Chat Rooms (Policy)

[Shirl Kennedy]

Uh, pardon my thick head, but I'm not entirely sure how you can go about
enforcing a ban on online chat rooms if you're already having problems
enforcing a time limit on public Internet workstations.  Unless you resort
to some draconian software filtering solution, you're still gonna wind up
doing the Internet police thing.  As a former public librarian and board
member, and a current regular patron, I'm fairly put off by the idea of
having someone watching over my shoulder as I surf the Net.

Okay, I'll grant you that the level of discourse in most Web chat rooms is
rock bottom.  So?  Does your library also exclude frothy romance novels and
gruesome horror tomes from its collection?  I'd venture not.  You're
probably also circulating popular videos.  Since when is recreation not a
valid use of the public library?  My teenage son sits in the library and
reads Mad Magazine.  Is he enriching his mind?  Who cares?

IMHO, enforcing Internet workstation time limits is the only fair way to
allocate this particular scarce resource.  (BTW, you may want to reduce the
time limit; it's 30 minutes rather than an hour at our local library.
Correct me if I'm wrong, Mr. Lofback.)  If someone wants to spend his or her
30 minutes researching investments, gathering medical or legal information,
looking at the Dilbert Zone, reading a foreign newspaper, playing online
chess, answering e-mail at a Web-based service...or "wasting time" in a chat
room...well, okay.  At one end of the spectrum, there are a lot of lonely
people who find virtual company in chat rooms.  At the other end, some of
the engineers I've worked with on a consulting basis have collectively
solved quadratic equations in chat rooms.

If you are a bona fide research institution or a corporate/special library,
you have a legitimate reason to confine your Internet workstations to
"business use only."  I don't think public libraries should be looking for
ways to ban things like chat rooms, online gaming, etc., unless they are
also prepared to weed their shelves of everything except serious literature,
instructional videos and research materials.

Shirl Kennedy
Information Systems Consultant
Internet Waves columnist - Information Today



-----Original Message-----
From: Fran Levin <flevin at comp.uark.edu>
To: Multiple recipients of list <web4lib at library.berkeley.edu>
Date: Monday, March 23, 1998 4:41 PM
Subject: Re: Chat Rooms (Policy)


>We are just the opposite. We only have 4 internet computers and chat rooms
>were banned in our policy. We are going to change the policy because we
>cannot police and enforce the policy. If anyone knows how to ban them
>physically from the station, we also would like to know.
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Melanie Liechty <mliechty at inter.state.lib.ut.us>
>To: Multiple recipients of list <web4lib at library.berkeley.edu>
>Date: Monday, March 23, 1998 1:48 PM
>Subject: Chat Rooms (Policy)
>
>
>>We are on the verge of eliminating the use of chat rooms on our four
>>public access computers. This has been after much argument, discussion
>>and research. As a public library we do not want to censor the use of
>>the internet. Yet as a medium sized public library with only 4 computers
>>for the public to use for the internet, we need to eliminate some of our
>>'problems' and free the computers to those who need them for research
>>and reports. Our 1 hour time limit hasn't helped as there are those who
>>continually abuse the limit.
>>
>>So the decision has been made to enforce a policy of 'no chat rooms.' We
>>are interested in how other libraries have handled this problem, and
>>need some ideas for the exact wording of policies.
>>
>>Thank you for your time.
>>
>>--
>>Melanie Liechty (mliechty at inter.state.lib.ut.us)
>>http://www.logan.lib.ut.us
>>The Logan Library
>>255 North Main
>>Logan, Utah 84321
>>801-750-9870
>>Fax:  801-753-5026
>>
>>
>>
>