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IFLA/FAIFE
Intellectual Freedom Statements
Library & Information Association New Zealand Aotearoa (LIANZA)
http://www.lianza.org.nz/index.htm
Access to Information
Statement adopted by the Council of the New Zealand Library Association, May 11,
1978.
The New Zealand Library Association asserts that:
- Free circulation of information safeguards our democratic society.
- The members of our society have a fundamental right to access to information.
A
basic right of citizens in a democratic society is access to information on matters which
affect their lives. At times the interests of the individual have to be subordinated to
the interests of the community in such matters as development of energy and mineral
resources, industry, town planning, transportation etc. Citizens have a right to be
informed of the facts involved and to participate in the decision-making process, e.g.
when activities such as massive alterations to the landscape and its use are proposed. The
right to be informed, to be consulted, and to intervene is essential and fundamental to
the democratic process.
- Equally, members of our society have a right to privacy and to protection from misuse
and exploitation of information.
A balancing right to that of access to information is
that of the community as a whole, and of its members, not to suffer from the misuse and
exploitation of the freedom of access to information. There is a growing trend to store
information relating to individuals in centralised computer data bases. This undoubtedly
facilitates the activities of administration, law enforcement, commerce, and industry, but
citizens must be assured that information relating to them is not detrimental to their
interests through inaccuracy or through exposure to the scrutiny of those who have no
proper interest in it.
- It is a basic function of democratic government to ensure and balance these at times
contradictory rights: that citizens are not denied access to information and that their
privacy is protected.
Those who govern must ensure that citizens are not impeded in
access to information touching themselves as individuals or as members of the community,
and that they are protected from inaccuracy and improper exploitation of information.
- Libraries, and particularly public libraries, are prime agencies for the dissemination
of information. Librarians have a duty to acquire, organise, and circulate information
freely to the communities they serve.
The basic aim of the library services is the
acquisition, organisation, and circulation of information. Librarians have a duty to
fulfil this aim, particularly as it relates to the collection, organisation, and
circulation of information on matters which affect individual members of the community or
the community as a whole. The New Zealand Library Association supports all measures which
will improve the ability of libraries to serve as public access points for information.
- Government agencies - national and local, Parliament, State Departments, public
corporations, and other authorities - have a duty to make reports and other documents
widely available for consideration by all citizens. The best way of doing this to use the
existing nationwide network of public libraries, which are open for all to use.
It is
not enough to send a selection of government publications to some libraries weeks after
they have been released. If the public is to participate meaningfully and effectively,
there must be quick and complete supply of new laws, reports and documents to public
libraries as soon as they become available. Citizens, especially if they live outside
Wellington, should not have to rely on news media reports alone for their facts.
- The New Zealand Library Association recognises that it may be difficult at times to
reconcile these principles of access to information and protection against its misuse, but
it insists that the right to be informed should be the chief consideration.
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