Free Lance Writers Win Big as U.S. High Court Sends Clear Signal
On June 26, 2001 The Special Libraries Association reacted to the announced decision by the United States Supreme Court in the matter of Tasini vs. New York Times. David R. Bender, Executive Director of SLA offered the following remarks:
"In our original comments earlier this year, SLA called for publishers and authors to seek consensus through negotiations, rather than wait for the Supreme Court to reach a decision that would likely damage access to information. Unfortunately, the parties refused to do so for various reasons. Now, the Supreme Court has issued an opinion that dramatically alters the landscape for management of information through online content aggregators and purveyors. The decision means potential gaps in resources and, inevitably, higher costs for access to information. Further, the use of future technologies in collecting, archiving, disseminating, and sharing copyrighted information through technological means could pose significant barriers to what has been, at least during the early phases of the digital age, a streamlined transition."
While we are disappointed with the Court's decision, we believe that Congress and the lower courts must act to ensure that stability in the information marketplace remains a priority. For our own part, information professionals worldwide must always strive to provide access to the best, most accurate information possible so that their organizations may put knowledge to work."
Earlier in 2001, the SLA Board of Directors cited several issues as factors in its decision:
- That copyright law was truly intended to be balanced "to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries" U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 8).
- That SLA's membership is diverse in its practices and interests, including many information professionals who are authors or work for publishing interests.
- That a finding in support of the authors could set in motion several responses by the publishing community, including price increases to offset increased fees for use of freelance articles, or the removal of a substantial portion of archived articles.
- That a decision by the Supreme Court - regardless of the outcome - would be damaging to the global community of information users. A victory by the publishers would produce a chilling effect on the creation of articles by freelance writers, while a finding in favor of the authors would likely mean higher costs and/or reduced access for the most important players in the information game - the users.
Business and Finance Division Announce Awards
The Business & Finance Division announced the winners of its grants and student stipends awards at its annual business meeting in San Antonio, TX this past June. The professional grant winners were: Jerry Bornstein, Baruch College, Newman Library, NY, NY; Judith Kolata, Heller Financial, Inc., Chicago, IL; and Tracey Palmer, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The student stipend winners were Joan Jerice Barrios and Genevieve Cooper, both from Dominican University. Each of the five winners received $1,200.
Fulbright Senior Specialist Award Program
Martha McPhail was invited by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars to serve on the Advisory Panel for the Fulbright Senior Specialist Award program, a new, start-up program to send librarians/scholars to international posts. Awardees will be posted for 2-6 weeks, consulting on cataloging, systems, records/archives management, teaching library science, or other possibilities.
Special or academic librarians interested in participating in this international consultation program may contact Martha for additional information at mmcphail@mail.sdsu.edu or by phone at 619-594-6736.
SLA Toronto Chapter Awards
The Toronto Chapter of the SLA announced the winners of the following awards at their Annual General Meeting on May 17, 2001:
President's Award - Mary Dickerson
The President's Award is given to an individual who is at or nearing the end of the active career and who, in the opinion of the President and the Awards Committee has made extraordinary contributions to the Chapter, the Association and the industry throughout their career.
This year's honoree typifies the qualities one would expect of the recipient of this prestigious award. The following is a partial record of her significant accomplishments.
She has held numerous positions at the Toronto Chapter level including Chair of the Senior Management Roundtable, Secretary and was SLA Toronto Chapter President in 1985/1986.
At the international level, this year's recipient was invited to serve on the 1992 Presidential Study Commission on Professional Recruitment, Ethics, and Professional Standards, she served as Association Director from 1988 1992 and Chaired the Professional Development Committee from 1994-1997. She was named a Fellow of the Special Libraries Association and today continues to serve as the Current Chair of the International Relations Committee.
Mary has had an unwavering career focus on information and research services for legislators. Her expertise in this area has been recognized by such organizations as the Canadian Parliamentary Centre, which regularly calls on her to advise the parliaments of developing countries on library and research services.
For 25 years Mary has been instrumental in creating and maintaining the Ontario Legislative Library's reputation for the highest standard of service; first as head of Information and Reference, Deputy Director and, since 1993, Executive Director. Because of her professional dedication and unflagging insistence on service quality she will retire next month leaving a vital, evolving library and a staff whose values are strong and shared.
Chapter Member of the Year Award Tracey Palmer, Dave Hook, Helen Kula, and Nicole Stewart.
These stalwart individuals brought in an innovative program for all chapter members. As recent MLS graduates they have demonstrated great talent and the ability to implement a great program.
Kathleen Reeves Award - Carolyn Zeigler
The Kathleen Reeves Award is given to the Student at the Faculty of Information Studies at the University of Toronto who achieves the highest academic standing in the
Special Libraries Course, which is part of the curriculum leading to a Masters of Information Studies.
Academic Achievement Awards
The following individuals who received the highest academic standing in two other library programmers were also honored:
Seneca College Library Technician Program Student Award - Sarah Dafoe
Sarah has just begun a new position at the prestigious law firm, Lang Michener.
University of Western Ontario School of Library and Media Studies - Sally Bremner
Sally is starting her career in Ottawa where she is currently on a co-op work placement.
RSS
Feedback form
