[WEB4LIB] Blocking web-based chat

[Thomas Edelblute]

Right now we are prohibbiting it though policy.  However, we are talking about
setting up a vended workstation dedicated to e-mail and chat rooms.  If this
policy change goes through, as long as they are willing to pay for it (just like
a pay phone) we would provide it.  Right now our vendor has word-processing set
up at a charge of $3.00 per hour (or 0.12 per minute if you prefer).

Dales, Carol wrote:

> Our Management team is examining the technical issues around blocking web
> based chat on public access Internet workstations.
> (The decision not to offer access to Internet Relay Chat was made
> during the process of planning public internet access, and was grounded
> primarily in the limited number of workstations and the need for special
> chat software).
>
> The possibility of now blocking web based chat is also being viewed as a
> service issue, based upon overwhelming demand for a limited resource  rather
> than as a content or censorship matter(people are chatting electronically to
> each other from a distance of three feet, while others with a pressing need
> to use the equipment are waiting as long as three hours for their booked
> time slot).
>
> We are running IE 5.0 on an NT 4.0 network, with all security at present
> stemming from NT settings only. Selected workstations are currently filtered
> by Bess software. There is a possibility that by extending our Bess licence,
> we can set up another proxy server to filter chat on workstations not
> presently filtered for content.However, before making a decision, the team
> is interested in hearing how other public libraries are managing the
> technical and philosophical issues in blocking chat sites:
>
> --what software are you using?
> --is any library successfully using software (or any other method) to
> differentiate chat sites that might be useful from purely recreational
> sites?
> --has any library decided against blocking chat, either because some chat
> sites may be useful to some patrons, or because of
> reluctance to censor resources?
>
> Thank you for sharing your experience!
>
> E. Carol Dales
> Information Services Librarian
> Winnipeg Centennial Library
>
> 204-986-6433
> cdales at city.winnipeg.mb.ca
>



--
Thomas Edelblute
Anaheim Public Library