WebJunction

Great idea, Joe!
If anybody does have these resources to share please do consider posting them to this board as well. At least until the Web Junction CIPA pages get up and running. If you just need a shoulder to cry on this could be a good resource as well.

In part, as a friend put it, public libraries "took the king's shilling" when they accepted the e-rate discount. *Of course* politicians wanted the libraries to take an action they wouldn't necessarily choose otherwise.

So am curious, phenley, what steps your library is going to take in response.

Hadn't heard. (That's what happens when you live 100 miles from cities.) As for us, the parents here are VERY HAPPY with the protection provied on the "Gates" computer we have here. In a town of under 500 year round residents I am looked to as a safe place for the kids. The adults have access to whatever they want. I do ask that they use discretion if children are in the building as we are in 1 room.

The Gates child profile has done a good job for us. Anyone under 13 is logged in under the child profile with no net access.

Age 13 - 18 are only allowed on two machines near our front desk. Not that we think they're going to get into a nasty web site, it's just they tend to irritate each other enough in front of us, there's no telling how they'd act out of our line of sight -- I fear for the machines more than bodily harm though.

Anyone over 18 can use the computers in the back (located there due to lack of space, not our choice).

So far, we've only had one incident, which involved someone who was not a patron of our library (they stopped to get directions) giving and adult URL to teens. The teens are regulars in the library, and immediately let me know what was up.

A few other situations were caused by typos and the like(similar to the infamous whitehouse.com versus whitehouse.gov), but this has been extremely rare.

Our library does not receive federal funds, so we're not going to filter. I'm 99% sure my library board would prefer to go without federal funds than to filter.

Hey Bob, thanks for posting this update.

Everyone should check out the "Public Access Policies & Practice" forum for a moderated CIPA event, with guest facilitators Bob Bocher, Carson Block, Karen Schneider, and Gary Bortel, beginning on Monday - September 15, 2003.