by David Lee King on July 28, 2011
I just read Andy Woodworth’s post about filters, and was reminded about something. A couple days ago, I visited my church’s website while in the library. We filter both public and staff computers … and guess what I found (see the image above)? My church’s website was blocked, because 8e6 (our filtering provider) thinks it’s a porn site. Wow – my church is apparently much wilder than I thought!
- OK – first off, my church isn’t really all that wild. Probably much the opposite!
- Second – it’s most likely filtered because of overblocking. Some web filters block whole webhosting services because of content. For example, if the webhoster hosts 20 “naughty” sites and 2 “nice” sites, all 22 sites will be labeled “naughty” (until someone tells the filtering company they’re wrong – then they usually correct the problem).
Do filters work?
Honestly, yes and no. Yeah, sure – most of the “usual sites” can be blocked (but not all – filters don’t catch everything). And no – the example above is a great example of a filter in action, unfortunately.
Another complaint
I’m also going to complain about the Safelibraryproject website, and the ALA page they quote (from the Office of Intellectual Freedom). Because both sites seem to be putting a bit of spin on their ideas, to prove their points. Plus, there are some glaring problems on each page. Here’s what I mean:
Let’s start with Safe Library Project:
- Just being picky here – guys, please get a proofreader! Your About page is labeled “Abou” – which would be forgivable if it weren’t for some other errors on the “Abou” page that could have easily been caught by proofing your content. Errors like these:
- “Most all pornography commercial websites is hardcore” I think you meant “are” …
- “the overwhelming amount of Internet porn is be soft-core” I think you meant “is” …
- “This in not accurate” You are correct – not accurate at all!
- Enough grammar cop stuff. How about this? “Most all pornography commercial websites is hardcore and therefore can be charged by prosecutors as obscene.” - ok. Can you prove that, with citations?
- ”The seemingly endless number of free porn sites depicting actual or simulated sex and other lascivious depictions are also hardcore and can be charged as obscene.” Again, ok … “seemingly endless” … proof? With citations? “can be charged as obscene” … again – proof?
- “Does ALA really think the American public is so uninformed…” The information you quote wasn’t really meant for the “American public.” It was meant for libraries creating public PC and Internet Access policies.
- “The ALA site also strongly suggests that Internet filters are inadequate” – well, yeah – there’s a reason for that. See my example above.
I have no issue with their viewpoint (though I don’t agree). Viewpoints differ, and you have to have two sides for a debate. But if you make broad statements like they do, you should back them up with facts. Or you’re just blowing smoke.
And now for ALA. Go to the page Safe Library Project quotes (you have to copy/paste the link text, since for some odd reason they didn’t actually make it a link). I think some improvements are in order here, too. For example:
- The paragraph Safe Library Project quotes is an odd one, to me anyway. For example … “In the millions of Web sites available on the Internet” – way more than “millions” now.
- “there are some—often loosely called “pornography” – Loosely? What? Where did that statement come from?
- “A very small fraction of those sexually explicit materials is actual obscenity or child pornography” - ok. That’s also pretty broad statement. Can you prove that, with citations?
- This info hasn’t been updated for 10-11 years. A LOT has changed on the web in 11 years. Maybe time for a rewrite?
- The “Related Files” link at the bottom of the page is a broken link. That makes ALA look a bit shabby IMHO.
So – phooey on the spin. Do you filter? Does it work? Do people complain? Is it as bad as the Safe Library Project people think? I don’t think so – what about you?
Tagged as:
ALA,
filter,
filtering,
filters
by David Lee King on May 31, 2011
I have an article about Facebook for Libraries – in American Libraries, the magazine of the American Library Association (ALA). Here’s an excerpt:
“Today, I spent part of the day connecting with people. I complained about a silly election video, chatted with a college friend about a band, and put some finishing touches on plans for a conference taking place at the library.
I did all this through Facebook. These days, it seems like everyone has a Facebook account. Quite a few of my professional colleagues and most of my family have Facebook accounts. Nationally, I’m a bit ahead of the curve: Approximately 41% of the U.S. population has a personal Facebook profile, according to a 2010 study from Edison Research (PDF file). According to Wikipedia, 50% of those Facebook users actually log into their Facebook accounts every day. Total Facebook population? Globally, over 600 million of us currently use Facebook, MSNBC reported in January, and most of them interact every day with an average of 130 Facebook friends and acquaintances.
Think about that for a second. What library wouldn’t love to have a direct, free line to potentially 41% of your community’s ear? Keep in mind, these people could be connected to another 130 people in your community. That’s a lot of free communication!
So, stake a claim in this digital land and create a Facebook Page for your library. Here’s how to set up a Facebook account, and how to use it to connect with your community.”
Go read the rest of the article!
Tagged as:
ALA,
American Libraries,
facebook,
Library
by David Lee King on August 4, 2010
by David Lee King on July 1, 2010
I’m teaching an ALA TechSource Workshop about building digital branches on August 3rd – and I hope you attend!
Here’s the blurb about the workshop:
“Every library needs a presence on the Web. Whether you work at a large academic library or a public library in a small town, you need to be able to provide service and content to your patrons beyond the walls of your building. In this workshop, David Lee King will take you through the process of building an effective, user-friendly library website that will exand and enhance your library’s presence in its community.
This event will take place on Tuesday, August 3rd at 2:30pm Eastern (1:30pm Central, 11:30am Pacific).
Whether you’re looking to launch your first website, redesign your site, or expand the site you have, this workshop will provide practical guidance for every step of the process.”
Interested? You can find out a bit more on this page, and you can sign up here!
Tagged as:
ALA,
ala techsource,
digital branches,
digital experience,
experience design
by David Lee King on June 21, 2010
I’ll be at ALA10 in Washington DC, starting on Wednesday. And I hope to meet some of you, too! If you happen to see me, feel free to come up and say hi – that’s always welcome.
I’ll be wearing many hats at ALA10 – speaker, attendee, judge, committee member, vendor-hunter-downer, and “social-function-finder.” And possibly tourist, lost tourist, and “one of those librarians in town” types, as well!
Want to hear me (and some other amazing people) speak? Here’s where I’ll be:
- Designing Digital Experiences for Library Websites (Sunday, June 27, 10:30-12). This is a panel, with Bobbi Newman, Toby Greenwalt, and John Blyberg.
- BIGWIG Showcase (Monday, June 28, 10:30 – 12). Think of this as a guided unconference where you can watch or read about the topics beforehand, then talk with the presenter during the actual event in a small group setting. It’s pretty fun! I’m talking about iPads in libraries.
- Battledecks! (Monday, June 28, 5:30-7pm). This will definitely be a blast! There are 5-6 contestants who will attempt to give amazingly fun pecha kucha-like presentations … but they won’t see the slides until we say “your turn!” I’m one of the judges for this event. I hear there might be kilts.
Should be a blast – see you soon!
Tagged as:
ALA,
ala10
