FW: Update on filter testing

[DUNN, Edwina (M23)]

Hello Karen
I manage the Education Queensland (Australia) Evaluation Team which   
reviews all curriculum resources in all formats to provide selecstion   
advice for our state's P-12 schools. We would most interested in   
participating in your filter review. I could not find the original post   
in the thread and am not sure if you only wanted US based participants or   
not.
Will you be posting results to the List?
Edwina
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Edwina Dunn : Principal Information Officer
Open Access Support Centre, Education Queensland,
Australia. Tel: 07 3406 2471, Fax: 07 3406 2476
*My own views above*
Internet Email: edwina.dunn at qed.qld.gov.au
OASC Home Page: http://oasc.client.uq.edu.au/oasc
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>


 -----Original Message-----
From: kgs at bluehighways.com (Karen G. Schneider)   
[SMTP:web4lib at library.berkeley.edu]
Sent: Thursday, April 10, 1997 6:19 PM
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: Update on filter testing

We now have over 30 volunteers for the filter-evaluation project.  I have   
two vendors interested in having librarians evaluate their filtering   
products.  I'm wondering if anyone would want to help develop the   
guidelines for assessment?  Would anyone else like to help contact other   
vendors to see if they're interested in evaluation?  I think we can get   
started in another week or a bit more. Right now I can't access home   
email at work, due to my ISP turning off telnet access to the server   
(!@3$%@#!), so progress is a little slow.
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.
This solution addresses several problems.  First, many libraries are   
"under the gun" to address the issue of bad stuff on the 'net.  But, Mrs.   
 McGillicuddy in the Okefenokee Public Library doesn't have the time or   
training to create her own notlist.  With the good ol' boys that serve as   
her trustees breathing down her neck, she needs to do something.  Given   
the alternatives, she can purchase a product and rely on the vendor's   
assessment of what "bad" entails, or she can do nothing-unless we make an   
alternative available.
We could teach Mrs. McGillicuddy to be a Unix systems administrator, but   
she's a busy woman, what with the sneaker-painting workshop and those   
problems with spine labels (this is a little projection... I have spent   
more time than I wanted to worrying about spine labels this year).  Mrs.   
 McGillicuddy needs a canned approach.  She probably doesn't have a   
webserver in her library, but she can install a Windows software program   
and add a special tool created by her library colleagues.
Then there is Suzy Suave of systems section in BigCity Public Library.   
 After she boots into her NT server and launches EXodus, she's only too   
happy to see the latest additions to the library notlist.  She cruises   
through them (maybe bookmarks a couple... I'm not judging), deletes a   
couple, expands a term or two, then updates the file.  Her proxy server   
is working, everything's ok.
There are other possibilities here.  Maybe enough of us could look at the   
Dublin Core and a few other projects and think about "cataloging the   
Web." Too big a project?  Well, maybe.  Filter vendors don't think so.
Meanwhile, the filter committee... hmmm, need a number here... assesses   
an unknown number of sites per person per week.  It's a big team, maybe   
broken down into teams assigned by domain or other criteria.  It's a   
strict, spartan standard-what would you not collect in a library (yes, I   
know that's a can of worms, but that's librarianship for you)--and   
libraries are still experiencing challenges on the sites people can   
access. But the right interplay between the right working groups   
minimizes this problem.
Maybe this could emanate from a professional association; maybe we have   
what we need, right here among us.
Anyway, your thoughts/feedback encouraged.

 ------------------------------------------------------------------
Karen G. Schneider * kgs at bluehighways.com *   
schneider.karen at epamail.epa.gov Author, The Internet Access Cookbook   
(e-mail Neal-Schuman at icm.com) Director, US EPA Region 2 Library   
Contractor, Garcia Consulting Cybrarian * Columnist, American Libraries   
Visit our library at http://www.epa.gov/Region2/library/ These opinions   
strictly mine!