The Center for Information Policy Research supports the principles of intellectual freedom, as defined by Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers
CIPR has engaged in and supported research focusing on the challenges to intellectual freedom, including book challenges, Internet filtering, and related information policies.
Educational and outreach activities in support of intellectual freedom have included hosting Banned Books Week events, sponsoring workshops on book challenges for librarians, and sponsoring the Intellectual Freedom Award given jointly by the Wisconsin Library Association (WLA) and the Wisconsin Educational Media and Technology Association (WEMTA).
To assist in research on intellectual freedom and the rights of library patrons to read, seek information, and speak freely, CIPR has archived local challenges to public library materials. We strive to collect and make available all relevant complaint materials, news reports, public comments, relevant communications available through public records requests.
Working with professor Dr. Nadine Kozak, CIPR received funding from the UW-Milwaukee “Research Growth Initiative” internal grant program to launch a research project to assess how libraries are implementing CIPA-mandated filtering – along with the legal exception to remove the filters for adults on-demand.