Are We Lawyers or Librarians?: Bibliographical Defenders of Information

Abstract

Since the passage of the USA PATRIOT Act in 2001, numerous librarians have stepped forward and boldly voiced their opposition to this legislation. In particular,, librarians are concerned that the Act has the potential to grossly violate the privacy of library patrons. This paper seeks to corroborate this argument by providing a historical analysis of limits placed upon information seekers under Soviet Communist rule. The Soviet Union is used as an object lesson to raise awareness of the potential of the USA PATRIOT Act to similarly interfere with privacy rights, and calls for American librarians' continued resistance.