Search Skills: Libraries and Internet Filtering

When it comes to library security, there are many things to consider. Physical security measures, such as RFID tags and security cameras, are a must in today’s world for libraries to ensure that they will remain a safe environment. They must also remain safe online as well, and security needs to be enforced on all computers within a library to keep private information safe and secure, and also to protect users. Internet filtering is a more complex concept to consider, however, and goes beyond simply keeping users safe. It can often be difficult to pinpoint what should or shouldn’t be blocked, and it is this decision that can impact one of the public libraries’ most important missions: the right to intellectual freedom.

Using Academic Search Premier and the search term “libraries and filtering”, I found an article that discusses the impact of internet filtering software on public and school libraries in the March 2013 issue of American Libraries entitled “Filtering and the First Amendment”, written by Deborah Caldwell-Stone.

In her article, Caldwell-Stone examines some cases concerning the Child Internet Protection Act (or CIPA) and how some libraries seemingly crossed the line on what they had blocked by filtering software on their public computers. Although the CIPA does require public libraries to block obscene content such as inappropriate images and child pornography, many of the libraries in the article had blocked websites containing controversial content such as tobacco use or pro-LGBT communities (Caldwell-Stone, 2013). Not only does this not conform to the public libraries paramount mission to uphold the First Amendment, but it is not even a requirement of CIPA.

CIPA was put into place several years ago in order to protect children using public computers from explicit and obscene images, not text, and although many public and school libraries are required to follow the regulations contained in CIPA in order to receive major discounts and grants for electronic resources, it seems that some have censored too much. To fix this, the author suggests that all libraries adopt and periodically review their internet filtering policy and keep it readily available so all staff members understand what is required (Caldwell-Stone, 2013). This will help libraries uphold both the requirements of CIPA and the freedom that the First Amendment allows and keep public libraries a safe and open learning environment.

References

Caldwell-Stone, D. (2013). Filtering and the First Amendment. American Libraries, 45(3/4), 58-61.

Search Skills: Design and Usability

For this assignment, I utilized Ivy Tech’s Virtual Library to find an article on library web design and usability. I searched Academic Search Premier for “library web design” and after scrolling through the list of results I found an article. The article, from Reference & User Services Quarterly, is entitled “The Website design and Usability of US Academic and Public Libraries” was published by Anthony S.Chow, Michelle Bridges, and Patricia Commander, and discusses the findings of several surveys on design and usability of both public and academic library websites. Websites were rated in terms of the features offered, design and layout of each page (particularly the homepage of a website) and whether or not there were customization features such as text resizing and language options.

Most of the results showed that library websites generally had a high rating for their usability, but the authors noted that since no library user input was taken (evaluations of the websites were performed by the authors and data collected from surveys taken by library staff), it is still difficult to determine the actual usability of the sites studied.

While the data in this article was somewhat unfinished because of the lack of user input, I think it still provided a lot of great information and data for libraries to use to rank their own websites, and while user input is important, it can also be difficult to interpret as each user has their own opinions and preferences. It is ultimately up to each individual library to provide their users with a website design that they feel meets the needs of the community, and web design is not something that is necessarily easy. I personally would have no idea where to even start when it comes to web design, but I think it would be a great skill to attain in the library field as libraries expand further and further into a digital atmosphere.

References

Chow, A. S., Bridges, M., & Commander, P. (2014). The Website Design and Usability of US Academic and Public Libraries. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 53(3), 253-265.