[Fwd: Response to "the Case of the "Radical" Librarian]

[Chuck Bearden]

> Date:          Thu, 21 Aug 1997 08:38:42 -0700
> From:          Robert Hubsher <rhubsher at cornwall.library.on.ca>

> Dear Mr. Meeks,
> 
> I think you have the story a little topsy-turvy.  I, as a librarian, am
> not ganging up on Mr. Burt nor do I believe that my profession thinks he
> is an "extremist" or "unethical" he is simply wrong.  His position that
> we can "tweak" filter software to avoid unintentional censorship ignores
> the nature of the English language.  How does one differentiate between
> the word "breast" used in a pornographic context (if that is possible)
> as opposed to the context of "breast" cancer or "breast" feeding?  And
> what is pornography, anyway?  Is not the decision as to what is and what
> is not pornography a matter for the courts and not for libraries to
> decide?

Not that I advocate filtering, but most of the filtering software I
have evaluated (proxy-based) either doesn't block by keyword or has
that option turned off by default.  

While filtering software has other problems, I think that this canard
ought to be abandoned.  

Chuck
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Chuck Bearden			email: cbearden at hpl.lib.tx.us
Network Services Librarian
Automation Department		voice: 713/247-2264
Houston Public Library		fax:   713/247-1182
500 McKinney Ave.
Houston, TX  77002		-=> NOT SPEAKING FOR HPL <=- 
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