Confidentiality Policies and Procedures of the Reference Departments in Texas Academic Libraries.
Libraries are commonly viewed as "sanctuaries of ideas," and librarians are seen as the guardians of ideas and of the records the library and its users generate.1 Librarians are also viewed as researchers of reference questions and topics. As fa cilitators of research and keepers of rec ords, they have access to certain information about the users of the li brary?information that may be consid ered private. Lin owes and Hoyman note that librarians create records and collect
The Gap between Theory and Practice: A Study of the Prevalence and Strength of Patron Confidentiality Policies in Public and Academic Libraries
Abstract Vermont library directors estimated they received at least 1228 requests for patron information in the last year. In spite of these requests and heightened awareness about threats to confidentiality posed by the USA PATRIOT Act, fewer than half of the state’s public and academic libraries have written patron confidentiality policies. The policies that do exist were recently updated and most prohibit release of information without a binding legal document. However, only half require an attorney’s review of such documents. Libraries with larger numbers of personnel and with directors holding MLS degrees are more likely to have policies. The absence of policies does not appear to indicate a lack of belief in the importance of confidentiality; a vast majority of library directors support strengthening the state law.
Globalization and the Internationalization of Legal Education in the United States: An Annotated Bibliography
Globalization and its influence on legal education is a topic of growing interest to the legal profession and to legal educators alike. The first articles on the subject appeared in the mid-1990s, and the frequency of publications has been increasing ever since. This bibliography provides annotations to English-language law journal articles published between 1995 and 2008 that focus on the impact of globalization on legal education in the United States.