I just finished up an Infopeople presentation on CIPA and DOPA and this was the most interesting slide/topic discussed. For years now I’ve been pointing out to libraries that may have inconsistent polices and that is exactly what this slide addressed. The presenter pointed out that many libraries who fiter also have adopted the library bill of rights. However, LBR says that the library does not descriminate based on age yet the filtering system does exactly that. A great point! Do you filter based on age? If you do, then you’re in conflict with LBR…
Michael Sauers is the Director of Logan Library in Logan, UT. Prior to this he was one of the founding staff and Technology Manager for Do Space in Omaha, NE. After earning his MLS in 1995 from the University at Albany's School of Information Science and Policy Michael spent his first 20 years as a librarian training other librarians in technology along with time as a public library trustee, a bookstore manager for a library friends group, a reference librarian, a technology consultant, and a bookseller. He has written dozens of articles for various journals and magazines and has published 14 books ranging from library technology, blogging, Web design, and an index to a popular horror magazine. In his spare time, he blogs at TravelinLibrarian.info, runs The Collector's Guide to Dean Koontz website at CollectingKoontz.com, takes many, many photos, and typically reads more than 100 books a year.
Unless otherwise stated, all opinions are my own and are not to be considered those of the City of Logan, UT.
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One Reply to “Write consistent policies”
Not to get all loopholey, but LBR says “should not”, not “will not” or “shall not”. There’s also that bit in the preamble that LBR “should guide”. Sounds very recommendationish.
Also, an argument could be made (I’m not saying it’s a good argument) that a policy which appears to discriminate based on age is actually discriminating based on legal status.
So, I’m not sure the conflict is quite so black-and-white.
Disclaimer: IANAL. (I wonder how many times that abbreviation has gotten web pages blocked by filters?)
Not to get all loopholey, but LBR says “should not”, not “will not” or “shall not”. There’s also that bit in the preamble that LBR “should guide”. Sounds very recommendationish.
Also, an argument could be made (I’m not saying it’s a good argument) that a policy which appears to discriminate based on age is actually discriminating based on legal status.
So, I’m not sure the conflict is quite so black-and-white.
Disclaimer: IANAL. (I wonder how many times that abbreviation has gotten web pages blocked by filters?)