Filters/Cybersitter

[CMUNSON]

Subject: Re: Filters/Cybersitter
Author:  Ronnie Morgan <rmorgan at Harding.edu> at Internet
Date:    4/25/97 11:06 AM


>Librarians are trained to evaluate information sources and collections. 
>Whose training can we trust to evaluate someone else's reasons for 
>seeking?
     
For me, the issue was never about the information that is available on the 
net.  The issue is the pornography.  Porn is not information... 
     
     
     This is an understandable viewpoint from one who works at a Christian 
     university, but it isn't applicable to a public library which is 
     supposed to serve a plurality of interests. Porn, if we are talking 
     about visual erotica, is clearly visual information. Porn isn't all 
     pictures, but many find it to be "useful." 
     
     Now public libraries shot themselves in the foot with the general 
     decision made years ago that porn wouldn't be collected for 
     "collection development reasons." Come on, if public libraries can 
     afford 30 copies of Oprah's Book of the Month (tm), they can certainly 
     afford a subscription to a few porn mags (other than that 50s-style 
     soft stuff like Playboy and Penthouse). Now if the libraries have a 
     FEW porn mags, but not ALL of them, they can make this collection 
     development argument honestly.
     
     Some argue that porn shouldn't be allowed in libraries because it 
     fails to meet "community standards." This is bogus, because porn is a 
     billion-dollar-a-year industry. Lots of people in our "communities" 
     are clearly buying this stuff. Let's not blind ourselves to this fact. 
     Maybe we have been "underserving" our patrons for years. ;-)
     
     The arguments about allowing censorware in our libraries assume that 
     we all agree that porn on the Internet is "bad." This is a value 
     judgment, that not everyone shares, especially the millions of people 
     who are making the online adult content providers a "hot" business. I 
     think it is also unfair to make the majoritarian argument that "most" 
     of the people in your community (always a vague thing) believe that 
     people shouldn't access porn at libraries, therefore CyberSitter must 
     be installed "to protect us." The majority does not rule, no matter 
     how many times we repeat that mantra.
     
     I've written in this forum about how political and controversial 
     information will be censored by this software. I'm also willing to 
     defend access to porn on library computers.
     
     I think librarians should get out of the role of information barriers 
     and instead concentrate on doing what we do best, helping people find 
     the information they need.
     
     Otherwise, if we put censorware on our Internet terminals, maybe we 
     should start thinking of weeding, no, burning the romance section. Are 
     romance novels "information?"
     
     Stay tuned.
     
     Chuck Munson