ALA on Filtering

[KAREN SCHNEIDER]

My sense is that the resolution, rather than focusing on the
technology, focuses on the outcomes of poor technology.  It is
leaps and bounds past earlier mindsets in ALA.  It reminds me of
the original discussion on outsourcing in Hawaii--in which
librarians expected peers to reject outsourcing outright, and
were shocked when some of us said "no, reject outsourcing when
it's inappropriate or badly managed."  I think that was a learning
curve for a lot of folks.

Whether you like the resolution or not, it is consistent in its intent
with other interpretations of the Library Bill of Rights.  The ALA
free-speech folks take a consistently hard line on intellectual
freedom.  They may not be where you or I are, but they do offer
a very stringent standard against which to measure ourselves. 
Imho, this resolution is long overdue, and will be a useful tool for
libraries currently pressured to use filters.  I think it would be a
good thing for all of us to explore and understand the nature of
protected speech and why it is protected in the first place.

Karen G. Schneider/schneider.karen at epamail.epa.gov
Contractor, GCI/Director, US EPA Region 2 Library
http://www.epa.gov/Region2/library/