Volume 50, Issue 1

Ursula Owen, the distinguished editor-in-chief of Index on Censorship , addressed the 63 rd General Conference of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) on issues pertaining to freedom of expression. Ms. Owen's paper, which she graciously allowed to be reprinted in this issue, is an important one. It has influenced the development of IFLA's program on Freedom of Expression and has inspired librarians around the world as they confront issues of censorship. She describes the “natural” impulse to censor and depicts the current scene in which censorship is alive and well. Ms. Owen calls upon librarians to support and speak out on the importance of free expression. It was Owen's conviction that libraries are central to the preservation of free ideas, which inspired this issue of LIBRI.

The Index on Censorship, founded in the conviction that freedom of speech, along with the allied freedoms of conscience and religion, are fundamental human rights that the world community has a duty to guard, reports regularly on censorship in every issue of the magazine. After a brief survey of classic censorship, the author points out that the concentration of ownership in the media has affected the extent to which minorities are heard. For any concept of human rights to be universally accepted and globally enforced, equal respect and mutual comprehension between rival cultures is demanded. Hate speech, political correctness and the dangers of making exceptions to the absolute right to free speech are covered. The author concludes with the role the library has in supporting and disseminating the importance of free expression. Libraries can be places where 1) dialogue takes place; 2) the diversity of cultural lives is displayed; 3) the right to choose is pre-eminent; 4) people can be guided through information which some might find offensive; and 5) freedom of expression is taught and people are encouraged to know their own rights.

The gay/lesbian free newspaper press has been crucial in the fight for equality of rights for homosexuals both in the U.K. and Canada. The laws affecting the publication and distribution of these newspapers have developed differently in the two countries however. Therefore librarians in each country have faced distinct challenges. This article examines the legislation in both countries, specifically Section 28 in the U.K. and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in Canada. It analyses the political and social climates responsible for the legislation in each country. The application of law and library policy to the Canadian gay/lesbian newspaper Xtra! West is explored through a 1996 censorship challenge in a British Columbia library. In the final section, collection management advice regarding gay/lesbian newspapers is offered, based on the results of a survey of 70 public libraries in British Columbia.

This paper reviews the various rating schemes for content in use in the United States. Starting with the Motion Picture Association of America system established in 1968, the paper traces rating schemes up to present efforts to rate Internet content. It concludes with a discussion of the relevant laws and significant case law.

The efforts of the European Union to harmonise copyright have been caused by two factors: 1) the need to adjust copyright to digital technology, and 2) the creation of an internal market for free trade in capital, goods and labour within the European member states. These efforts have resulted in directives on rental and lending rights, on harmonising the term of protection, and on legal protection of databases. These directives, although they strengthen authors' rights, should not worry librarians particularly. On the political agenda now is a Proposal for a Directive on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the Information Society (dec. 1997) . This proposal attempts to set new standards for authors' rights to control the use of their works in respect to reproduction, communication to the public by electronic means, and distribution of hard copies. The proposed rules concerning authors' rights to control distribution of hard copies will, in practice, prevent free trade with copyrighted works. Researchers may not have free access to relevant published information and ethnic minorities may be discriminated against. If the authors' right to control any communication to the public of their works by electronic means is not balanced with rules of legal deposit and public access (on the library premises), libraries and archives will face serious legal difficulties in preserving electronic cultural heritage. The general public in Europe and those from around the world who seek to know the cultural heritage shall have suffered a serious setback in the freedom to access published information.

This article reports the findings of a study of the influence of librarians', elected members', and library users' attitudes on the availability of materials in public libraries in the United Kingdom. Using questionnaires and interviews, the study identifies various factors that affect stock management practise looking most particularly at the effect of personal attitudes on the availability of materials on subjects where strong personal views are held. It concludes that librarians are under great pressure to restrict access, and that they themselves often reduce access because they are only slightly aware of the issue of intellectual freedom. They are not used to applying professional values to library book stock management. The paper concludes with suggestions as to how stock management practices in Britain can be improved.

This article addresses one of the greatest challenges to intellectual freedom as the new millennium begins – obscenity on the Internet. It begins with a discussion of United States v. Thomas , a case concerning obscenity and pornography on the Internet, and examines how U. S. courts have dealt with the First Amendment and obscenity throughout the years. It explores the possibility of imposing a national standard for obscenity for a “virtual” community, and concludes with a discussion of how the courts may impact everyone's – especially a child's – constitutional right to receive information.

Libraries have a vital role in the articulation and defence of the fundamental right of intellectual freedom, which is enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Free and open libraries present a diversity of views, from both the present and the past. IFLA, the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, has long promoted the improvement of access to and availability of information through its professional programs aimed at continually raising standards of service. But IFLA members have come to see that the international library community needs to address the dimension of principle, the right of all to access the information needed to live and prosper and the inseparable right to express ideas and opinions. In response to that recognition, IFLA established the Committee on Free Access to Information and Freedom of Expression (FAIFE) in August 1997. With support from the FAIFE Office in Copenhagen, the Committee is beginning to report on and address issues relating to intellectual freedom and libraries around the world. It promotes intellectual freedom, reports on the global state of intellectual freedom and libraries, and takes action on individual incidents. Through these activities, it helps librarians worldwide to pursue these ideals.