[Taltarzac725]

... and other places. As many on TOTV I hope know, I have been fighting for better practical resources for survivors/victims of crimes since around 1992 after I earned a JD from the University of Minnesota in 1989 and earlier a MA in Librarianship and Information Management from the University of Denver in 1984. This had been a problem I had discovered while dealing with the murder of my them high school English teacher's daughter, Michelle Mitchell, on my birthday of 2-24 in 1976. I had looked for materials to help myself and other students deal with the ongoing criminal investigation in Reno, NV and found very little of practical value from February 1976 onward. I looked in many law and public libraries in many different states while I earned my various degrees.

I also met an endemic problem from authorities seeming to want to keep victims/survivors weak in terms of their role in the judicial system.

I tried to get as many groups as I could to help with this niche from 1992 onward writing anyone and everyone I could think of to get involved with addressing this niche and shining a spotlight on it. I started to use the identifiers 224 (my birthday and the day of the murder of Michelle Mitchell) and 613 (my I.D. in a medical school study at the University of California SF Medical School in late 1992 and early 1993) while I wrote groups, celebrities, lawyers, professors, about how to address his niche in services.

The problem still seems to be there in many communities even though it certainly is not so bad because of the advent of Facebook, Twitter, and other resources which do level the playing field to a small extent.

I would really appreciate your help with this. What could be done with your aid is to have a dialog between local librarians, victim advocates, and concerned individuals about what would be the most useful resources to have accessible from Marion, Lake, Sumter and other area County libraries. More public awareness could also be drawn by having these resources accessible from these same Sheriffs' offices.

Think this is a very timely matter given the prospect that the Sumter County Library might be privatized. That does not mean that residents of the Villages and TOTV users still cannot have a say about what kind of resources are available through or at our local libraries.

I try not to harp on this too much on TOTV because of all the problems I had trying to do this on FINDLAW from 2000 through 2005 or so even though that was probably the most relevant way of delivering this message.

I have been doing this work since 1992 or so pro bono but I do think it has been worth it. Not just because of the fact that it is something useful to do with my 4 degrees nor because of the various letters and other correspondence from many interesting sources as well as the 24 nominations to Marquis Who's Who publications I had received from 1992 through 2002 but because it seems to fit in with the values of our Founding Fathers in giving citizens a fighting chance when confronted with our legal system.

I wanted to bring this up now because of the date-- June 13 (6-13) and because it seems very timely.

[CFrance]

Tal, what would be examples of practical resources for a victim/survivor of a crime? What would a library or other source legally be able to provide that they don't?

[TrudyM]

Originally Posted by CFrance

Tal, what would be examples of practical resources for a victim/survivor of a crime? What would a library or other source legally be able to provide that they don't?

Exactly! I got your vite and credentials but not the goal of your mission. For those of us who didn’t finish our masters could you explain exactly what you are trying to accomplish and how victim’s advocacy and support is the responsibility of a library. What materials do you want them to carry?

The details of a victim’s experience are their own and shouldn’t be out there for public consumption. If they want to share with other victims in a support group that’s fine but the public has no right to their pain. I am not getting your mission at all.

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by TrudyM

Exactly! I got your vite and credentials but not the goal of your mission. For those of us who didn’t finish our masters could you explain exactly what you are trying to accomplish and how victim’s advocacy and support is the responsibility of a library. What materials do you want them to carry?

The details of a victim’s experience are their own and shouldn’t be out there for public consumption. If they want to share with other victims in a support group that’s fine but the public has no right to their pain. I am not getting your mission at all.

I never said they should be out there for public consumption unless that is the choice of the survivor.

There are good resources out there now. I have been trying to get the Florida Victim Services Directory linked from all kinds of libraries as well as sheriff's offices. http://myfloridalegal.com/directory

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by CFrance

Tal, what would be examples of practical resources for a victim/survivor of a crime? What would a library or other source legally be able to provide that they don't?

Link for victims of crimes looking for information about area resources