Jon Atack, "A Piece of Blue Sky", 91/10703 DSC

The request was refused by The British Library.

William Thackeray

Dear BL,

Under FOIA, I request that you provide, in electronic format to this email address, the following book:

Atack, Jon. A piece of blue sky : Scientology, Dianetics, and L. Ron Hubbard exposed / (New York, NY : Carol Pub. Group, 1990.) 91/10703 (081840499X)

Please include all pages. Monochrome will be fine.

Thank you for your help with this matter.

Yours faithfully,

William Thackeray

Fryer, Jonathan, The British Library

1 Attachment

Dear Mr. Thackeray,

Please find attached our response to your Freedom of Information request
1113.

<<110304 Response 1113.pdf>>

Yours sincerely,

Jonathan Fryer
Records Manager (Information Compliance)
Corporate Information Management Unit

E: [email address]
T: 020 7412 7334

The British Library
St Pancras
96 Euston Road
London
NW1 2DB

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William Thackeray left an annotation ()

Attachment reads:

William Thackeray
[FOI #63913 email]

04 March 2011

Dear Mr. Thackeray
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 – REQUEST 1113
Thank you for your request for information, which we received on 02 March 2011.
You asked us for the following book in electronic format:

Atack, Jon. A piece of blue sky : Scientology, Dianetics, and L.
Ron Hubbard exposed / (New York, NY : Carol Pub. Group, 1990.)
91/10703 (081840499X)

We confirm that the British Library does indeed hold a copy of this book in our
Collections. If you wish to inspect a copy of the work in question in our Reading
Rooms, this option is available to you using the Library’s normal Reader processes.
Details of how to become a Reader of the British Library can be found on our website
at: http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/inrrooms/stp/re...
The work in question is held by the Library as a Document Supply item, meaning that
it is held as a back-up copy for the public library service and can be made available
to you by your local public library. Please consult your local public library should you
wish to access the book in this way.
Alternatively, an online search of well known merchants reveals that the book in
question is widely available for sale, and will quickly and easily identify many copies
for purchase at reasonable prices.
In light of the above options, we have considered your request for information and
are writing to advise you that the information is being withheld under Section 21 of
the Freedom of Information Act.
Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 provides that information which is
reasonably accessible to the applicant other than by request under the Act is exempt
from disclosure. As this work is already available to you by other means we are not
required to provide a copy. Section 21 is an absolute exemption and therefore we are
not required to further consider the public interest in disclosure.
This letter therefore acts as a refusal notice under Section 17(1) of the Act.
If you are unhappy with our response to your request and wish to make a complaint
or request a review of our decision, you should write to:
Jonathan Fryer
Records Manager (Information Compliance)
T +44 (0)20 7412 7334 [email address]
The Chief Executive
The British Library
96 Euston Road
London
NW1 2DB
Please note, complaints and requests for internal review received more than two
months after the initial decision will not be handled.
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you may appeal
directly to the Information Commissioner at the address given below. You should do
this within two months of our final decision. There is no charge for making an appeal.
Further information on the Freedom of Information Act 2000 is available from the
Information Commissioner’s Office:
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
SK9 5AF

Telephone 08456 30 60 60 or 01625 54 57 45

Website www.ico.gov.uk

Yours sincerely

Jonathan Fryer
Jonathan Fryer
Records Manager (Information Compliance)
T +44 (0)20 7412 7334 [email address]

William Thackeray

Dear BL,

My thanks to Jonathan Fryer for his swift response to my FOIA query.

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of The British Library's handling of my FOI request 'Jon Atack, "A Piece of Blue Sky", 91/10703 DSC'.

My reasons for requesting an internal review are:

1) As stated in my initial request, I wish to receive the information in electronic format. I believe that it is 'reasonably practicable' for you to supply the information in this way.
See: FOIA section 11, ICO guidance 'Awareness guidance 29, Means of communication':
http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/l...

2) I do not agree that the section 21 exemption applies. Commercial book retailers ('well known merchants') are not public authorities as defined by the Act. Personal inspection of the withheld information at a local library would not meet my preference for the information to be sent electronically, as described above.
See ICO Awareness Guidance 6, 'Information Reasonably Accessible to the Applicant by Other Means':
http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/l...

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/jo...

Thank you for your assistance with this matter.

Yours faithfully,

William Thackeray

William Thackeray

Dear BL,

You may also find that ICO decision notice FS50217416 is relevant to this request:
http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/d...

Many thanks.

Yours faithfully,

William Thackeray

Fryer, Jonathan, The British Library

1 Attachment

Dear Mr. Thackeray,

Please find attached our acknowledgement of your request for an internal
review of our response to your Request for Information 1113.

<<110307 Acknowlegement 1115.pdf>>

Yours sincerely,

Jonathan Fryer
Records Manager (Information Compliance)
Corporate Information Management Unit

E: [email address]
T: 020 7412 7334

The British Library
St Pancras
96 Euston Road
London
NW1 2DB

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Visible links
1. http://www.bl.uk/
2. http://www.bl.uk/knowledge
3. http://www.bl.uk/adoptabook
4. mailto:[email address]

Fryer, Jonathan, The British Library

1 Attachment

Dear Mr. Thackeray,

Please find attached the British Library's response to your request for an
internal review.

<<110401 Response 1115.pdf>>

Yours sincerely,

Jonathan Fryer
Records Manager (Information Compliance)
Corporate Information Management Unit

E: [email address]
T: 020 7412 7334

The British Library
St Pancras
96 Euston Road
London
NW1 2DB

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Think before you print

References

Visible links
1. http://www.bl.uk/
2. http://www.bl.uk/knowledge
3. http://www.bl.uk/adoptabook
4. mailto:[email address]

William Thackeray

Dear Jonathan and Lynne,

Thank you for your email. I'm going to refer this request to the ICO as I don't agree with your interpretation of FOIA, but before I do that I wanted to thank you both for your assistance with this case.

Yours sincerely,

William Thackeray