Electronic Brown Wrappers in special libraries

[Burt, David]

Gina A. Emory wrote:

> It is theparent's responsibility to monitor what their child is doing, not
the
>librarian's.  If the parent doesn't want their child to see porn on the
>'Net, then the parent had better accompany their child to the library or
>trust their child to follow the guidelines under which he/she has been
>raised.

> What is pornographic to me may not be to a lot of other people.
>What right do I have to dictate what others may or may not access
>from an institution that is supported by tax dollars - theirs and mine?
>I wasn't too pleased when our library got Madonna's "Sex", but it was viewed
by >MANY patrons (including myself), even given the fact that it was an
in-library use
>book only and had to be signed out at the circ desk.

The "no in loco" model works great when it is applied to the carefully
pre-selected world of library collections.  Unfortunately, if abruptly
collapses when applied to the Internet.  Nothing in a public libraries
is really comparable to the hard-core porn on the net.  "Playboy",
"The Joy of Gay Sex", "Mapplethorpe", "Sex", etc., aren't in the same
league, the same sport, as www.cum-shots.com\dripping.jpg, etc., etc.

Most everyone agrees that there is a clear difference between hard and
soft core porn.  We all draw a distinction between artsy B/W  picture of
a
nude women, and a picture of a nude woman with her legs spread, labia
on display, with a throbbing penis fast approaching.

>As for ILL-ing Hustler, Mr. Burt
>stated that libraries have the right to "not ILL" anything they deem
>inappropriate based on their mission statement.  I do think you could
>end up in court over that.

Under what statute?

  ***********************************************************
          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