access to information in the czech republic
DESCRIPTION
Presentation given Fall 2007 in Tucson, AZ: Change & Opportunities: Libraries in the New Millennium.TRANSCRIPT
Access to Information in the Czech Republic: Before and After the Velvet Revolution
Rebecca BlakistonUniversity of ArizonaNovember 10, 2007
UNC International Seminars
Seminar Activities
Libraries and Access From ALA Bill of Rights:
I. Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.
II. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.
III. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.
IV. Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas.
Nazis, Communists, and Revolution, Oh My
Communism & the Transition of Library Operations
The Role of Communist Government in Book Publishing and Distribution
Libri Prohibiti Main Board for
Publishing Control (HSTD) & Office for Publishing and Information
Other Methods of Information Control
Speaking about the alternative sphere was
forbidden
All libraries were closed stack & user feedback was
not permitted
Restrictions on Library Collections
Libraries as instruments of the
state?
Libraries as facilitators of oppression?
Libraries representing the government they serve?
The Alternative Sphere
Self-print texts, “samizdat” Exile texts snuck over the border
Libri Prohibiti public library, Prague Books available at Libri Prohibiti
Brief History of Czech Libraries
President Tomas Garrigue Masaryk & the law of 1919
Strahov Monastery – manuscript catalog of library
Nostic Family Library
Libraries Since the Velvet Revolution
Union of Czech Librarians and Information Officers, SKIP
CASLIN, the Czech and Slovak Library Information Network (1993)
National conference “Libraries of the Present Time” (1993)
Book display at Municipal Library, downtown Prague
Challenges to Libraries
Transfer of authority Effect of privatization Financial constraints,
relocation Ineffectiveness of Central
Library Council
Victories for Libraries 1999: Law on Free Access to Information 2001: Library Act, titled the Law on Libraries and
Terms of Operating Public Library and Information Services
Public Information Services of Libraries Programme, 2000-2003
The State Information and Communication Policy, 2004-2006
Library Development Policy, 2004-2010 No longer closed stacks; support user feedback and
maintain user privacy
New National Library Building
Current Library Environment
Networking and scholarship Automation Online services Internet connectivity E-Inclusion initiatives Funding and support
Library of Peace and Reconciliation, Liberec
Conclusion
Historical legacy Role of libraries Libraries and access Challenges of change Moving forward
Lennon Wall (tribute to John Lennon), Prague
Questions & Discussion
Feel free to contact me:Rebecca Blakiston
http://steadfastlibrarian.wordpress.com