Second Mellen Press Lawsuit Against Dale Askey Continues, Canadian Library Association Offers Support
Update 4/1/2013): University of California’s Council of University Librarians’ Issues Statement in Support of Dale Askey
Statement includes asking for Mr. Herbert Richardson to drop remaining case.
Update (3/11/2013): ARL (Association of Research Libraries) and CARL (Canadian Association of Research Libraries) are urging that the second law suit against Dale Askey be dropped.
Here’s their joint statement. Also available here.
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As infoDOCKET pointed out the other day when Mellen Press ended one lawsuit with librarian Dale Askey and McMaster University there continues to be another lawsuit naming only Askey as defendant. The suit is being brought by Mellen Press founder, Herbert Richardson over alleged additional defamatory remarks about him personally.
We now know that this ‘second lawsuit’ is moving forward.
The other day Against-The-Grain noted that Askey tweeted about the current situation.
Today, the Canadian Libary Association shared their continuing support for Dale Askey when they posted:
CLA continues to monitor the legal action taken against Dale Askey by the Edwin Mellen Press. While the lawsuit in which both McMaster and Askey are named has been dropped, the second lawsuit in which Askey is named as an individual remains.
CLA strongly reiterates our support of Dale Askey and of intellectual freedom. We urge Edwin Mellen Press to drop this second lawsuit against Dale Askey.
See Also: “Press Sues Librarian Over Negative Evaluation” (by Meredith Schwartz, Library Journal; February 11, 2013)
A bit more about the second lawsuit.
See Also: Dale Askey’s Twitter Stream
Kansas State University Shares This:
Kansas State University does not comment on pending litigation, but has been compelled by recent events to reaffirm its commitment to the free expression of opinion and ideas. The university supports the statement by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) that efforts by publishers to restrict free speech put teaching and research at risk.
In addition to ACRL, many other library and higher education associations as well as individuals have issued similar statements.
According to Kansas State University Provost and Senior Vice President April Mason, “When freedom of speech is imperiled the integrity of academic research may be compromised. The concerns raised about these events speak volumes about the significance of this issue.”
Filed under: Academic Libraries, Associations and Organizations, Companies (Publishers/Vendors), Libraries, News

About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com. Gary is also the co-founder of infoDJ an innovation research consultancy supporting corporate product and business model teams with just-in-time fact and insight finding.