Filters (new information! really!)

[Jerry Kuntz]

Back in April I sent out a survey to filter vendors, asking them to
indicate if they had already (or were going to) implement certain
features. I've posted the URL of that earlier, but several vendors
responded to the survey later and asked to be included. The results are
at:
	http://www.rcls.org/filter/filter.htm

It's interesting to note that several vendors already have or will be
supporting multiple configurations (on paper, at least, I-Gear
[http://www.urlabs.com] looks the most intriguing to my eyes). I've made
the point here in the past that this feature will make a large chunk of
the filtering debate disappear, since patrons can decide for themselves
whether to apply a filter or not (leaving only the issues of who
selects/deselects URLs and whether parents can decide the if a filter is
applied to their child's configuration or not.) But--judging from the
past few days, that point fell on deaf ears. Sigh.

At any rate, I'm closing the door on the filter survey project. The
TIFAP results will be the next step forward on a constructive approach
to the issue.

			Jerry Kuntz
			Electronic Resources Consultant
			Ramapo Catskill Library System
			jkuntz at rcls.org