Filtering Ad Nauseum

[Dianne L Parham]

PHILOSOPHY AGAIN.....NO TECHNOLOGY BELOW

I think we need to define our community.  We are not all schools on this 
e-mail list.  It includes a wide range of schools but it also includes those 
of us in the public library arena as well as special libraries.  The 
problem with trying to discuss this is that what is true for an 
elementary school library is not true for a university library which is 
not true for a public library which is not true for a special library.  
I think as a public library, we do have to take into consideration our 
community's wants and needs.  We are dealing with individuals from 
preschool to retirement and they should be taken into consideration in 
any collection development, whether it is print, nonprint, or online.  
What I personally see, and I speak for no one but myself, is that we are 
trying to foce a "one size fits all" solution on a multi-faceted 
problem.  We can all grandstand all we want, but the bottom line is how 
to we meet the mission of serving our public.  Technology is only a 
tool.  It isn't a problem and it isn't a solution, unless we make it so.  
A human mind created the problem, and human minds are going to have to 
come up with the solution, but it will not be the same solution depending 
on the situation.  Which is why the human mind is a better filter than 
all of your vaunted software...the mind and the mind alone is flexible 
enough to adjust to changing needs and values.  Any filter you buy today 
will be outdated and worthless tomorrow as something bigger, better, and 
more restrictive is developed.  Do we all have unlimited 
budgets to keep buying new filters, maintain them, upgrade them, add 
staff for the care and feeding of them?  Maybe as a university you do.  
As a public library, we don't.  Different strokes for different folks.  
Technology doesn't exist in a vaccuum...it exists as part of a network 
that humans, not computers, create.  Oh well....enough and more than 
enough philsophy.  I would say now is a good time to buy stock in filter 
companies and find a good lawyer.  The war will wage endlessly before it 
dies a natural death...people will either accept imprisonment of their 
minds, find a way to escape the jails we try to surround them with, or 
tear the bars down.  It has been thus since time began when one thinking 
being tried to stop the curiousity and intellectual exploration of another 
thinking human being.  And I don't have to be a techno-whiz to figure that.  
Back to the front line.  Dianne Parham, San Diego Public Library

On Thu, 12 Jun 1997, Paul H. Gray wrote:

> At 11:41 AM 6/11/97 -0700, you wrote:
> >We've been all talking about what our community demands, but what most of
> >us mean is what a few people have complained about, or what we are
> >assuming people will complain about based on our own various level of
> >paranoia.
> >
> >Has anyone out there surveyed their community to find out what they
> >really want in terms of information access?
> >. . .
> >I'd be interested in
> >hearing if anyone out there is basing their assumption on anything but
> >anecdotal information, news reports of dubious value, and their own
> >personal prejudices and biases.
> 
> As mentioned before our need for filtering\blocking is somewhat different
> from the main thrust of this discussion.  We are not interested in blocking
> any site based solely on its subject matter.  Our need is to reserve the
> limited number of machines and limited bandwidth available as much as
> possible to reference\research activities.  That means blocking use of chat
> lines and possibly e-mail due to their primarily personal and recreational
> use. Unfortunately - with sites like alamak.com simply refusing to provide
> a chat client is no longer sufficient.
> 
> Our need to do this is based on complaints from faculty members whose
> students have been unable to get on machines to complete class assignments
> due to people using chat-lines. Also on complaints from these students.
> This has been backed up by observation (no need to peer over shoulders -
> patrons are very blatant about violating posted policies - they do it with
> staff at next station helping other patrons - many get very confrontational
> when asked to release the station for legitimate use) by library staff as
> well as review of logs.
> 
> I have no doubt that many in our community "really want" to sit and play
> Doom all day or chat with '    guy' or whatever --.  Our academic community
> - which it is our primary mandate to serve have - has made it clear so far
> that they want the library machines available for work related to class
> assignments etc.  So I have been asked to help find a technology to help do
> this in as non-otherwise-restrictive and non-confrontational manner as
> possible.
> 
> Paul H. Gray
> Learning Resources Manager   *VOICE (817)515-6623
> TCJC NE LRC                  *FAX (817)515-6275
> 828 Harwood Road             *E-MAIL phgray at tcjc.cc.tx.us
> Hurst, Texas 76054
> 
> 
> Paul H. Gray
> Learning Resources Manager   *VOICE (817)515-6623
> TCJC NE LRC                  *FAX (817)515-6275
> 828 Harwood Road             *E-MAIL phgray at tcjc.cc.tx.us
> Hurst, Texas 76054
>