Chat on public access Internet

[Isobel Stark]

On Thu, 13 Feb 1997, Millard Johnson wrote:

> 
> On Wed, 12 Feb 1997, Brian Stone wrote:
> 
> > Why not just use blocking software? 
> 
> Isobel Stark said:
> 
> But why should we view chat and/or mail as time wasting?  Surely we're not
> all time wasting on this list?
> 
> ********
> Seems like we need to think about what the library is.  There are
> many wonderful things we COULD do to make life better for our
> patrons.  If chat, Email, and games are what the library should be
> doing, should we have a bank of free long distance phones?  Should
> we loan video games, conduct a dating service?  We need to 
> question if we should do things just because the technology now
> makes it possible for us to do it.

Some libraries do lend out games, videos, records, cd's etc, some large
municipal libraries in the UK also lend out paintings from the city's art
collection. Modern public libraries started from moral ideas of educating
the ordinary citizen through reading.  We now recognise that education
can be achieved through many methods as well as reading.

Surely a bit of common sense should come into play here?  Users have
rights to information, but with all rights are responsibilities, and
prehaps users ought to be made more aware of these.  Some people on the
list have already made some sensible suggestions - such as reserving some
old terminals for chat/email etc, or restricting a few machines to
reference queries only and so on.  One would hope that these types of
solution could remove the causes of much of the angst that has been
displayed on this list.


Isobel

====================================================================
Isobel Stark,
Web Officer,
UKOLN,
c/o Library, University of Bath, Bath, BA2 7AY

tel: +44 (0) 1225 323343            fax: +44 (0) 1225 826838

email: i.a.stark at ukoln.ac.uk        url: http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/~lisias/