Outfilter the filterers

Steve Hooley! hooleyss at gsaix2.cc.GaSoU.EDU
Fri Apr 11 11:53:52 EDT 1997


        What we need is for some enterprising programmer on the list
(hint,hint) to create a generic filter with a customizable, public-domain
list of sites to ban. Then we could do our own filtering in-house. 

At 07:59 AM 4/11/97 -0700, you wrote:
>>Meanwhile, a fellow traveller on this issue had some interesting ideas
>>involving forming a team (or committee, or working group... whatever term
>>works best) to help libraries AVOID using filtering tools that have
>>proprietary, nonviewable, noneditable stoplists.  One idea: have online
>>communities--such as PUBLIB--create and maintain publicly-accessible
>>"notlists" (lists of sites or keywords to filter) to be loaded in proxy
>>servers or software tools such as Net Nanny.  Another idea: engage library
>>consortia in this enterprise.
>
>The criteria for inclusion of sites on any of these "notlists" would have to
>be pretty clearly defined for this to fly, I would think.  I know I wouldn't
>like to see my library hand over this very important collection development
>issue to PUBLIB any more than I'd like it handed over to some cheesy
>filtering-tool company without having a good idea how much of it we want to
>use and how we want to use it.  I do see where this approach addresses the
>practical issues related to Web filtration, although I'd hate to be the
>consortium librarian assigned to fill a percentage of my workday surfing the
>"Not" for potential offendors. 
>
>Paul Neff
>Manager, Technology Services :: Arlington Heights Memorial Library
>pneff at nslsilus.org
>
>
>
+=============================++============================+
 Stephen S. Hooley                "When the going gets                        
 Romulan Tech Support              weird, the weird

 Systems Group                     turn pro."

 Henderson Library                  -- Hunter S. Thompson

 Ga Southern Univ

 Statesboro, GA 30460

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