ALA Positions 
Principles for a networked World
Eight years ago, a group of librarians met in Washington to discuss the Internet's potential impact on libraries. Their goal was to prepare a statement of principles to guide libraries in what was already shaping up to be a major policy reassessment in telecommunication and information policy. Printed in draft form, the principles were never fully adopted by ALA. Nevertheless, the draft version proved to be a helpful resource for library policy advocacy.
Possibly the most important and farsighted contribution of that draft statement was the overall message it carried -- that libraries have a huge stake in helping shape the ongoing digital revolution and that their voices should be heard in a wide range of policy debates.
ALA's OITP Advisory Committee and Committee on Legislation decided this year that it was time to revisit and possibly rewrite the principles. After all, eight years is an eternity in digital time. The Internet has grown by orders of magnitude in size and capability in that time. Nearly all libraries now provide their users with access to the Internet (compared to an estimated 10 percent of libraries in 1993.) Indeed, major policy fights have erupted and, as we expected, libraries are in the middle of them all.
We are no longer speculating on a future technology and the role libraries would play. Digital technology is now part of librarians' daily lives. Eight years ago, we were trying to predict what policy issues would emerge. Today most policy issues are better defined and the potential impacts on libraries clearer. [read more]
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Holiday Family Entertainment Suggestion
Simple, go see the first installment of the movie epic The Lord of the Rings
Some "Ring" resources:
