Censorship Needs: Real or Perceived?

[Chuck Bearden]

Speaking only on my own behalf...

On Mon, 2 Jun 1997 Eric Schnell <schnell.9 at osu.edu> wrote:

[snippage]

>  A recent newspaper article reinfores this POV. The 
>writer went into several public libraries and performed 
>interviews and observation of patrons using the Internet. 
>While the author's study was admittedly unscientific, 
>he came to the conclusion that library patrons DO NOT use 
>library access as an anonymous way to view pornography. 
>They use it to do library research. People wishing to
>view explicit materials will go to their local bookstore
>and not their public library.

My own experience is of course also unscientific, but I think 
the newspaper article is wrong.  I won't go into details, but 
I have heard enough anecdotes from experienced reference 
librarians here to know that there are a good number of folks 
out there who don't mind viewing porn in a public setting, and 
who are even willing to share it with others.  And somehow 
I don't think the folks here are that different from elsewhere.  

Let me state that I have strong personal reservations about 
filtering, especially as a form of the state putting itself 
_in_locum_parentis_.  

>   The real impact of Internet filtering IS NOT the 
>limiting of inappropriate materials, it is the restriction 
>of patrons wishing to perform library research. It is my
>opinion that libraries choosing to restrict access are 
>doing more harm than good. There are enough people out
>there who are gatekeepers of morality that libraries do
>not have to get into that business.

Many Internet filters have categories to be filtered that 
can easily be checked and unchecked.  Some even distinguish 
between sex ed, art, and "the naughty stuff," so that 
(depending on the quality of the filter) one can choose not 
to restrict most research.  

>   If you are worried about your kids looking at naked 
>people on the Internet, than you better get your library 
>to cancel National Geographic and remove Schindler's List 
>from the video collections as well. Obviously, some people
>feel the good information value these materials bring 
>is outweighed by the *possibility* some people might
>find some pleasure from them...  

When you confute Nat'l Geo. with Smeggy's Pic of the Day, 
you oversimplify the wide range of legitimate concerns 
on the part of parents and local governments (even though 
we might agree that filtering is not be the best way to 
address those concerns).  We librarians should respond 
sympathetically to those concerns, which means understanding 
them and not simply assuming that those raising them seek to 
stymie research or deny pleasure or propagate a policitcally 
correct or fundamentalist ideology.  


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Chuck Bearden			email: cbearden at hpl.lib.tx.us
Network Services Librarian
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