Ghost in the Machine: Managing the Information Afterlife

Ken Strutin addresses how the scope of digital estates is growing by leaps and bounds. Parents are registering domain names for their unborn children and social media sites are creating cyber cemeteries where friends and family can visit the last online impression of the dearly departed. The majority of transactions in modern society are created and deposited in digital environments operated by third parties on remote sites. Yet, the rights of users and their inheritors to that content are not clearly spelled out in statutes or court decisions. Ken’s guide gathers current research about digital content ownership and disposition rights at the points where the life cycle has been interrupted or concluded.

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Subjects: Features

FOIA Facts: Information is not Free

Scott A. Hodes explains how the spending reductions mandated by the recent Debt Ceiling bill will have tremendous impacts on citizen’s accessing government information on a number of fronts. While most in Congress will tell you they are in favor of various access laws, paying for them is another matter.

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Subjects: FOIA Facts

2011 Sparky Award Winners Announced, People’s Choice Contest Now Open

“Four new student films on the importance of Open Access to research and data have been voted the best by a panel of new media experts, students, and librarians in “Open Up!”, the fourth annual Sparky Awards. Calling on students to articulate their support in a two-minute video, the contest has been embraced by campuses all over the world and has inspired imaginative expressions of student support for the potential of Open Access to foster creativity, innovation, and problem solving.”

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Subjects: Features

Pretrial Detention, Bail and Due Process

Ken Strutin’s guide comprises recent publications and other notable resources concerning the relationship between the administration of bail and the requirements of due process. Pretrial detention of suspects directly impacts the presumption of innocence. The cornerstone of the justice system is that no one will be punished without the benefit of due process. Incarceration before trial, when the outcome of the case is yet to be determined, cuts against this principle. The Founders were aware of the dangers inherent in indiscriminate imprisonment, which is one of the main reasons behind the inclusion of the Eighth Amendment in the Bill of Rights, prohibiting excessive bail.

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Subjects: Criminal Law, Features, Legal Research

Commentary – Digital Public Library of America – can it live up to its huge potential?

David Rothman continues his commentary on the challenges faced by the Digital Public Library of America. He suggests the DPLA help state, local and federal governments create a companion digital public library system that would focus on the provision of urgently needed content and services, and share some but not all resources with an academic effort and even offer a common catalogue for those wanting it.

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Subjects: Features, Libraries & Librarians, Virtual Library
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