Re: GEN:Internet Filter question

[Earl Sande <sandes@wilken-dsm.com>]

Well said, Carol.  And not only do we provide access to low quality
material, but, in my case at least, we open ourselves to the question of
who is liable for anyone accessing it through our library services?
Arguments that we (a) supervise/train the students and/or (b) show
intent by providing filters or recommended pages simply remain as
arguments in the real world of school libraries.  In S. Korea, for
example, we were assurred by server that we would have no problems if
our students did a search for "Kim Il-sung" or access a North Korean
site.  The National Securities Act in force, however, read otherwise.
In Tanzania, the access of a site more than 3 times provides police the
opportunity to view all information through a proxy server.  All nations
try to protect its citizens.  We librarians try to ensure that our users
have quality information at hand.  But, even agreeing on these two
points, am I (personally) responsible when our student accesses a
pornographic site or when they get faulty information?  The only
comparison would be if we received a copy of every publisher in the
world's books.   Would we make them all available?

Earl Sande, Upper School Librarian,
International School of Tanganyika,
United Nations Road,
Post Office Box 2651,
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
(e-mail : sandes@wilken-dsm.com)

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