Leading library and information organisation adopts policy to defend right to uninhibited access to information
CILIP's governing Council affirms role of librarians as guardians of unfettered right to information
At its recent full meeting in Manchester, the governing Council of CILIP: the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals approved a position statement on Intellectual Freedom, Access to Information and Censorship which affirms the role of librarians as guardians of the unfettered right to information as CILIP policy.
The Council's decision establishes the principle that access to information should not be restricted on any grounds except that of the law. If publicly available material has not incurred legal penalties then it should not be excluded on moral, political, religious, racial or gender grounds, to satisfy the demands of sectional interest.
It determined that the same holds true for the emerging networked society, where the opportunities provided by information and communications technologies have revolutionised the way information is made available, but the fundamental principle remains constant. Building on this approach, the Council of Europe Guidelines on Public Access to and Freedom of Expression in Networked Information also received endorsement by CILIP Council.
The Guidelines detail a seven point approach to the practical issues of enabling and managing access to information in the era of the Internet and email. In addition to emphasising the right to unfettered access, they also stress the obligation to support information users in making their choices of information sources and services freely and confidently.
Employers of library and information staff are urged to embed these guidelines into their practice and to support the principle of uninhibited access to information, recognising the discretion that library and information staff will need to exercise in meeting the legitimate interests of their users.
The full text of CILIP's position statement on Intellectual Freedom, Access to Information and Censorship is available at www.cilip.org.uk/professionalguidance/foi.
Contact: Tim Buckley Owen, Head of Membership, Marketing & Media.
Tel: 020 7255 0652
Email: tim.buckleyowen@cilip.org.uk
Notes to Editors
CILIP: the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals is the leading professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge managers. It forms a community of around 35,000 people engaged in library and information work, of whom around 23,000 are CILIP Members and around 12,000 are regular customers of CILIP Enterprises.
CILIP members work in all sectors, including business and industry, science and technology, further and higher education, schools, local and central government, the health service, the voluntary sector, national and public libraries. For more information about CILIP, please go to www.cilip.org.uk.
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Updated: 03 January 2006