The Censorship Debate The Human Rights Issue Our Internet Society Protecting our Privacy “Issues” series

Citation

Hannabuss, S. (2007), "The Censorship Debate The Human Rights Issue Our Internet Society Protecting our Privacy “Issues” series", Library Review, Vol. 56 No. 5, pp. 423-425. https://doi.org/10.1108/00242530710750644

The appearance in 2006 of latest titles like The Censorship Debate and The Human Rights Issue (two of a longer list that includes Grief and Loss, Self‐Esteem and Body Image, Focus on Sport, and Transport Trends, some replacing earlier issues), triggers the need to review this influential and popular series for school and college libraries and curricula, and for public libraries.

The four in the “Issues” series identified for review were chosen because they not only represent a wide‐ranging series used in schools and libraries (others are available on poverty and animal rights, genetic modification and mental wellbeing, money matters and parenting, confronting cancer and gambling), but also because they are of professional (information‐related) interest to library and information practitioners. The series is available in print and online (the online option allows for fast searches across articles, links say to lobbies and relevant organizations, and choices on logging‐on), and, online or not, a termly index to the series, currently compiled by Ann Shooter, is down‐loadable, indexing the series with comprehensive accuracy (some libraries use it as a reference resource in its own right).

A common format is to draw on a wide range of source materials like government reports and statistics, newspapers and broadcasting organizations, internet material, information from interest and lobby groups (like the Internet Watch Foundation, Liberty, Privacy International, and the International Labour Organization). Content is usually presented in an frequently asked question (FAQ) format, using different type‐faces and colours for clarity. Illustrations (including cartoons and graphs) are often used. Though copyright‐protected, “the purchaser is free to make multiple copies of particular articles for instructional purposes for immediate use” (the fair dealing exception) (online arrangements should be checked). Each issue lists contents clearly at the start, provides key facts (and often a glossary) at the back (along with lists of key organizations and contacts), and often cross‐references to others in the Issues series (a good argument for using the index, having the series, and going online). All are transparently angled for young people (mainly secondary and college) as well as interested older readers who want a quick overview (and teachers looking for useful material).

So much for generic features. The Censorship Debate itself opens up the freedom of expression and free speech debate, targetting two current (at 2005‐2006) issues for special attention – the Danish Muslim cartoons and the self‐censorship of Google in China. These are more than topical because they open up social and political, legal and cultural issues surrounding censorship, and a variety of viewpoints (like Human Rights Watch and Muslim News) appears. Further research in classroom, library and at home naturally follows from such material. On then to censorship and regulation, with debate about film censorship and classification, screen violence and its alleged effect on young people, and controversial pieces from the press about behaviour and parental responsibility. References to UK television programmes like Big Brother and EastEnders indicate that a UK readership in the main is intended, a point that librarians outside the UK should consider before purchase.

Turning to The Human Rights Issue, the first half deals with young people's rights (the convention on the rights of the child, lowering the voting age, rights and physical violence, child labour, rights at school), all topical issues for current debate and research. The second half looks at the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Human Rights Act (again an FAQ approach), teasing out the implications with forced labour and slavery, refugees and torture, surveillance and identity cards and privacy. A liberal democratic agenda here does not detract from the hard‐hitting‐ness of the material, finely tuned as it is to the intellectual and emotional approach likely to be attractive to young people, and leading on to more probing inquiry.

The other two issues in the four selected for review here date from 2005, Our Internet Society, and from 2004, Protecting our Privacy. It is difficult to say anything that is new about the internet in general, so Our Internet Society moves quickly on to children online, electronic shopping and banking, employment and confidentiality, and online learning. These are more hooks to hang individual and group inquiry on to, often in a structured library environment. Understandably perhaps, it then moves on to the dangers of the internet, taking an Internet Watch Foundation approach to them – online risks from porn and spam, computer addiction, the copyright dangers of file‐sharing, and simply being net‐wise.

Finally, Protecting our Privacy, very much a subject with a popular (and populist) edge. The debate about privacy and surveillance underlies the identity cards and passports debates currently taking place in many countries. Then there is consumer privacy (say from RFID identification), privacy and CCTV, arguments for enhancing privacy law, and employee privacy. Stepping back and looking at them all, and the series itself, if you already know them (and even subscribe), you will know what they have to offer; if you do not. I hope that this review alerts you to them. Their popularity in schools is clear. They maintain a good high standard, regular updates are made, and the online option is attractive. For cash‐strapped library budgets, where being practical is paramount, the “Issues” series beats its rivals into touch, and acts like a portal in pointing forward to a lot of other things. Critically, too, its content challenges discussion, and the debates it raises will run and run.