"Armed and dangerous," "revolutionary artist," and "fugitive." These are only a few of the descriptors of Abbie Hoffman that you'll find in the FBI File on Abbie Hoffman, a recent Brandeis University Libraries microfilm acquisition.

Hoffman, a Brandeis alumnus (Class of 1959), is widely known for his political activism in the '60's and '70's. He gained notoriety with his involvement in the protests at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, where he was arrested for appearing in public with an obscene word on his forehead. Hoffman and six other protesters, who became known as the "Chicago Seven," were later charged with conspiracy and with crossing state lines to incite riot.

The microfilmed FBI file on Hoffman includes memos, reports, interviews and court transcripts, newspaper clippings, and surveillance logs. One document in the microfilm collection is a request for the Boston Office of the FBI to "check the records at Brandeis University for pertinent background information concerning the subject."

Other interesting documents in the collection include: documents referring to Hoffman's conviction on 20 December 1968 on a charge of "Defiling the American Flag" by wearing a shirt resembling the flag; summaries of speeches made at numerous campuses across the country; various flyers distributed by the Youth International Party (aka "Yippies"), of which Hoffman was a founding member; and a copy of his personal address book in his possession when he was arrested on 18 May 1971.

The FBI File on Abbie Hoffman is a fine addition to other materials relating to Abbie Hoffman held by the Libraries. Along with books by and about Abbie Hoffman in the main collection, the Farber Archives has documentation and photographs of Hoffman's visits to Brandeis. The "Images of Brandeis--1948-1998" exhibit currently on display in the Main Library features a photograph of Hoffman giving a lecture at Brandeis in 1972.

The Farber Archives also has the records of the National Strike Center, created in 1970 at Brandeis to document political unrest at college campuses across the country. This collection includes the FBI files of people who were associated with Brandeis at the time.

Darwin Scott

Creative Arts Librarian

As the Brandeis University Libraries continue to expand access to electronic information, we have begun to encounter publishers and information providers who require user registration before granting entry to their data files. We find this policy objectionable not only because it compromises the privacy of the user, but also because licensing terms and conditions that unduly restrict access to, and use of, a resource are contrary to the mission and philosophy of the Brandeis University Libraries. As a member of the Boston Library Consortium, we participate with the International Coalition of Library Consortia (ICOLC) in endorsing the recently issued Statement of Current Perspective and Preferred Practices for the Selection and Purchase of Electronic Information: http://www.library.yale.edu/consortia/statement.html. The Statement affirms that "the anonymity of individual users and the confidentiality of their searches must be fully protected" (III.D.4).

Yet the Brandeis Libraries face a dilemma when the choice is between strict adherence to these principles and the need to provide access to information of importance to the Brandeis community.

One publisher requiring user registration is the Cambridge University Press. The Libraries currently provide online access to all 27 of this publisher's journals that are available in electronic form. The Libraries will not incur additional charges from Cambridge for electronic access to their publications as long as we maintain our print subscriptions to those same titles. Readers of these journals in electronic form will note that the publisher requires the user to fill out an "online registration" form that requests a name, organization, address, country, e-mail address, username, and a password before allowing access to the journals. After weighing several options and registering a complaint with the publisher (which pointed to the fact that no one must register to read the journals in print form), the Libraries have decided that despite serious concern for users' privacy, we cannot deny authorized Brandeis users access to the online versions of the Cambridge University Press journals. The Cambridge University Press claims that they only wish to know which articles are being read at what university and how often, but they fail to explain why they also want personal information from the reader.

Users of the online versions of the Cambridge University Press journals should note that there is no connection or cross-check between the information entered on the online registration form and the domain name already registered by the Brandeis University Libraries to enable automatic access to the journals. The information entered on the form is left to the user to define; the information entered will not affect the automatic connection to the resource.

Unfortunately, we expect an increasing number of publishers and information providers to require potential users to fill out similar registration forms before allowing access to the digital information they control. Users should be aware of this hidden cost of electronic information.

Ann Schaffner

Associate University Librarian

for Research Services,

Instruction and Planning

The Libraries will be conducting a campus-wide user survey early in the second semester. Surveys will be distributed to a selected sample of undergraduates, graduate students and faculty. While the survey questionnaire is still being designed, we hope to get a better understanding of how users on campus make use of the Libraries, to what extent our new electronic services are used, and how our users' research practices are changing in a constantly evolving information environment. We will be working with the Faculty Library Committee to review and finalize the survey form over the next several weeks.

Across the country in recent years, libraries have renewed their efforts to study their users and their needs. User-centered management models and new technologies have driven libraries to take a new look at users and services in planning for the future. Libraries such as the University of California/San Diego, MIT and the University of Arizona have been leaders in this area. UCSD surveys are quite detailed, while Arizona has a brief survey running continually on its Web Page. Results from the Arizona survey are compiled every two weeks and reported back to staff.

The Brandeis Libraries have conducted several user surveys over the past 10 years. In 1989 a thorough user survey was distributed to selected undergraduate students and to all faculty and graduate students. In 1993 a series of focus groups was held, partly in preparation for the accreditation visit. In the fall of 1995, the Information Services survey, covering computing and some library issues, was distributed to all faculty and administrative staff.

The Libraries have been proactive in following up on issues raised in these studies. The 1993 Focus Group survey, in particular, noted dissatisfaction with shelving of books, noise in study areas, the training of student workers, public relations, and the inadequacy of electronic resources. As a result, the Libraries launched a number of initiatives--the new noise policy and quiet areas, changes in shelving practices, and the Electronic Library Initiative effort to increase electronic resources.

We are excited about the opportunity to take another look at our users' needs. We will reassess how the changes we have made have had an impact, and seek to identify new areas of concern. Many of the standard features of today's library--Web resources, email reference, electronic reserves--were unheard of at the time of the earlier surveys. The Brandeis Libraries and our users have changed in response to new technologies and programs.

We're looking forward to your participation in the survey. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments.