[WEB4LIB] Re: [Fwd: Google, libraries, and privacy]

[K.G. Schneider]

> privacy. This isn't just some kind of nutty thing that libraries do --
> depending on what state your live in, your state law requires that the
> confidentiality of library use be protected to some extent. I feel
> strongly that any service that we promote in the library should meet the
> privacy standard that the law requires. If it doesn't, we should warn
> users.

'Zackly, and also, libraries should uphold standards of privacy that they
believe to be important whether or not these standards are mandated. 

> not fulfill our professional and legal obligations to our users. So
> enjoy it for what it is (Google finding another way to make money off of
> content) but let's not pretend like it's an extension of the library.

As an information service, it is something our users will use, and it is
competing with how WE deliver services. I know we don't like to think in
those terms because we're librarians, but that is how it is. To answer a
question asked elsewhere (on the blog, It's All Good), no, Schoogle is not
all good. I'm not ready to call it a Tool of Satan, but to the extent that
stakeholders may see cheap'n'easy answers to far more nuanced questions (how
do we provide databases to users? Point them at Schoogle!), our antennae
should be wriggling. 

Karen G. Schneider
kgs at bluehighways.com