Bill Requires Gov’t Issued ID to Vote in Federal Elections

H.R. 3910 – To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require individuals to present a government-issued photo identification as a condition of voting in elections for Federal office, to prohibit any individual from tabulating votes in an election for Federal office unless the individual has been subject to a criminal background check, …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Legislation

Web Guides Provide Links to Documents Pertaining to Harriet Miers

From the University of Michigan Law Library, Information on Harriet Miers, Nominee for Justice of the Supreme Court. This page was created with the collaborative effort of Kincaid C. Brown, Barbara H. Garavaglia, Aimee S. Mangan and Jennifer Selby. SMU Underwood Law Library: Published Writings of Harriet E. Miers, Nominee for Justice of the U. …

Subjects: Courts, Legal Research, Libraries

Business Groups Support Reforms to Sections of Patriot Act

From the ALA Office of Government Relations today: “Six important business organizations (including the United States Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and The Financial Services Roundtable) wrote to Senator Specter expressing “support for reforms to Sections 215 and 505 of the Patriot Act which allow the federal government to require voluminous and …

Subjects: Congress, Legislation, Patriot Act

Documenting Copyright for Digital Materials

Descriptive metadata for copyright Status, by Karen Coyl: “The need to express the intellectual property rights of digital materials has focused on access and usage permissions which must be granted by the rights holder. A key set of permissions not acknowledged by these rights expressions is inherent in the legal copyright status of the item. …

Subjects: Copyright, Digital Rights, Intellectual Property, Libraries

Kurt Vonnegut Salutes Librarians’ Role in Protecting Civil Liberties

An interview with Kurt Vonnegut in the October 6 USA Today, includes the following quote: “Music…cheers him, as do people who behave decently. Librarians too – “not famous for their physical strength” – who resist having books removed from shelves and refuse to give names to people who have checked out certain books in the …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Libraries, Patriot Act, Privacy

Pew Survey on the Continuing Digital Divide

Press release: “Sixty-eight percent of American adults, or about 137 million people, use the internet, up from 63% one year ago. Thirty-two percent of American adults, or about 65 million people, do not go online, and it is not always by choice. Certain groups continue to lag in their internet adoption.” Digital Divisions: There are …

Subjects: Internet

President’s Information Technology Advisory Committee Makes A Comeback

“President Bush Broadens PCAST’s Duties: Executive Order elevates role of external information technology advice in the White House; PCAST to serve as President’s Information Technology Advisory Committee (September 2005),” Press release. Related links: President’s IT Cmte. Reports on Critical Role of Computational Science for American Competitiveness President’s IT Advisory Committee Issues Recommendations on Cyber Security

Subjects: E-Government