Internet Filtering at Your Library?

The Supreme Court decision in United States v. American Library Association, No. 02-361 (June 23, 2003), "the CIPA decision," means that public libraries that accept federal dollars must install filters on all computers. According to Bertot and McClure only about 25% of libraries have filters installed on all computers.
The application of filters brings together several managerial strands: software and hardware selection decisions similar to those made for other aspects of library automation; managerial cost analysis, including cost-benefit analysis of the cost of applying filters against the benefit of receiving federal monies; and selection decisions to determine which sites to filter.
Selecting a filter
In the September/October 2003 issue of Public Libraries, the official journal of the Public Library Association (PLA), Sara Weissman listed several factors to consider:

  • Will you be installing filters on a server or on individual PCs?
  • What are the terms of licensing?
  • What is the availability for installation: Online? CD-ROM?
  • How easy is the product to install and update?
  • What is the total cost including software, additional hardware, training and time needed to install and learn the program?
  • Can you adjust or amend the block list? Are there levels of blocking from which you can select?
  • Does the product track sites visited? Is any log generated consistent with your patron privacy policy?
  • Does the vendor report to you the sites that your patrons visited? Does the vendor sell that information to third parties?
  • How easy is the filter to turn on and off?
  • Does the filter work with any security you've already installed on your machines?

These actions are necessary in order to comply with the Supreme Court Decision. These ideas/questions to ask are necessary when deciding what system to install. If you already have filters installed you still may want to ask yourself the questions listed above to ensure you are using the filtering service that meets your needs and culture.
Source: Internet use in Libraries, November 2003. http://www.wla.org/cipa