[13243] in Public-Access_Computer_Systems_Forum
Fwd: "Librarians are heroes of Net censorship fight"
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Karen Coyle)
Mon Apr 10 20:20:31 2000
Date: Sat, 08 Apr 2000 17:52:29 -0700
From: Karen Coyle <kcoyle@IX.NETCOM.COM>
To: PACS-L@LISTSERV.UH.EDU
Reply-To: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum <PACS-L@LISTSERV.UH.EDU>
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>
>http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/indepth/docs/dg040700.htm
>
>Posted at 8:26 p.m. PDT Thursday, April 6, 2000
>
>Dan Gillmor: Librarians are heroes of Net censorship fight
>
>BY DAN GILLMOR
>Mercury News Technology Columnist
>
>TORONTO
>
>News and views, culled and edited from my online column,
>eJournal:
>
>HEROES OF FREEDOM: They are champions of some vital principles,
>``the unsung heroes of the fight for free expression,
>intellectual freedom and access to the Internet.''
>
>They are librarians, and that was a quote from a well-deserved
>award that went to ``librarians everywhere'' on Thursday
>evening. The honor was one of the Electronic Frontier
>Foundation's Pioneer Awards, presented at the annual Computers,
>Freedom & Privacy conference, held this week in Toronto.
>
>Librarians help us find things. They help us read. They help us
>learn. And lately they've been fighting the good fight for their
>patrons' right to have access to the unfiltered resources of the
>newest information resource -- the Internet.
>
>``We really do get it,'' said Karen G. Schneider, assistant
>director for technology at the Shenendehowa Public Library
>(www.shenpublib.org) in Clifton Park, N.Y., who accepted the
>award on behalf of some 160,000 librarians in the United States.
>
>Schneider has been among the leaders in the movement against
>library censorware, the filtering of Web content to make sure
>that library computers are safe for children. She and many other
>librarians have pointed out that the available commercial
>filters strip out valuable, constitutionally protected content
>along with the stuff that worries parents, penalizing children
>and adults alike. When a large number of library patrons have
>access to the Net only in libraries, that's discrimination
>against the poor, elderly and people of color, she noted.
>
>Librarians have long been allies of civil libertarians, she
>said. Years ago they fought attempts to disclose patrons'
>reading habits. Censorware is just the latest battle.
>
>``All I know is that if you want to read, it's my job to help
>you do it,'' she said.
>
>Want to know more about what Schneider and her colleagues do for
>us every day? Check out her Web site, ``Unsung Heroes:
>Librarians and Intellectual Freedom''
>(www.bluehighways.com/unsung/unsung.htm).
>
>Read these accounts. You'll join me when I say to the librarians
>of the world, ``You're my heroes, too.''
>
>. . .
>
>
>
>
>
>.......................................................................
>David L. Sobel, General Counsel * +1 202 544 9240 (tel)
>Electronic Privacy Information Center * +1 202 547 5482 (fax)
>666 Pennsylvania Ave., SE Suite 301 * sobel@epic.org
>Washington, DC 20003 USA * http://www.epic.org
>.
>
-------------------------
Karen Coyle
http://www.kcoyle.net
