Learned about this story two days ago and by the time I could put something together it has zipped around the internet already. Long story short: blogging academic librarian (and librarian.net favorite Dale Askey) makes negative probably-factual statements about a publisher. Publisher sues librarian and his current employer (who was not his employer at the time of the blog post) for millions of dollars for libel. Not okay, right? While the suit will probably prove groundless, it’s a waste of people’s time and money and an assault on the idea of academic and intellectual freedom. Please inform yourself and spread the word about Edwin Mellen Press’ wrongheaded decision to sue a librarian for writing about his negative impressions of their products.
- I first read about this here. Additional links including the “notice of action” are here.
- Specifics at Inside Higher Ed here
- Read the deleted-but-archived blog post in question here.
- McMaster’s public statement is here.
- A very nice “What can be done” assessment. In short: consider removing any automatic purchases from Mellen Press
- Dale’s blog and his twitter feed
- BoingBoing and Gawker have taken notice.
- If you are the petition signing type, please sign this petition.