[WEB4LIB] Re: Censorware in Public Libraries

[John Creech]

On Thu, 21 Mar 2002, Seth Finkelstein wrote:

> 	Could I ask librarians who are responding please also indicate
> WHICH blacklists they use in censorware, if possible? For example,
> consider my report "SmartFilter - I've Got A Little List"
> http://sethf.com/anticensorware/smartfilter/gotalist.php

This is only peripheral to the topic and probably not too helpful but I
recently had a weird experience with a remote user and some kind of
filter/censorware.  For days one of our students at a branch campus could
not access our subscription databases from his home in another town.  I
tried everything I could think of with him clear down to trying to help w/
his Windoze networking config.  We use EZProxy to authenticate users to
our databases. Oh, and I believe he had either DSL or cable modem access
to the 'Net via his ISP.

During one phone conversation I suggested that he download Netscape 6.2
just to try a browser other than IE.  He tried and whatever the
undiagnosed problem was at that time...wouldn't even let him into Netscape
to download.  He wrote me a few days later all excited, saying that as
soon as he got rid of some kind of filtering software (SmartFilter?), he
automagically was able to get thru the proxy to databases.

Wish I'd noted the filterware.

John Creech
Electronic Resources & Systems Librarian
Central Washington University Library
400 E. 8th Ave. | Ellensburg, WA 98926 |
office - 509-963-1081 || fax - 509-963-3684
creechj at www.lib.cwu.edu