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Greetings All: I am replying to Sharon and the list as a former Deputy State Librarian (Ohio) who was, by definition, a public employee. With certain exceptions, whatever I did on state time using state resources was subject to disclosure under applicable open records legislation. I didn't like it but those were the rules. One learned to use private communication channels and one's own time for what one wanted to remain private. Although a long time professional librarian, I have a Ph.D. in higher education administration. I learned early in my studies that in the "public" higher education sector of the United States the history of self-governance is quite different from the privileged status of some of our private universities or some of our Latin American brethren. In Latin America, a number of long-established university traditions reflect a status that resembles an independent entity. Conversely, in the U.S., if a professor is legally a state employee and uses state resources to create "work products," those same products are often subject to public disclosure according to the applicable open records laws. I don't like it but it comes with the territory. Perhaps the University of Wisconsin ought to go private? With regards, Bill Bill Crowley, Ph.D. Professor Graduate School of Library and Information Science Dominican University 7900 West Division Street River Forest, IL 60305 708.524.6513 v 708.524.6657 f [log in to unmask] www.gslis.dom.edu -----Original Message----- From: Open Lib/Info Sci Education Forum [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Sharon McQueen Sent: Monday, April 04, 2011 7:54 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Academic Freedom & Open Records Laws Hello All, LIS educators respect and uphold academic freedom.* The library field has struggled to balance privacy issues and open records laws. Given this, I am very interested to know what LIS educators think of the current national debate on William Cronon (UW-Madison Frederick Jackson Turner and Vilas Research Professor of History, Geography, and Environmental Studies) and the Open Records Law request for emails from his university email account. Abusing Open Records to Attack Academic Freedom http://scholarcitizen.williamcronon.net/2011/03/24/open-records-attack-o n-academic-freedom/ "...It is precisely this fear of intellectual inquiry being stifled by the abuse of state power that has long led scholars and scientists to cherish the phrase 'academic freedom' as passionately as most Americans cherish such phrases as 'free speech' and 'the First Amendment.'" GOP fails to get all of professor's email: University of Wisconsin chancellor cites academic freedom, privacy By Don Walker of the [Milwaukee] Journal Sentinel http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/119103214.html Comments? Opinions? Sherri *"As LIS educators, we respect and uphold academic freedom and protect the freedom to learn and to teach." ALISE Ethics Guidelines Statement http://www.alise.org/mc/page.do?sitePageId=103911 Sharon McQueen School of Library and Information Studies University of Wisconsin-Madison Room 4252 Helen C. White Hall 600 N. Park Street Madison, WI 53706 Phone: (608) 205-2234 Fax: (608) 263-4849 https://mywebspace.wisc.edu/smcqueen/web/