From:      "Janice E. Bojda" j-bojda@evanston.lib.il.us
To:        cipa-study@ntia.doc.gov
Date:      Tue, Aug 27, 2002 11:53 AM
Subject:   filtering and young people

I work at the Evanston Public Library in Evanston, Illinois. We are a
community of 75,000 with approximately 7000 young people in grades K-8.

Our library board has chosen a policy on the Internet use, which does not
include filtering of any of the library's Internet stations. Because we are
a public library, not a school, parents _can_ and are encouraged to
accompany their children when using any of the library's collections or
services. We are not staffed at a level that can guarantee supervision of
young people in their use of the library so parents are expected to do so.

We have, in the Children's Room, 5 Macintosh computers with what we are
calling *focused access* to the Internet. This focus enables us to select
appropriate sites to make available to our patrons using the same standards
we would to select other materials for inclusion in our collection. Rather
than blocking supposedly objectionable sites based on stop words or terms
over which the library has little or no control, we have developed a method
for creating a positive list of sites to include. This method has been
successful in that it has proven more *hack proof* than the filters some of
my colleagues use at their libraries. Most librarians I have spoken to whom
I have indicated that the more sophisticated young people have been able to
find ways around the filters to the materials the filters have intended to
block.

This focused access means that our sites are accessible through subject
categories, which have been shown to be more effective than web search
engines for use with young people because of their need for closer guidance
when formulating initial search strategies in order to be successful in
locating the information they need. We are in the process of making our
subject index of web sites more helpful and responsive by developing a
program that will enable the children's room staff to add and delete sites
without needing to go through our Information Services department.

Because our Internet stations in the adult reference collection are
filter-free, but not age-restricted, young adults who need more
sophisticated search strategies to meet their information needs have access
to all the information they might need at the computers in the Reference
Department. Adult users, who should be able to have unrestricted access to
Internet, are able to do so.

This system has worked for our community for the last 7 years that we have
provided public access to the Internet. It means we are not forced to use
filters, which prevent our users young and old, from accessing legal
information that is blocked by ineffective, imperfect filters.
 


Janice E. Bojda
Head of Children's Services
Evanston P.L.
1703 Orrington
Evanston, IL 60201

Phone 847/866-0320
Fax 847/866-0623
j-bojda@evanston.lib.il.us