Army to lift ban on public access to online library

Shortly after sealing off public access to the Web-based Reimer Digital Library, the Army has reversed its decision, according to the Federation of American Scientists.This follows a Feb. 6 policy decision to place the library behind the Army Knowledge Online firewall, which restricts access to password-protected user accounts.The decision to block public Web surfers from Reimer surprised federation members because the library contains unclassified and nonsensitive documents.A week after the policy went into effect, the federation filed a Freedom of Information Act request asking the Army to release all unclassified information housed at Reimer with the intention of posting all the information on the organization’s own Web site. The federation also had pledged to file regular FOIA requests to update the mirror site.Alverita Mack, a FOIA officer at Fort Eustis, Va., where the Reimer library is located, said that the Army Training Doctrine and Command organization was in the process of making the library accessible again. However, she didn’t know when it would be ready.