Tag Archives: Freedom of Information Day

American Library Association Honors Aaron Swartz with Madison Award

Posted on March 15, 2013 by | 5 Comments

Today, the American Library Association posthumously awarded activist Aaron Swartz the 2013 James Madison Award for his dedication to promoting and protecting public access to research and government information. ALA President, Maureen Sullivan presented the award to Swartz’s family during the 15th Annual Freedom of Information Day in Washington, D.C.

Before his untimely death in January, Swartz was an outspoken advocate for public participation in government and unrestricted access to peer-reviewed scholarly articles. Swartz was a co-founder of Demand Progress, an advocacy group that organizes people to take action on civil liberties and government reform issues. Swartz was also a leader in the national campaign to prevent the passing of the Stop Online Piracy Act, a bill that would have diminished critical online legal protections.

“Aaron loved libraries,” said Bob Swartz, Aaron’s father. “I remember how excited he was to get library privileges at Harvard and be able to use the Widener library there. I know he would have been humbled and honored to receive this award. We thank you. Aaron’s goal was to make knowledge freely available to everyone and we can all further his legacy by making this happen.”

“We are honored for Aaron to become the first person to win the James Madison Award posthumously,” said Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman, Swartz’s partner. “Librarians have always understood the importance of open access better than anyone, and they were great friends to Aaron. Aaron fought to ensure that the corpus of human knowledge would be available to anyone who wanted to learn, not just those with the privilege of access to a major research university.

“He saw the revolutionary potential of the internet in this regard. I hope that Aaron’s death and this award can serve as a wake-up call to the U.S. Congress and the federal government: We must no longer allow corporate greed to be the bottleneck to people’s access to academic knowledge.”

Swartz was revered as a gifted computer programmer long before he became a public activist.  He helped to develop the web feed format RSS, the website framework web.py and the social news website Reddit. As a teenager, Swartz designed the code layer for the Creative Commons licenses. Continue reading →

About Jazzy Wright

Jazzy Wright is the Press Officer of the American Library Association's Washington Office. Email her at jwright@alawash.org.

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Posted in Government Information, Intellectual Freedom, OGR, Open Access

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Freedom of Information Day 2013

Posted on February 25, 2013 by | 2 Comments

James Madison AwardPlease join us on March 15 to celebrate the 15th annual Freedom of Information Day at the Newseum’s Knight Conference Center in Washington, D.C. The day will feature a key note discussion with First Amendment attorney Floyd Abrams, subject of a new book, Nuanced Absolutism, by author and law professor Ronald L.K. Collins and a conversation on a forthcoming video documentary, “Whistleblowers”.

A highlight of the event will be the announcement of the ALA’s James Madison Award recipient, an award named in honor of President James Madison to honor individuals who have championed, protected and promoted public access to government information and the public’s right to know on the national level. As part of our presentation of the award, last year’s recipient Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) will speak on the importance of access to information.

The day’s events will begin at 8:30 a.m. and there is no charge to attend.  It would be helpful for any attendees to register in advance to ensure adequate seating.  To register, e-mail or telephone Ashlie Hampton of the First Amendment Center at ahampton@freedomforum.org or (202) 292-6288. When registering, please provide your name, title, affiliation and contact information for agenda updates and other news. A paid luncheon meal option will be offered at the time of registration.

This event is a celebration of James Madison’s March 16th birthday and is held in partnership with the First Amendment Center, OpenTheGovernment.org, the Project on Government Oversight, and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. The conference is also part of the annual Sunshine Week initiative sponsored by the American Society of News Editors and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

About Jessica McGilvray

Jessica McGilvary is the Assistant Director of ALA Washington Office's Office of Government Relations (OGR).

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Posted in Events, Government Information, OGR, Open Access

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American Library Association presents 2011 James Madison Award to Patrice McDermott

Posted on March 16, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Contact: Jenni Terry
Press Officer
ALA Washington Office
(202) 628-8410
jterry@alawash.org

For Immediate Release
March 16, 2011

WASHINGTON, D.C. – American Library Association (ALA) President Roberta Stevens today awarded the 2011 James Madison Award to Patrice McDermott, director of OpenTheGovernment.org, during the 13th annual National Freedom of Information Day Conference celebration at the Knight Conference Center at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. 

McDermott’s commitment to vigilantly defending our freedoms has included many accomplishments over the years.  Most recently, while at OpenTheGovernment.org, Patrice led an independent audit of federal agency open government plans. 

Prior to that, McDermott worked as the senior information policy analyst for OMB Watch, a nonprofit research, educational and advocacy organization whose goals include promoting public access to government information and encouraging broad public participation in government decision-making to promote a more open and accountable government. 

McDermott also previously served as deputy director of the ALA Office of Government Relations, where she led the office’s work on government information and privacy policy and e-government policy issues, and as the assistant director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom of the American Library Association in Chicago. 

During the ceremony, Stevens highlighted McDermott’s impact on ALA. 

“She joined the ALA Office of Government Relations just days after 9-11 and was a tremendous leader within our community – and for all of us here today – in the struggle to bring balance to the USA PATRIOT Act and the many related and very challenging issues on surveillance and privacy,” Stevens said. 

Stevens’ complete remarks can be viewed here. 

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About Jenni Terry

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Posted in Government Information, Intellectual Freedom, OGR, Washington Office News

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Celebrate Sunshine Week!

Posted on March 1, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Sunshine Week – the time to celebrate and investigate open government – is coming up soon, and this year the ALA is participating in two events. 

The first is the Freedom of Information Day celebration on March 16, where ALA President Roberta Stevens will present the Madison Award.

The second event is the annual OpenTheGovernment.org Sunshine Week Webcast. This year’s event, titled “ The Road Forward on Open Government,” will take place on March 18, from noon to 1:30 p.m.  To learn more about the event and discover how you can host a viewing party at your library, visit this site.

About Jenni Terry

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Posted in Government Information, OGR, Washington Office News

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Roberta Stevens to present Madison Award on Freedom of Information Day

Posted on February 22, 2011 by | Leave a comment

ALA President Roberta Stevens will present the Madison Award to honor this year’s recipient’s work to promote public access to government information and the public’s right to know during the March 16th Freedom of Information Day celebration at the Newseum. The full day of events includes panel discussions and presentations.  Lunch will also be provided.  If you live in or are planning to visit the DC Metro area and want to attend the event, please register today! 

This event is sponsored by the American Library Association, the First Amendment Center, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, OMB Watch, OpenTheGovernment.org, and the National Security Archive at George Washington University; and in cooperation with the annual Sunshine Week initiative sponsored by the American Society of News Editors. 

Registration
There is no charge to attend, but because there is somewhat limited space, participants must register individually in advance. To register for the 2011 conference, e-mail or telephone Ashlie Hampton of the First Amendment Center at ahampton@freedomforum.org, or 202-292-6288. When registering, please provide your name, title, affiliation and contact information.

About Jenni Terry

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Posted in Events, Intellectual Freedom, OGR

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