Responses to "Orphan Works" and Fernandez on Privacy

I am actually working in the Digital Commons database at URI this summer (through a grant received by Special Collections), and am inputting over 200 Theses and Major Papers from graduate students in the Marine Affairs program.  Most of these date from the early 1970s through the mid-1980s.  If any of these research papers have been published to a journal or magazine in the past, and the authors, or there descendants, have not been contacted for permission can they be considered "orphan works?"

Peter Fernandez, Reference Librarian at University of Texas, Knoxville is a prolific writer on social networking media and deals with many issues inherent in them that need to be considered.  There are several key points mentioned that I agree with wholeheartedly. Users must realize that social networking sites are motivated by profit, so linking to personal information is important to them which can undermine privacy. On the other hand, librarians have an ethical commitment to patron privacy. His mention of two 2007 studies was revealing--on one hand 19% of librarians expressed concern over privacy issues, yet a PEW study claimed that 85% of adults say privacy issues, especially control over access to personal info is "very important."  Considering the rise of social networking sites in the last 4 years, I wonder if the librarians' view has changed.

If libraries consider utilizing Facebook for outreach they should keep users informed about the available security settings available to them in FB, and by inserting announcements regarding privacy on their FB pages. In an academic setting, it is important to include privacy issues during each information literacy instructional session.  Also, it is necessary for libraries to respect users' boundaries as stated by danah boyd "You should enter the students' social networking space only as a mentor and only as invited."  Another key area is establishing a policy regarding the use of social networking media and privacy issues.  Fernandez brings up an interesting question concerning contacting students about overdue books if recent contact information is outdated?  If the student is not a "friend" of the library, would this be an invasion of privacy?

Loraine