Interesting People mailing list archives
They are kidding -- I hope
From: David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>
Date: Wed, 25 Aug 1993 10:18:53 -0500
In yesterday's Greenville (S.C.) News, there was an article with the headline "New interpretation says theses are records, not research tools." To quote from the article: "The Federal Department of Education has ruled that master's and doctoral theses--research papers normally bound and put on the shelves at schools nationwide--are student 'educational records,' much like grade reports. That means that they can not be checked out of libraries, sent to faraway researchers, or called up through computer databases without the author's permission, the News & Observer of Raleigh (N.C.) reported." The article goes on to say that making theses and dissertations available for public use without the author's permission is a violation of the Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act. Ways to comply with the law include having current students sign a waiver, tracking down former students to get permission, or taking authors' names off theses (this last has interesting implications for cataloging!). There are obviously many implications for libraries here. I'd like to know if this has been publicized elsewhere, and what thoughts people have (aside from utter incredulity) on this. (FYI--this was an Associated Press story from out of Raleigh, N.C.) Thanks. Lisa Bodenheimer, Clemson University, Clemson, SC Lisa Bodenheimer, Clemson University, Clemson, SC bodenhl@clemson
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