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By Staff -- Library Journal, 5/15/2007

Presidential debate

There is much more at stake than “opposition to Bush's policies” in the controversy over the proposed site of the Bush presidential library at Southern Methodist University (“SMU's Bush Plans Protested,” News, LJ 2/15/07, p. 26). Executive Order 13233, signed by President Bush on November 1, 2001, places new limits on access to the records of former U.S. Presidents. The E.O. grants former chief executives broad discretion over the release of their records and extends that discretion to a President's heirs. Presidential records, a fundamental resource in the historical analysis of a President's tenure, once again become effectively the private property of Presidents and their families.

The Bush E.O. flaunts the notion set forth in the Presidential Records Act of 1978 that the “United States shall reserve and retain complete ownership, possession, and control” of presidential records and undermines every notion of transparency and neutrality that makes presidential records, and presidential libraries, valuable to future generations of researchers. Concern in the academic and research community has widened over details about a political institute that would accompany the library and conduct research on issues to be determined by Bush, and quite possibly his heirs, well into the latter half of the century.

The debate over the location of the George W. Bush Presidential Library should not be about whether Bush has been a good or even a likable President but should instead focus on whether his presidential library will be a place to conduct scholarship or to launch a partisan agenda.

The faculty at SMU are right to be concerned about what this facility might do to their academic reputation. Librarians, archivists, and historians should seize this opportunity to again raise the issue of Executive Order 13233 before the public and Congress to ensure that future scholars will have unfettered access to the core documents of our historical and political heritage.—Kevin McClure, Chicago & Bill Sleeman, Baltimore

Librarians who read “LC's Qur'an Featured at Swearing-In” (News, LJ 2/15/07, p. 17) will also be interested to know that the personal library of President John Adams also contained a copy of the Qur'an, first published in the United States in 1806 by Isaiah Thomas. I believe it was translated from “Arabick” to French then to English. The entire Adams library was on display, all 3700 volumes, at the Boston Public Library until April 1, 2007. For an online view of the books with the famous Adams annotations, see www.johnadamslibrary.org.—Linda Stern, Reference Libn., MassBay Community Coll., Wellesley, MA

I wonder if the editors of LJ have any idea as to how many new public libraries are opening in 2007? I ask because I read so many existing public libraries are “cutting back” because of a lack of funding. I also think some in the public library field might be pleased to know that in Cheyenne, WY, a new $24 million Laramie County library will be opening in September 2007.—Joe Boyle, Cheyenne, WY

Ed Note: LJ's annual Architectural Issue (December) features new and renovated library buildings completed during the previous fiscal year. We may not find them all, but Cheyenne may show up there in 2008. In 2006, we reported 81 new public library buildings.

I'd like to make several points about the review of Hugh Barker and Yuval Taylor's Faking It: The Quest for Authenticity in Popular Music (LJ 2/15/07, p. 124). First, we, the authors, do not “blast rock'n'roll for its inauthenticity”; we praise it for its inauthenticity. Second, the reviewer charges that we never define authenticity. In the introduction and in chapter one, we break the idea of authenticity into its three main components—representational, cultural, and personal—and provide clear definitions of each. Third, we do not “create neat, exclusive boxes of good and bad genres.” We love rock'n'roll, disco, and heavy metal because of their theatricality and ridiculousness—in other words, their capacity to entertain. There are no good or bad genres in popular music. I am astonished at how thoroughly your reviewer misread our book.—Yuval Taylor, Chicago

The name of Lynn Lampert was misspelled in “Can Johnny Search?” (Online Databases, LJ 2/1/07, p. 30). Lampert also asks that we give readers the full citation to joint research mentioned in the column: Lynn D. Lampert & Katherine S. Dabbour, “Librarian Perspectives on Teaching Metasearch and Federated Search Techniques,” Internet Reference Services Quarterly, Vol. 12, Issue 3/4, scheduled for late 2007.

In “Bibliographic Control Future” (Digital Libraries, LJ 4/15/07, p. 34), the reference to “Bill Moen and his research team” didn't do justice to assistant professor Shawne D. Miksa, SLIS, Univ. of North Texas, Denton. Miksa was coprincipal investor on the project with Moen that evaluated the WorldCat database.