Re: Librarian Profile/Washington Post [times]

[Dan Robinson <dlrbnsn2@eclipse.net>]

On the filtering aspect: What  the school library professionals need
to do is bring pressure on the filtering companies to produce an open
filtering product that meets the needs of libraries. It should
provide the librarian with the means to specify exactly what and what
is not allowed into the library.  It should not be something
controlled by the filtering company, an ISP, or a general LAN
adminstrator.

While no filter can be perfect since there are unscrupulous website
operators that will stoop to very low levels to get hits on their
sites, one that is done well should work quite well.

A filter should be able to distinguish between a sex education site
and a multi-x rated sex site.  It should be able to distinguish
between a site that is about highs from drugs and a site that is the
home page for a high school.

It should be easy to configure so that chat sites are locked out, but
web-based email is enabled... or vice versa.   Overrides should be
able to be entered locally, and stay configured until changed
locally.

I could go on, but I think you get the idea.  It's not impossible,
but does take some more effort and work to achieve.  Control of
materials for the library should be in the hands of the librarian,
not in a piece of software or a company with its own agenda.


Dan Robinson
Indexing Services
H.W. Wilson Company
Bronx, NY
drobinson@hwwilson.com
dlrbnsn2@eclipse.net


On 30 Oct 99 at 17:53, michele missner wrote:

>.....  On the one hand, I think that filtering (we have it in our
> school district) often filters out the good and leaves the bad.  We
> would not order pornographic literature for our collections in schools
> so just what do we do about the Internet?  As a person who is over 45,
> female, and liberal, I am in a bind.  What should I do and what do we do
> about articles like this that do not talk about the good things we do,
> but portray us in a pejorative light?
> Michele Missner
>

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