schoool / public internet policy

[Jeff Bobicki]

Hi again ... 

I am responding to someone with a question that needs to be posted to the
lists. I respect that person's request to remain private.

When I joined the Colorado Southwest Regional Library System a couple of
years ago, I was consulting for a worldwide ISP. I had internet access that
would be the envy of anybody. Now I consult for 3 of them. 

One of the first things I did for SWRLSS was an analysis of all of the
filtering packages.... CyberPatrol, CyberSitter et al. I had all of them
and ran them through the paces big time. I believe my powerpoint
representation is on the net still ... check ftp at colosys.net

Anyway ... I digress. My bottom line finding was they were all worthless /
bloated / unusable.

When Librowse was developed, a proxy filter called 'Junkbuster' was
employed. It was selected for several reasons ... It is FREE, It WORKS and
like Linux has a base of technical support that guarantees it's perpetuity.

While the filter was employed, the decision was made that Engineering
should not make policy decisions for the Libraries that use Librowse.
Consequentially, the filter file that is installed with Librowse is 'blank'

You can invoke any policy you wish. Librowse simply gives you the mechanism
to filter effectively if you wish to do so .. with no strings attached.
Librowse is FREE !

My hope is that Libraries will trade these plain text  "blockfiles" to make
a truly effective filter based upon your interests .. elementary, high
school, public. 

Engineering gave you the tool ... how you use it is strictly your call.

Cheerio !! 
Jeff Bobicki
Technical Consultant .. Colorado Southwest Regional Library System      

<-- snip 

Jeff,

I don't make policy for the district, but having said that, I'm
philosophically opposed to using filters in the library if any other
combination of  measures will solve the problem.  That may include PC
placement, privacy screens in some places - whatever.