[WEB4LIB] RE: FBI to monitor libraries

[Dan Lester]

I hereby swear and affirm that this is my last reply to the list on
this topic.

Monday, June 3, 2002, 3:53:33 PM, you wrote:

JdE> When was the last time you had sex?

Yesterday.  Need the time, too?

JdE> With whom?

My wife.

JdE> Did you enjoy it?

Yes.

JdE>  Did your partner?

Yes.

JdE> Please share your answers with the entire list.

q.v. supra

JdE> Surely you are not uncomfortable with publicly responding to these questions
JdE> as "you have nothing to hide".

True enough.

JdE> Whether or not an individual has "something to hide" is irrelevant. All
JdE> personal relationships are built on trust. The greater the level of trust,
JdE> the more individuals are likely to share. I do not share the same personal
JdE> information with family as I do with friends, as I do with co-workers, as I
JdE> do with salesmen. It is not a matter of what I have to hide, but of what I
JdE> choose to share.

Of course. But we all have different levels of willingness to share.
Want to know more about my family?  It is all on the web in several
places, including genealogy.

JdE> A more appropriate line of argument may be something like:

JdE> What level, type, and amount of information regarding patron behavior should
JdE> a library be legally and ethically required to collect and maintain?

Information on illegal activities by patrons who are doing such things
in the library.  I trust we'd all turn in someone who was committing a
crime in the library.

JdE>  and why? Under what circumstances should the library share this information?

As needed with police agencies.

JdE> And if the "three Middle Eastern guys" happen to be fourth generation US
JdE> citizens of Armenian Christian decent?

In times of war, things get tough on everybody.  But, no, I'd not turn
in any info unless I had something much more specific.

JdE> Surely you don't mean "three Middle Eastern guys" who look like Orthodox
JdE> Jews?

Not unless I had good reason to believe they were going to blow up a
mosque or something.

JdE> Would you be suspicious of the polite young redneck asking about fertilizers
JdE> in a rural public library (Timothy McVeigh)?

Again, all depends on the individual, the context, the exact questions
being asked, and so forth.

JdE> This is a very serious professional question that warrants continual
JdE> examination and discussion. Just what is the librarians professional
JdE> obligation to answer a question?

I think we should always answer the question(s) to the best of our
ability, including informing the patron when we can't answer it, and
why (such as legal, medical interpretations, etc.).

JdE> When can a librarian ethically refuse to answer a question?

Never, except as noted above.  Of course the real question is what, if
anything, is done with the information after the question has been
asked.  There are VERY few cases that I can imagine where I'd do
anything.

What is happening here is the usual "management by exception" that is
all too common in libraries.  "What if a guy comes in with a knife to
rob the circ desk?  What if the knife is small?  What if it is over
four inches long?  What if it is a big hunting knife?"  I worked with
folks once who wanted to actually codify and put into policy things to
that level of "what if".  Purest nonsense.  Despite it not being so
common any more, we need to use common sense.  And I'm quite sure that
the vast majority of people can make such decisions without codifying
every infinite detail.  Of course I'm not a cataloger.....

cheers

dan

-- 
Dan Lester, Data Wrangler  dan at RiverOfData.com 208-283-7711
3577 East Pecan, Boise, Idaho  83716-7115 USA
www.riverofdata.com  www.gailndan.com  Stop Global Whining!