Blocking chat on Netscape

[Christa Burns]

We have the same sort of problem here at Pace University.  We have had so 
much use of our terminals, that we have tried to discourage use of chat 
rooms and e-mail.  We will be instituting an official policy stating this 
next semester - that entering chat rooms or e-mail on our research 
workstations is not allowed.  We have 2 workstations dedicated to 
e-mail only.  We ARE open to the public, but our students doing 
research are our first priority.  At the university level, we feel that 
anyone using our computers should use them for class related research 
only.  Normally, chat rooms would not fall into this category - they are 
mostly for fun and entertainment purposes.  However, there are some chat 
rooms that could be used for research - on certain literature subjects, 
for example.  Chat rooms can be set up on ANY topic - students can talk 
directly to experts in many fields to get information for their class 
related research.  So this is a hard decision to make.  We can't 
monitor every person using a chat room and determine if it is for 
research or just for fun.  You never know who they might be talking to.  
It seems like a simple choice, but when you really investigate it, just 
like everything on the Internet, you never know what you're going to get!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Christa J. Burns
Graduate Services Librarian		   (914) 422-4384
Pace University			BURNS at PACEVM.DAC.PACE.EDU

"A human mind, once stretched to a new idea,
  never returns to its former dimensions."
	--Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
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On Thu, 14 Nov 1996, Betty Morganstern wrote:

> At Anne Arundel County Public Library (Annapolis MD), we were not able to
> ban them technically, but we have issued a policy that states "due to the
> heavy use of the computers access to chat lines is not permitted."  This
> sentence is accessible off our home page as part of our "Internet
> Statement", signs were posted and staff enforce this when they see it
> happening. Patrons were not able to get to the computers because of heavy
> use of the chat line function.
> 
> Betty Morganstern				
> Information, Programming and Outreach Librarian
> Anne Arundel County Public Library		bmorgans at web.aacpl.lib.md.us
> 5 Harry S. Truman Pkwy				Voice: 410-222-7371
> Annapolis MD 21401				Fax:	410-222-7863
>