Date of Award

5-2003

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Departmental Honors

Department

Art and Design

Abstract

The USA Patriot Act has created a furor of opinion among the library community. Many oppose the Act's affect on First Amendment rights and governmental access to library records. To investigate the opinion of Utah State University students, a survey was conducted among a random sample of 100 students. The results indicated that student opinion conforms to conservative Utah as most of the respondents believe the government can access library records if they have a court issued search warrant. Students felt it important that the suspect be informed of the investigation. Only 22% of respondents had heard of the Patriot Act, a significant number of who were less likely to believe in an equal balance between national security and civil liberties. Librarians at USU can use the results of this survey to continue to better serve their patrons.

Included in

Privacy Law Commons

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Faculty Mentor

Daniel Wema

Departmental Honors Advisor

Mary E. Leavitt