Court e-records; Telecom records; Commons 2.0
Posted by Jacque on November 29th, 2007
Courts offer libraries free access to e-records
For the first time, the U.S. court system will provide free access to its online court records at select libraries, reports Government Executive.com. The PACER service will be free at 16 library systems nationwide under a joint project of the courts and the Government Printing Office.
“No-fee access to the PACER system will allow the branch libraries outside of major regional centers to provide federal court records to patrons who would otherwise not be able to access these important public documents,” said Catherine Lemann, who is with the Alaska State Court Law Library. [via AL Direct]
EFF wins release of telecom lobbying records
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston canceled a Friday hearing and ordered the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) to release records by December 10, in time for a congressional debate over granting amnesty for telecommunications companies taking part in illegal electronic surveillance.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) had sued for release of the documents after the ODNI’s slow response to a Freedom Of Information Act request.
Library spaces designed for collaborative learning: Commons 2.0
It was inevitable that the physical “information commons” concept that became popular for libray space planning a few years ago, particularly in higher education, became translated to our Web 2.0 world. EDUCAUSE Quarterly has an interesting article, saying that “The information commons is a natural extension of the library’s traditional mission in a wired world.”
Of course the Commons must adapt and evolve to meet changing expectations and technological capabilities. Read about collaborative library spaces, Commons 2.0., in v. 30, #4, 2007.
