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Books > Reference & Interdisciplinary > Library & information sciences
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Surveillance in the Stacks - The FBI's Library Awareness Program (Hardcover)
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Surveillance in the Stacks - The FBI's Library Awareness Program (Hardcover)
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Foerstel, himself one of the leaders in the effort to expose the
FBI's notorious `spies in the stacks' program, writes as a partisan
of privacy rights with a well-earned distrust of the FBI's efforts
to excuse itself from observing those rights. In fairness to the
other side, however, he also gives full play to the arguments of
national security and for the prevention of the flow of `sensitive'
information into foriegn hands. In this extensively documented and
thoroughly researched tale, he offers many stories of the courage
and fortitude of librarians opposed to this program, from the
jailing of Zoia Horn to the eloquent indignation of Columbia
University's Paula Kaufman and the tenacious Library Association's
Intellectual Freedom Committee. Less happy is his picture of the
heavily politicized National Commission on Libraries and
Information Science (NCLIS) and others who have acquiesced to the
spying. The chapters on the political ramifications of the program
and the legal context of library confidentiality are also
valuable--although it is possible to argue with some of Foerstel's
conclusions. But this illuminating, cautionary work is bound to
remain an authoritative source on a vitally important subject.
Library Journal . . . the book can be compelling and even,
melodramatic as it may sound, frightening reading. Booklist As part
of its Library Awareness Program, the Federal Bureau of
Investigation conducted numerous counterintelligence activities in
libraries, including requesting confidential information on library
users based solely on their nationality. Written by a librarian
whose own institution was the target of such intrusions and who
later helped to develop confidentiality legislation, Surveillance
in the Stacks is the first book to document and analyze the FBI's
wide-ranging surveillance of libraries. Relying heavily on
previously classified FBI reports, the book traces the recent
history of federal library surveillance, documents the media and
congressional response to the Library Awareness Program, and
discusses the professional and legislative moves that have been
taken to safeguard library confidentiality. Following a brief
introduction, Herbert N. Foerstel begins his study with an overview
of library surveillance, its background and significant examples,
and a detailed analysis of the Library Awareness Program. Chapter 2
looks at the FBI's documented activities in libraries, including
their visits to Columbia University, New York University, the
University of Maryland, and the New York Public Library. The role
of librarians in surveillance is addressed in chapter 3, which
includes discussions of librarians as information filters, as
assets, and as potential KGB agents. The final chapter on law and
library surveillance, explores the issues of free speech and
inquiry, state confidentiality laws, and attempts at legal
restraints. The book also surveys the confrontation between the FBI
and the library profession and relates the content of numerous
disturbing FBI documents, including one that reveals an extended
investigation of librarians who criticized the Bureau's program.
This timely work will be an essential addition to the collections
of both public and academic libraries, as well as a useful resource
for courses in special libraries, library ethics, and first
amendment issues.
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