Alabama Library Challenges (Gadsden - Etowah County Public Library)
Submitted | Jan. 20, 2014 |
Est. Completion | None |
MuckRock users can file, duplicate, track, and share public records requests like this one. Learn more.
Communications
From: Chris Peterson
To Whom It May Concern:
We are a team of academic researchers studying information access and availability in public schools and libraries. We are contacting you as part of a national effort to help us better understand the scope and substance of the various challenges which arise in the course of administering a public library system or public school system.
Under Alabama's Public Records Law, we are requesting copies of the following public records:
-any complaints, requests, and/or challenges for removal, reclassification, and/or reconsideration of publications including books, magazines, movies, music, and/or other media, along with any associated records, petitions, and/or correspondence since January 1, 2003
-any current collection or curriculum development policy or policies governing your institution(s)
-any records related to Internet filtering, including but not limited to:
-any current acceptable use policies, web publishing policies, or equivalents
-any current contracts with Internet filtering services and/or providers
-any current categories of content which your provider offers to block, along with which categories your library or libraries currently block
-any modifications to the standard configuration of your filter, including lists of sites, services, URLs, keywords, or other identifiers which have been specifically configured as forbidden or allowed (i.e. "blacklists/whitelists")
We will use these records in our research. Please note that we are not asking for registration, circulation, or other private records protected by state law, and you should feel free to redact personally identifiable information from the records you send us, at your discretion.
You may respond to this request by sending electronic documents (e.g. emails, screen captures, spreadsheets, etc) or high-quality scanned PDFs to this inbox. If you cannot respond by email, please fax copies to 206-984-9551, with “MIA” written clearly at the top of the first page. If you do not have any documents responsive to our request, or if you have questions about how to respond, then you may email us at this inbox. In order to assist you in responding to our request, we have also posted guidelines and examples at http://mappinginfoaccess.org.
We understand that there may be fees associated with responding to our request. We ask that you waive any such fees in light of our project’s character, which is non-commercial, academic, open, and firmly in the public interest. If you are unable to waive fees, and if they are in excess of $20, please contact us with an estimate of fees before responding.
Thank you in advance for helping us better understand the important work that you do. If you have any questions about our request or our project, please email us at: team [at] mappinginfoaccess [dot] org.
Sincerely,
Emily Knox
Assistant Professor
Graduate School of Library & Information Science
University of Illinois
Shannon M. Oltmann
Assistant Professor
School of Library & Information Science
University of Kentucky
Chris Peterson
Researcher
Center for Civic Media, Media Lab
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 20, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thank you for your help.
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 20, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thank you for your help.
From: Amanda Jackson
We have had no complaints. Please remove me from your email list.
--
Amanda Buckner Jackson
Director
Gadsden Public Library
Gadsden Museum of Art
254 College Street
Gadsden, AL 35901
256-549-4791
Fax 256-549-4766
www.gadsdenlibrary.org
From: MuckRock
Hello,
Thank you for confirming that your library has had no challenges for the indicated time period. Could you please respond to the following portions of the original records request:
-any current collection or curriculum development policy or policies governing your institution(s)
-any records related to Internet filtering, including but not limited to:
-any current acceptable use policies, web publishing policies, or equivalents
-any current contracts with Internet filtering services and/or providers
-any current categories of content which your provider offers to block, along with which categories your library or libraries currently block
-any modifications to the standard configuration of your filter, including lists of sites, services, URLs, keywords, or other identifiers which have been specifically configured as forbidden or allowed (i.e. "blacklists/whitelists")
Thank you for your help, and have a fantastic weekend!
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 20, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thank you for your help.
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 20, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thank you for your help.
From: Amanda Jackson
Not to be rude, but I've responded to this email already. I also believe
one of my other staff members has responded as well. You keep sending me
the same email. I realize that you are gathering data for a study, and I
also realize you have had issues with libraries in Alabama responding. I
imagine the reason you are having issues is that you fail to acknowledge
when an email has been sent and your wording feels very threatening to
small public libraries, many of whom are unaccustomed to having Alabama
Public Law quoted in email requests.
To reply again and for the last time. We have not had any challenges to
materials. We do not have a formal collection development policy. We have a
form for patrons to fill out should they take issue with anything in our
collection, but it has never been filled out. If our internet is filtered,
that would come through our IT company, so I don't have that information.
Now you have sent me this email SIX times. I responded three emails ago.
Please review YOUR policies for requesting information from libraries and
consider my responsibilities to this study fulfilled. I expect that this
will be the last time I get the same email from you and the last time I
respond.
Amanda B. Jackson
--
Amanda Buckner Jackson
Director
Gadsden Public Library
Gadsden Museum of Art
254 College Street
Gadsden, AL 35901
256-549-4791
Fax 256-549-4766
www.gadsdenlibrary.org
From: MuckRock
Ms. Jackson -
I do apologize for the frustration. As you can see in the email chain below, on March 28 we sent an email requesting clarification on your response. In particular, we requested:
Could you please respond to the following portions of the original records request:
-any current collection or curriculum development policy or policies governing your institution(s)
-any records related to Internet filtering, including but not limited to:
-any current acceptable use policies, web publishing policies, or equivalents
-any current contracts with Internet filtering services and/or providers
-any current categories of content which your provider offers to block, along with which categories your library or libraries currently block
-any modifications to the standard configuration of your filter, including lists of sites, services, URLs, keywords, or other identifiers which have been specifically configured as forbidden or allowed (i.e. "blacklists/whitelists")
According to our records we have not received any response to these portions of this records request, and as such we continued to send followup requests. Please excuse our error if you sent materials responsive to these queries previously, but we did not receive them.
Thank you again for your help, and please let us know if you have already sent these materials. We by no means wish to disrespect your time with unnecessary emails.
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 20, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thank you for your help.
From: Amanda Jackson
I would appreciate it if you would read the thread you sent me this
morning. We've gone over this more than once, and I was assured last time
we discussed this that it would be the LAST time. For the final time, take
me off of your list. Failure to remove me from your email blast will be
considered harassing communication, considering I have already given you
all of the information I have and I have explained more than once that I
have given you said information. Harassing communication will be turned
over to our city attorney. I appreciate what you are trying to do, but this
has to be the most unprofessional way to request information that I have
ever seen.
Amanda B. Jackson
--
Amanda Buckner Jackson
Director
Gadsden Public Library
Gadsden Museum of Art
254 College Street
Gadsden, AL 35901
256-549-4791
Fax 256-549-4766
www.gadsdenlibrary.org
Files
There are no files associated with this request.