Reading between Librarians’ lines

It is a well known fact that librarians, as professionals go, are not among the world's most demonstrative people. I can say that with impunity because I am one. It's one thing for a man to slight his own profession; quite another when someone else presumes to do it. But given that librarians are a placid sort, just mention the phrase "intellectual freedom," or utter the word "censorship," and the usually calm demeanor of the librarian becomes as agitated as the water between Charybdis and Scylla! This article addresses three aspects of the issue of intellectual freedom and attempts to define the difference between the phrases "free speech" and "free expression." First to be explored will be the nature of intellectual freedom as defined by the American Library Association's Intellectual Freedom Manual; second, the underlying philosophy implicit in that expression; and third, an alternative to both the manual, and its philosophical presuppositions.

Hacked Off in the Web

According to a new report (http://tinyurl.com/2g6ghps), if you are on the Web at all you’re not safe from hackers, phishers, and spammers (oh my!). The Norton Cybercrime Report: The Human Impact (http://cybercrime.newslinevine.com/) of 7,000 Web users tells us that 65% of all users globally, and 73% of U. S. users, have been hacked in some sort of cybercrime. Globally, the U. S. ranks very high but in this case we’re not first in line. China wins Number One with 83% of its users web-abused in some manner. These are figures to give one pause.