Libraries, WWW, Porn.

[Skip Booth]

Have you ever heard of the Library of Alexandria? We are professionals
trained in listening to patron queries, determining the information
needs expressed, searching for the answers and making sure that
information retrieved meets the information needs of the patron. We are
the Value Added. To facilitate the service because of various
limitations, size of building, budget, etc. we develop collections to
best meet our patrons' needs. With the internet we have an opportunity
to pull from a tremondous repository of information that transcends the
physical and fiscal limitations of our buildings and provide our patrons
with information they otherwise would not be able to access or could not
access in a timely fashion. This is critical in the fast pace world
today where we are being asked  increasingly complex and sophisticated
questions. Public Libraries will not survive far into the next millenium
as anything more than reading rooms with access to the internet! 

Skip Booth
Information System Support Manager
Anne Arundel County Public Library
5 Harry S Truman Parkway
Annapolis, MD 21401

Nick Arnett wrote:
> 
>
> Well written, yes, but what's new there?  It asks the same questions that
> have come up over and over, without any new point of view, it appears.  I'm
> increasingly bugged by the attitude that repeatedly surfaces, that libraries
> are just repositories of information, rather than institutions that
> collectively and individually add value to information beyond storage.
> Would a room full of disorganized documents be considered a library
> resource?  If not, why do we regard the Web as a library resource?  Just
> because a small part of it is somewhat organized?
> 
> >>"Public" Libraries have a resonsibility to the public in general. That
> overrides the individual's freedom of
> >>     choice while on the librarie's premises.
> >
> >     Exactly wrong. Public libraries' responsibilities include keeping all
> information available, and not imposing government
> >     standards on the individual's freedom of choice.
> 
> Since when is a public library's responsibility to keep *all* information
> available?  That's ridiculous.  It reduces the idea of a library to nothing
> more than a dumping ground for data.
> 
> What will politicians do if the Supreme Court rules that libraries cannot
> legally stop kids from accessing material that they believe is harmful?
> Stand back and say, "Ah, well, freedom of speech is more important."  Not
> likely.
> 
> If librarians and the public don't begin to recognize their own power and
> articulate the library's value beyond "access to information," then U.S.
> politicians, one way or another, will surely begin to erode that very
> access, even if it means shutting down Internet access in libraries,
> altering or re-interpreting the First Amendment.
> 
> Nick
> 
> ---------------------------------------
> Verity Inc. -- Connecting People with Information
> 
> Product Manager, Categorization and Visualization
> 408-542-2164; fax 408-541-1600; home office 408-733-7613
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> 
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