Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!drgate!sean From: sean@drgate.dra.com (Sean Donelan) Subject: Re: Lifestyle Information (Library Records) Message-ID: <1991Apr21.072056.3809@drgate.dra.com> Organization: Data Research Associates, Inc. References: <1991Apr17.215136.5150@hobbit.gandalf.ca> <1991Apr18.154841.15621@Think.COM> Date: Sun, 21 Apr 1991 07:20:56 GMT The policy on library records can vary from place to place. In a public library, borrower history's are usually treated as confidential information. Public libraries generally won't reveal information without a court order, and even then attempt not to keep information. Library automation systems are designed to obliterate as much of the identifying information as quickly as possible. After returning a book (and paying any fines), it would take a skilled program to recover the information. Within a day the information would pass into the realm of the NSA magnetic-oxide readers, depending on individual library policies (database recovery files are nasty things for holding onto information like this). A corporate library is often at the opposite end. Supervisors may look at records in the normal course of business. Academic libraries may fall in either ground. Some places treat the library as being under the faculty senate (eg. certain faculty members may request to see the library records to check for things like plagerism, or that students are doing their reserve room readings). However most places tend to treat library borrowering records like other student records, such as transcripts and the like. A few have firm policies about not revealing such information except under court order (or to the borrower themselves). I work with a number of librarians, and was rather amazed at how many of them had been called in to court to and ordered to turn over borrower records. Actually it would turn out they would have to explain why they didn't keep such records. In most states library records are not legally protected, hence the reason why libraries try not to keep them at all.