LISNews Librarian And Information Science News

New Zealand: Government Internet Filter Now Being Used by Two ISP’s
The Resource Shelf points out the government managed Internet filter is now being used by two ISP’s, Maxnet and Watchdog.

Libraries: Monitoring best way to stop porn
What's the best way to discourage people from looking at pornography on library computers?
Put the computers where everyone else can see them, say the folks at the Hickory and Catawba County libraries. "All of our screens face out and are visible from all angles," she said. "Occasionally visitors will tell us about someone viewing something that's inappropriate. We really try to stay on top of that."

SafeLibraries Points The Way to a mention of shaping in this article: Library computer users viewing porn anger parents. “It’s not filtering it,” said Tommy Joseph, manager of technology and reference at the library. “It’s discouraging it.”

OWOSSO - The Shiawassee District Library Board adopted a revised Internet policy Wednesday night that requires filtering on the organization's public computers, closing the book on a nearly six-month controversy on how the SDL should handle online content.

After the policy was unanimously passed by the Board, many of the residents who packed into the downstairs children's library portion of the Owosso branch broke into applause.

http://www.argus-press.com/articles/2009/11/14/news/news6.txt

A hot debate comes to a peak in Owosso. The question, should computers at a public library have unfiltered internet access?

The debate got started when a 10-year-old girl told her grandmother she saw a man viewing adult material at a library computer.

Some say, adults should be able to access unfiltered internet at the library.

Others say, it's an issue of child safety, and they don't want their tax dollars paying for porn.

Read the full story here.

If any community is considering Internet filters, Dean Marney's writing is a must read. He the library director at the library that's the defendant in Bradburn v. North Central Regional Library District.

Read his outstanding defense of Internet filters here: "Filtered Internet: Safe, Appropriate," by Dean Marney, The Wenatchee World, 2 July 2009.

Sample quote: "It ignores that pornography is harmful to children, creates a hostile environment for the staff and other patrons, and overshadows any of the benefits of the free Internet access we provide to our communities."

Heresy!

From The Seattle Weekly:

Tomorrow, the State Supreme Court will hear Bradburn v. North Central Library Region (NCLR). The North Central Library Region is a system spanning Chelan, Douglas, Ferry, Grant, and Okanogan (WA) counties. Like other library systems that receive federal funds for Internet access, the NCLR is required to have the ability to block minors from seeing materials deemed "harmful" to them. Typically, libraries disable those filters at the request of adults.

Nevertheless, the NCLR has instead decided that it will judge the merits of each adult's request to disable the filter. This, says the ACLU, "hampers adults in researching academic assignments, locating businesses and organizations, and engaging in personal reading on lawful subjects." ACLU spokesperson Doug Honig says that the majority of requests to lift the filter has been denied.

The organization sent out a partial list of sites that have been blocked by the filter:

* The website of an organization encouraging individuals to commit random acts of kindness
* The Seattle Women's Jazz Orchestra website
* The website of an organization encouraging women to carry to term by creating "a supportive environment for women in crisis situations to be introduced to the love of Christ"
* YouTube

A media specialist and several high school students are suing two school districts in Tennessee for unconstitutionally blocking access to online information about gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) issues.

Librarian Karyn Stort-Brinks, students Keila Franks and Emily Logan, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee have filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee against the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools and Knox County Schools. Franks and Logan attend Hume-Fogg High School in Nashville. Knox News reports.

A year and a half of debate over filtering pornography out of San Jose public library computers came to a head late Tuesday when the City Council rejected spending money on the technology.

"The fear is not based on fact," said Tina Morrill. "We can use this money to keep our library hours longer."

The hot-button issue of pornography filters in city libraries went before the San Jose City Council again Tuesday. Members of the council remained divided over questions of cost and censorship.
The porn filters could cost as much as $100,000.
Councilman Ash Kalra said, "We all are in favor of keeping pornography out of the eyes of our children. However, we have to understand, especially in these budget times, that we should prioritize where we're spending our money and how effectively we're spending our money."