123 Meme: Libraries, National Security, Freedom of Information Laws and Social Responsibilities

Yet another blog meme, courtesy of folks at Chronicles of Dissent (by way of Threat Level). This time I’m supposed to grab the nearest book, open to page 123, go down to the 5th sentence and type up the 3 following sentences. Not sure why, or if someone is going to be patching all these together into some kind of mash-up, but I’ll play along…

The book closest to me is “Libraries, National Security, Freedom of Information Laws and Social Responsibilities,” an amazing report published by the IFLA/FAIFE detailing how libraries around the world are tackling barriers to freedom of access to information and freedom of expression, especially in relation to anti-terror legislation, freedom of information laws, and the social responsibilities of libraries such as raising awareness of HIV/AIDS and increasing women’s access to information.

Page 123 is a table, so we’ll use 124 instead, which is the opening section on the Czech Republic. Sentences 6-8 are as follows:

Internet user numbers in the Czech Republic are increasing and there is encouraging government support for public libraries. Levels of access in libraries have stayed the same since 2003, with 21-40% of public libraries offering access and 81-100% of research. Despite a shift in the national association’s position on filtering (from not in favour to in favour to a certain degree), the use of filtering software is not widespread in libraries.

I’m supposed to continue the meme by tagging five new blogs to participate. Here goes:

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