a combination of qualitative and quantitative data collection methods, examined (a) librarians, elected members, and library users attitudes towards intellectual freedom and the public library, and (b) the ways in which these attitudes affect library stock management policy-making and practice in 6 British public library authorities. In my talk I will discuss the results of this study, focusing in particular on the following findings. Contrary to many of the professional and legislative statements that have been formulated in this area, most respondents do not believe that stock management should be conducted in accordance with principles of intellectual freedom. Most respondents want a wide range of material to be made available by the public library, but also want certain material (most notably racist and misogynist material) not to be stocked. They also believe that, when making stock management decisions, librarians should take into account the values of the local community and council, and the potential effects on society of the content of the material under consideration.
In practice, access to certain material through the public library is restricted in accordance with these attitudes and also with librarians personal tastes. Librarians stock management decisions are not informed either by a consistent philosophy of stock management or (despite the keenness of elected members) by stock management policies, but are made on a pragmatic basis. The most consistent aspect of stock management practice is the absence from the decision making process of considerations of intellectual freedom.
In the light of these results, I will also discuss (a) the contradiction between legislative and professional statements and librarians attitudes and actions, (b) the role of the librarian and the public library, and (c) the challenges faced by librarians when providing public access to the Internet in their libraries.
Natalie Cole holds a BA (Hons) in English with Media Studies from the University of Sussex, England (1989-1992); an MA in Librarianship from the University of Sheffield, England (1993-1994) (for which she was awarded the Dunn and Wilson prize for librarianship and information management); and a PhD in Librarianship also from the University of Sheffield (1994-1998). Dr. Cole has worked in a public library and three academic libraries in the UK, and as a lecturer at the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland. She is currently working as a consultant for the Electronic Cafe in Santa Monica, developing a cataloging schema that will facilitate access to the innovative artistic and technological projects of the artists Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinowitz.
Thursday, June 10th, 4:00pm - 6:00pm
GSE&IS Building, Room 111 (just west of the Research Library)
Everyone is invited.
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The ISS calendar can be found on the Web at:
http://dlis.gseis.ucla.edu/people/pagre/iss.html
Questions or comments to Phil Agre
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