A lot of librarianship is about meeting the needs of your users and your not-yet-users. Surveys help, acting on surveys helps more and letting users know what your survey results were and how you are acting on them is a very proactive way to interact with your community. Here is an example from the Bank Street College Library’s recent survey.
Author: jessamyn
not just filtering, but reporting too, ick!
Libraries that take federal money already have to have filters. Now the Allegheny Council [PA] is considering a bill to require libraries to report incidents involving “illegal” viewing of pornography on library computers. If libraries fail to report these incidents annually — ostensibly to help improve the filters — the county will not fund the consortium computer network. Thanks to state privacy laws, at least these reports can’t contain personally identifying information. Also included in the resolution are training sessions for librarians with the police and the DA on appropriate internet usage. A local librarian writes up her impressions.
Surely there’s some threshold where libraries can say, “We’ve got filters on the computers. We’re complying with all laws. We have library policies to address this. Get off our backs and let us do our jobs!” Instead, our representatives are meekly letting folks who don’t comprehend the situation sit in judgment.
using a mac mini as a library kiosk
Chris Kupec is a librarian who likes to tinker. I’ve been enjoying his blog. Here is one post where he discusses and describes using a Mac Mini as a reader’s advisory kiosk in his library.
Consumer Reports weighs in on filtering
You know all this, but it’s fresh on my mind since one of my talks this week dealt with filtering. Filters are imperfect, even Consumer Reports says so. So, if you must filter, I’d suggest a patron information campaign about what the library is mandated to do, how you are doing it, with as much information as possible about the rights of adults to constitutionally protected speech.
NHLA Conferences from days past
When I went to prowl around the Carpenter Memorial Library in Manchester, I saw some old photos of a previous NH Library Association Conference from, I think, 1924. Take a look at these librarians. Greg took a few nice shots of the library interior, love that octagonal reference desk!