privacy

[Lesley Williams]

On Mon, 20 May 1996, Sara Weissman/Morris Cty Library wrote:

> Whole discussion of cache clearing is fascinating...a very low tech
> comment, if I may ...how would user behavior be affected if your
> Internet "station" had a small sign "Please speak to a librarian if you
> would like the history file of your Internet use erased before you leave."
> (The kids, of course, would already know how to do this!)


But why put the burden of asking on the user? Some might assume that only
those who were accessing "shameful" material would want to have the
history deleted. Others would simply be too timid to ask, particularly if
the staff were busy. At our library, there's often a waiting list for the
public Internet terminals, and forcing User 2 to wait still longer while
User 1 finds someone to delete the history file would NOT be a popular
solution. 

Patrons rightly assume that their borrowing records are automatically 
made private, and I think they should be able to make the same assumption 
about their Internet use if at all possible.


Opinions expressed above are solely those of the author, not an official 
communication of the Arlington Heights Memorial Library.

Lesley Williams	                                   tel 847-506-2667
Electronic Resources Specialist                    fax 847-506-2636
Arlington Heights Memorial Library                 lwilliam at nslsilus.org
Arlington Heights IL  USA
                        
                           www.nslsilus.org/ahmlhome