CDA

[Ronnie Morgan]

At 01:49 PM 6/27/97 -0500, Kristine Buchanan wrote:
>
> What you seem to be forgetting is that it is legal for adults to buy 
>those magazines in those communities.  Your filters would disallow adults 
>from accessing materials that they may have a legal right to view.

This has been said before, adults can ask for unrestricted access.

> Additionally, one of my strongest arguments against filters is that they 
>also filter out information that is valuable.  For instance, information 
>on breast cancer.  Another problem with filters is that they are not 
>foolproof.  When you tell your patrons that you are going to install a 
>filter in order to limit what their children can view, should that filter 
>fail, you might have just opened yourself up to a lawsuit.

This has been said before, keyword filtering is NOT the way to do it.  And,
it has never been argued that a filter program is 100% effective.  And you
wouldn't have to worry about a lawsuit, it would be kicked out because you
(the library) are making an effort.

> I realize that there is a fine line in what you believe is pornagraphic 
>and what is not.  The problem is that the line is different for every 
>person.  When a community votes to set a standard for that community, at 
>least each member of the community has the opportunity to vote for 
>whatever standard they deem best.  When a librarian sets the standard for 
>the community, no one has the opportunity to vote.

But if everything is categorized, or rated, YOU would have the choice, YOU
would be able to define WHAT is pornographic and what is not.

> What is best for our children, if that is what you are truly concerned 
>about, is for their parents to sit down with them when they are at the 
>computer.  I do not want some stranger telling my child what is or is not 
>moral, that is my job.  Nor do I want to take on the responsibility of 
>educating other peoples children. 

I would love for every parent to do that, but what I'm concerned the most
about is my kids who may walk into your library.  How can I trust the
library to not have access to that stuff?  I can't, unless I know that you
have installed a filter.  It may not be 100% effective, but it will gain
some trust in your library.

Something else that has been mentioned before, about "someone telling my
child what is or is not moral".  Even if your sense of morals was different
than mine, wouldn't it make sense to go ahead and filter access based on
the strictest of morals, then if my sense of morals is different, I can
simply ask for unrestricted access?  All I want is for my child to be able
to do research, with out my having to worry about what they may happen to
see, whether it be on purpose or accidental.  All I want to do is to guard
the front door (in case some idiot wants to try and kidnap my child) and
let my child look at/read whatever he/she wants.  I can trust that the
library isn't going to have a copy of Hustler, I can trust that the library
isn't going to  have a copy of "Debbie does dallas", etc...  But if the
library has unrestricted access to the internet, they might as well have
those other things, and if they do, my library card won't be from that
library.  NO ONE is going to complain about the filter **IF** they know
that all they have to do is ask for it to be turned off.  That is, if they
want to show respect to the other parents who have different morals than
themselves.  

Ronnie