I must say, I was very disturbed by the article I read this morning in the Chronicle (of Higher Education).
Dale Askey, a University Librarian at McMaster University is being sued by the publishing company Edwin Mellen Press, after making disparaging comments about the company on his personal blog Bibliobrary.
According to this morning's article, in a blog post Askey referred to the company as "dubious" and saying its books were often works of "second-class scholarship (New 2013)." The founder of the publishing entity, Herbert Richardson, is now suing the librarian for more than $1 million dollars for libel for his comments.
Does anyone else see something completely wrong about this? First of all, FREEDOM OF SPEECH. I'm sure there's that right in Canada, where this is all taking place, too.
Second, as Librarians it is our job to question, test, and evaluate products and resources so we make sure we are meeting the absolute needs of our patrons. I've done several resource reviews in the past and honestly not all of them have been favorable. I use my judgement and my experience as a Librarian to weed out the products that would cost either too much for what's be offered or are just plain bad and not helpful. We are the gatekeepers of information-- the battle cry of Librarians everywhere. If we can't give our candid opinions about a product or company on our personal blogs, then there is something absolutely wrong with this industry.
What do you think?
Take a look at the article Librarians Rally Behind Blogger Sued by Publisher Over Critical Comments by Jake New here.
-Black Librarian
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