IETF / RFC / GNU filtering software / and Internet Accepted

[KAREN SCHNEIDER]

The development of public rating lists by librarians is something
that has come up before.  I am not sure how well this would
actually work--the law of unintended consequences is  pretty
powerful in the online environment--but it has the advantage of
placing site selection in the hands of a profession that has
traditionally been vested with this task.

Several filters do allow using local site lists; fyi, that is a feature we
are looking for in TIFAP.  The view/edit abilities for site lists get
a lot of attention, due to my own bias on this issue.

Imho, if librarians did develop their own lists, it would change the
cost model for the companies that now have a lot invested in
privatized site lists (which imho is like having a book jobber who
won't let you see the catalog or tell you what you're getting/not
getting).  

It will also be interesting to see what happens with products such
as Library Channel that are designed around the
"pick-your-own" paradigm.  In theory (uh oh ;-)  ) if there were
several products like this, and libraries were buying them, and
librarians were exchanging sites... well, it's interesting.

Karen G. Schneider/schneider.karen at epamail.epa.gov
Contractor, GCI/Director, US EPA Region 2 Library
http://www.epa.gov/Region2/library/
Author, forthcoming: A Practical Guide to Internet Filters