Fw: [WEB4LIB] Re: New Member

[Julia Schult]

Here's a bit of offlist discussion Dan & I thought worth sharing...
especially after I finally got 'round to reading the editorials in the
August American Libraries... (ugh)

> Julia Schult wrote:
>
> > Dan:  You're right and you're missing something.  You're right that
those
> > who think technological censorship is workable and desirable don't
> > understand the technical issues involved, and someone needs to explain
it to
> > them.  However, you only point out one reason one person's a director
and
> > another an IT manager.  One knows more about computers, yes, but the
other
> > has communication skills, which are not usually encouraged in IT.  I
often
> > find myself understanding the IT manager and the director, but neither
one
> > of them understands the other.  The rare individuals who can both
understand
> > the technology and explain it are usually not found in the IT department
> > itself.  Tech librarians are one of the classes of people who are
> > theoretically trained and self-selected for ability in both areas, and
that
> > is why we often end up being defenders against filters.
>
> > There are librarians who favor filters, "at least in the public library
> > setting".  (I myself might be inclined to approve of filters in the
> > children's section, if I knew how the specific filter used works...)
> > However, I'd be interested to know if any of the few librarians who have
> > actually spoken out in favor of mandated filtering have any overlap with
> > those who understand the mechanics of filtering.
>
Dan wrote:
>     The overlap of favouring mandated filters and an understanding of how
they
> work... That's a fantastic question and I think you should put that out on
the
> listserv. I've never really thought of it that way, though I should have.
My
> guess would be that there would be very little overlap. I'm siding with
the idea
> that humans are basically logical and that librarians tend to be in favour
of
> the First Amendment, but hear me out. Since an understanding that no
filtering
> scheme can prevent accidental blocking of content protected by the First
> Amendment is crucial to the understanding of how a filtering scheme works,
then
> I don't think the two go hand in hand.
>
Julia wrote:
> > How many of us have a personal view or hobby that might be censored if
> > "community standards" (whose?) are used to determine what is in and what
is
> > out?  I sure do!
>
Dan wrote:
>     If such a condition ever arose, I'd be jailed, tortured, and shot in
the
> streets by a fireing squad! I'm not very conventional, nor am I much of a
> conformist. :)
>
> Dan
>
> --
> Mondai wa
> The subject in question...
> -------
> Daniel Messer, Technologies Instructor
> Yakima Valley Regional Library
> 102 N 3rd St Yakima, WA 98901
> (509) 452-8541 x712
> dmesser at yvrls.lib.wa.us
> -------
> When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.
>                      -Hunter S. Thompson
>
>
---Julia E. Schult
Access/Electronic Services Librarian
Elmira College
Jschult at elmira.edu