Advertising on Library Webpages

[bruce pomerantz]

> File this under "Hairs, wild--"
> 
Does anyone know of any library webpages that
> sell advertising space the way commercial webpages do?
> 
> There are probably legal, ethical, logistical, and other arguments against
> libraries supplementing their income via web advertising, but income is
> income.
> 
Donald A. Barclay
> Coordinator of Electronic Services   
> University of Houston Libraries    

   
I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you *REALLY* did not
think this through. Let's consider selling banners for various causes. 
For instance, let's let the pro-life folks advertise for their cause and
then go to the pro-choice folks and extort money from them so that they
can have an equal banner. Don't have the money?  Gee, tooooo bad.  

And since we are public organizations, we could not reject anybody's
advertising, unlike private organizations such as newspapers, radios,
and television which do have the right to reject advertising.  So, every
hate group and paranoid group could gain legitmacy by advertising on a
library's webpage.  

Now, I am not advocating omiting their materials from the library.  It's
our duty, through our collection development policies, to include their
materials when appropriate.  But allowing them to promote themselves
through advertising is unethical, money be damned!  

Bruce Pomerantz
On Sabbatical in Cincinnati
> Coordinator of Electronic Services    always the beautiful answer