theorywatch

So are those librarians who make their patrons’ circulation and access records unavailable for inspection by government agencies “ethical disinformationists”, similar in a sense to “ethical hackers”? “Gaming the system” through probing its weaknesses in order to protect and improve its overall structure? One of the things that I don’t recall as being mentioned in the debate about the rush to digitization is librarians’ role in protecting patrons’ privacy, which has become increasingly critical. When Google Books becomes the default, who will play the thankless role of “ethical disinformationists”?