Canadian Library Association CLA Digest for June 2014

The Canadian Library Association (CLA) publishes a regular news bulletin known as CLA Digest.

In the most recent issue, there are a number of items that caught my interest:

• New Proposed Cyberbullying Law (C-13) is Well Intentioned but Introduces Serious Risks to Personal Privacy: "Based on the scope of the anti-cyberbullying measures, the CLA’s position is that Bill C-13 provides law enforcement agencies with greater access to private information such as metadata since the Bill allows internet service providers to voluntarily hand over private customer information to policing agencies without facing civil or criminal liability. As such, while Bill C-13 emphasizes judicial oversight when requesting private information from internet service providers by providing warrants to legitimate private information requests, since the Bill has no provisions which hold internet service providers (ISPs) accountable, it has the potential to result in major privacy violations for Canadians. More specifically, the CLA is concerned that Canadian libraries will be unable to provide effective library services to their users since libraries will be unable to ensure the necessary protections for patrons accessing their networks and resources."
• CLA Letters to Canadian Government Regarding WIPO VIP Treaty: "The Canadian Library Association (CLA), along with many other organizations and the print disabled community in Canada, celebrated the adoption of the WIPO Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled (VIP Treaty) on June 27, 2013. The Canadian Government was deservedly commended for its role in the successful completion of the negotiations. CLA notes that as of April 30, 2014 sixty-four countries have signed the VIP Treaty including the European Union and the United States. To date it is our understanding that Canada has not yet signed. CLA trusts that it is your Government’s intent to sign the VIP Treaty in a timely manner."
• Call for Proposals - EBLIP Fall Symposium: Librarians as Researcher : "The Centre for Evidence Based Library and Information Practice (C-EBLIP) Fall Symposium: Librarians as Researchers is a one-day conference (with complimentary registration, including breaks and lunch) designed to facilitate sharing, collaboration, and networking with the focus on librarians in their researcher roles.  The symposium will consist of a series of single-track sessions, along with a keynote address, and time for networking. The sessions will focus not only on the research being done by librarians, but also on why librarians are doing research – their motivations or inspirations." [the event is October 15, 2014 at the University Library, University of Saskatchewan]