ALA Preconference Forum: Content Selection, PICS, and the Internet

[Eric Miller]

I apologize in advance for the cross-posting... The following is an
update on an ALA preconference forum on Content Selection, PICS, and
the Internet <URL:http://purl.org/net/ala-pics-forum>.

eric j. miller    <URL:http://purl.oclc.org/net/eric>
emiller at oclc.org  Office of Research, OCLC, Inc.



                       ALA ANNUAL PRECONFERENCE FORUM

                 CONTENT SELECTION, PICS, AND THE INTERNET:
            A DISCUSSION OF TECHNOLOGIES, PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

                  <URL:http://purl.org/net/ala-pics-forum>

                                Sponsored by:
                           OCLC Office of Research
                     ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom
                        The World Wide Web Consortium

                         Date: Friday, June 27, 1997
                        Time: 1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Location: Hilton Hotel, Imperial Ballroom, 333 O'Farrell St., San Francisco

Problem Statement:

Libraries provide Internet access to patrons without the benefits of
the library's usual selection policy - virtually no restrictions are
now placed on what the patron retrieves. At the same time, a defining
characteristic of the Internet is the freedom accorded to information
providers and users.  Increasingly, this freedom has come under attack
by groups arguing that damage can be done, especially to the young,
through exposure to "harmful" materials. These include, for example,
sexually explicit pictures and texts, bomb-making instructions,
suicide concoctions, or treasonous and seditious activities. Suggested
remedies include the Communications Decency Act, currently being
evaluated in the U.S. Supreme Court.

The World Wide Web Consortium and, more specifically, its Platform for
Internet Content Selection (PICS) Working Group, is proposing its own
solution to the Internet community: a framework that will enable
database producers or third party services to add descriptive
characteristics to information resources for selection purposes.

The major question facing libraries of all types is: can this
technology be used in a manner consistent with the principles of
intellectual freedom? The issue of controlling patron access to
materials based on their content strikes at the heart of this question
and is intimately related to library practices and library
participation in the Internet.

Forum Purposes:

   * To provide background and a context for the PICS approach
   * To present the problems and technical solutions of PICS
   * To provide an overview of what has been done to date
   * To present issues and concerns of the library community
   * To provide an opportunity for a reactor panel of librarians to
     respond to questions

Who Should Attend:

   * Library managers responsible for selection/collection development
   * Library policy and opinion leaders
   * Web site administrators
   * Systems librarians

This forum will increase your familiarity with:

   * Problems associated with general Internet access.
   * Major methods used to provide content description.
   * Major methods used or proposed to control access to information 
     based on content description.
   * Ways these methods fit with existing library practices.
   * Threats and challenges to the "Library Bill of Rights."
   * Key points that every reference/public services librarian must know
     about accessing Internet resources.
   * What the library community can do about preserving First Amendment
     rights and the freedom to access information.

Description of PICS

The Platform for Internet Content Selection (PICS) Working Group
started as an industry-wide response to attempts to regulate content
on the Internet.  The goal of the PICS Working Group is to facilitate
the development of technologies that give users of interactive media,
such as the Internet, the ability to effectively select resources
based on a description or rating of their content. This working group,
under the auspices of the World Wide Web Consortium, is proposing PICS
as a means for the self-regulation of content on the Internet.

PICS is an infrastructure for associating labels (metadata) with
Internet content. This infrastructure provides for both the
self-description of content (for example by the author or publisher)
as well as third-party description allowing for multiple, independent
services to associate additional descriptive information with content
created and distributed by others.

Forum Faculty

PART 1:     Presentation of PICS Infrastructure
Moderator:  Stu Weibel, OCLC Office of Research

   * Paul Resnick, AT&T Research, Senior Technical Staff Member Public
     Policy Research

   * James Miller, The World Wide Web Consortium, Technology and Society
     Domain Leader

   * Eric Miller, OCLC Office of Research

PART 2:     Issues Affecting the Library Community
Moderator:  Judith Krug, Director of ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom

   * Gordon Conable, Director of Public Libraries, Monroe Michigan

   * Frank R. Bridge, System Programming Manager, Austin Public Library

   * Dorothy Field, Director Orange County Library System

 
Registration Information (this is a free preconference forum)

Name:
Institution:
City, State, ZIP Code:
Telephone:
Fax:
E-mail Address:
Return form to:
E-mail: pics-forum at oclc.org
Fax: +1-614-718-7110




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