Censorship Needs: Real or Perceived?

[Burt, David]

 Eric Schnell wrote:

>It has been my observation that Internet censorship
>in libraries is the result of a *perception* on the part
>of librarians and administrators that inappropriate
>materials will be viewed. It is my opinion that
>recent attempts to limit Internet access to resources
>is knee-jerk reaction to a *perceived* problem rather
>than an actual one.

*Sigh*.  Once again, we have another academic librarian telling us
public librarians what goes on in our libraries, coming to save us from
our misguided selves.  And people wonder why I have an attitude about
this.  Can anyone recall a time on this list  when a public librarian
lectured his/her academic colleagues about what they should or shouldn't
be doing?  I can't.

The real problems with inapropriate use of the Internet in libraries has
been well documented and isn't really a matter of dispute.  It does, of
course vary from community to community and from library to library.  In
some communities, it has been a major political flap, in others there
has been hardly a murmur of complaint.

>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.

I'm not sure which examples of "more harm than good" you're referring
to, but most of them have been wildly exaggerated by first amendment
extremists with an agenda.

> 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...

Here again we have the standard bad analogy, comparing topless pictures
of wild native women in National Geographic to http://www.cumshots.com.
Of course, these two things aren't comparable, because nobody carries
hard-core porn in their libraries.

  ***********************************************************
          David Burt, Information Technology Librarian 
          The Lake Oswego Public Library 
          706 Fourth Street, Lake Oswego, OR 97034
          URL:          http://www.ci.oswego.or.us/library/library.htm
          Phone:     (503) 675-2537 
          Fax:           (503) 635-4171 
          E-mail:      dburt at ci.oswego.or.us