Have you noticed that Wikipedia and other sites are “blacked out” today?

Many tech companies have decided to go dark for 24 hours on January 18, 2012 as an advocacy move to fight against adoption of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and a related act dubbed PIPA that seek to regulate online piracy and copyright infringement.  These opponents are concerned about potential threats to privacy and the open-ness of the internet.

For more on the issue, here are some resources:

• UST Summon search on SOPA
• Point of View Reference Center Search
• Wikipedia’s take
• American Library Association info on SOPA

For usable, every day quality information as an alternative (or in addition to) Wikipedia, try some of these UST Libraries subscription resources:

• Summon: Google-like search of library resources (use as is, or search and click “Reference” box at left to limit to online encyclopedia articles)
• Encyclopedia Britannica online
• Primary UST Online encyclopedias
• UST online & print encyclopedia finder (hundreds of specialized encyclopedias for all subject areas available)

Ask a Librarian if you’d like some help.