A Librarian’s Dilemma
Evan Groth
Mark Merriken
Tim Morrison
Alok Parikh
Recap
This case study is based on a library system and the problems created from
providing Internet access to their patrons in a medium sized city in the United States. It
begins by assuming that we are an administrator of a library system in that city. Our
main library is located in the populated downtown area which is equipped with sixteen
Dell personal computers. However, they are rarely used by the library’s patrons as they
do not have any interesting software, or Internet connection. Therefore it was decided to
buy some popular software packages and provide Internet connectivity from Netscape’s
Navigator browser. As a result of this change, the computers are now used at their fullest
extent by the patrons. It has been observed that Web surfing is the most popular activity
occurring in the library’s computer room. So we then sanctioned expenses for the same
software and Internet access for all the branches of our city. Yet some problems like
teenagers and adults viewing pornography arise due to Internet access at the main branch.
Consequently the staff members suggest installing filters that would block the web sites
containing sexual and obscene content. But according to the American Library
Association’s (ALA) code of responsibility, the selection of library resources cannot be
filtered for the reason that minors having the similar access to library resources as adult
users. There are some staff members who want the filters to be installed and there are
some who do not want to violate ALA’s code. Community leaders and even the mayor
are in favor of installing filters.
Congress has recently passed the Children’s Internet protection Act (CIPA) which
necessitates all public libraries that participate in the federal e-rate program to install
blocking mechanisms such as filters to block access to pornographic material for minors.
A Librarian’s Dilemma
Evan Groth
Mark Merriken
Tim Morrison
Alok Parikh
The e-rate program is a discounted rate for Internet access which is charged to libraries
by telecommunication carriers. Last year $25,000 was discounted by the library system
in e-rate through this program. Thus if the library administrators do not buy the blocking
mechanisms, the budget will have to be deducted by this amount to make up for the lost
e-rate subsidy.
Stakeholders
There are three main stakeholders in this case. The primary stakeholder is the
head librarian, the secondary is patrons and the tertiary is library staff. The head
librarian, who is the primary stakeholder, they may lose the discounted rate Internet
access that they currently receive through the e-rate program. Being a medium sized
institution, it would be unfortunate for the system’s bottom line. Library patrons are the
secondary stakeholders as they will lose their freedom to access pornographic material if
the filters are installed in computers. The library staff is the tertiary stakeholder because
there is some staff that is in favor of installing filters while there is some staff which is
against installing filters. The staff that is in favor of filters wants to block underage
children from having access to pornographic material on the web. On the other hand, the
staff that is against installing filters does not want to infringe the ALA’s code of
responsibility. We are analyzing the case from the perspective of all three stakeholders
as they all correlate with each other. Analyzing the case from the perspective of head
librarian would be senseless as patrons and library staff are equally important in dealing
with the issue.
A Librarian’s Dilemma
Evan Groth
Mark Merriken
Tim Morrison
Alok Parikh
Social Problems
In communities all across America the public library is thought of as a place to
learn. The concept of a library is fundamentally to provide knowledge and the
opportunity to learn to those who seek it. It is a place where young minds and old alike
can be enriched.
In our society there are a few social norms we expect to see upheld in any library
we may visit. A few of the most common are a general silence about the area, quality
service, and as little disturbance as possible. Also in our society pornographic and other
sadistic types of materials are considered to be generally vulgar and depraved, not
enriching.
Therefore it is easy to see why parents and other prominent members of the
community would be upset with the new computer systems allowing the youth access to
these things. With so many people outraged something must be done about this issue.
Ethical Problems
To get a feel for the kinds of ethical issues we can find in this case, let’s compare
the pros and cons of implementing or rejecting the filtering software. If the library
complies with the Government and installs the filters it will benefit in many ways.
Obviously the viewing of obscene materials will be, for the most part, prevented. This
will make the parents, lawmakers and city officials happy. Also the library will continue
to be granted a sizeable discount from the government. With all this potential benefit to
be had by installing the filters, the decision may seem like a simple one. However, there
are opposing factors. The library claims to follow the ALA code which states that all
patrons should be allowed equal access to the library’s resources. This may seem kind of
A Librarian’s Dilemma
Evan Groth
Mark Merriken
Tim Morrison
Alok Parikh
trivial at first but many people feel that the freedom of information is an extremely
important principal. We need to determine the ethicality of the library just blowing off
the ALA code along with the strong opinions of some of its patrons in favor of the
benefits. Also a solution to whether or not it is ethical to restrict the view of certain kinds
of content.
Another concern is that children could possibly be exposed to explicit materials
when browsing the Internet. Some would suggest that a tiered access system be
implemented. This means that different users would have different privileges on the
computer systems. For example: blocking explicit content for users under a certain age.
Sounds great but, further analysis reveals more ethical issues. One could argue that
restricting viewable web content based on a patron’s age is discrimination. This makes
things even more difficult because even though the library would be protecting younger
patrons it would still be discriminating against other individuals.
If we consider for a moment the laws governing pornography we can see that
something must be done. Pornography is illegal to view if the person viewing is under the
age of 18. Also viewing certain types of pornography such as explicit images of minors is
considered a felony. This is law. It is the not directly the libraries fault that minors are
viewing pornography, this is a decision made by an individual. However, one could argue
that there may be some kind of duty or obligation that the library has. Perhaps the library
should try to prevent minors from accessing these materials since they provide the means
to do so. This way the library is helping to prevent crime from taking place and to protect
the innocence of younger children. Our problem here simply is what to do about the
A Librarian’s Dilemma
Evan Groth
Mark Merriken
Tim Morrison
Alok Parikh
library offering the chance for minors to freely view pornography. We must determine if
this is the library’s responsibility.
Upholding human dignity in the workplace is common practice for most
professional organizations and public Libraries are no exception. The practice of
upholding human dignity involves respecting the opinions and values of those around you
and considering the effects of ones actions on other individuals. Considering this we can
see that any person viewing explicit materials on the library computer system has the
potential to violate this principal by disturbing other patrons. The question we must
answer is if this is happening should the library not take this into consideration.
Determining what is right in this situation will be difficult. As a patron in the
library utilizing the computer system one would want the ability to access any
information desired. As citizens under a government we must abide by certain laws such
as those against pornography. So if filters block pornography but could also block other
information how do we solve this problem? We will need to examine these circumstances
with the idea of ethicality in mind.
Technical Problems
There are multiple technical issues that arise when attempting to censor
information in a public library. The main issue in our case would be the e-rate discount
that governmental agencies provide the library totaling approximately $25,000 a year that
requires filtering software to be installed. If filters are not installed on the library
computers the government will cease to provide the discount and the head of the library
will be held responsible. Additionally the local community and library staff has applied
A Librarian’s Dilemma
Evan Groth
Mark Merriken
Tim Morrison
Alok Parikh
pressure on the library administrators to take corrective action. Filters however, are a
whole field of technical problems themselves.
No one has ever coded a perfect filter. There are third party filters and
government written filters for us to choose from when satisfying the requirement of
filtering content. What makes one filter better than another? How do we know whatever
filter we install will filter solely inappropriate content? Will the filter search for words in
a page or will it instead simply block a hard coded list of websites? With the
implementation of filters issues of maintenance arise. Knowing that new content is
constantly being added to the web requires our filter to be constantly updating. If our
filter must be constantly updated then who could be deemed responsible enough to make
the decisions of what is acceptable and what is not. How can we trust one network
administrator to basically function as the gate keeper of information? And why should
one person be allotted such great power to simply satisfy a government requirement?
Another technical issue dealing with the implementation of filters is simply that
the kids who are being censored are on average computer savvy themselves. They will
find ways around the filter, ways to break it; they might even be provoked to act
maliciously after seeing that their content is being blocked.
As head of the library we must also take into account the ALA code of
responsibility. We have both loyalties to this code and the government, providing us with
a both technical and moral issue. If we choose to not censor content obeying the ALA
code the library will end up in a state of disaster without its funding. However, if we
install the filters, we break the ALA code, giving the government that much more control
over our freedom(s). Even if we do implement filters they could potentially block content
A Librarian’s Dilemma
Evan Groth
Mark Merriken
Tim Morrison
Alok Parikh
that is actually appropriate angering library patrons as they are stopped from doing
something perfectly acceptable. From choosing which filter to use to implementing and
maintaining it, many difficult problems arise which could potentially outweigh the initial
problem itself of under age patrons viewing adult content.
Solutions to Technical Problems
As a way for the library system to keep the e-rate discount, they can comply with
the recent federal legislation and install filtering software. As a way to ensure an
adequate filtering solution is selected, the library system can submit requests for
proposals (RFPS) to multiple vendors. This way the library system can then select what
it deems to be the optimum filtering solution based upon the presentations and
documentation submitted to them by the various, interested vendors. Most vendor
contracts usually include for the installation, administration, and maintenance of a new
system for a finite amount of time. Thus allowing the filters to be properly configured
and groomed for production use within the system and for a smooth transition.
In addition to installing filtering software for the library system’s PCs, a network
administrator can be employed to help maintain the software. This network administrator
will be tasked with: keeping the filter operational, making sure that the filtering is
effective, fixing any false positives which may arise during operational use, and closing
any loopholes which might be created.
Solutions to Ethical Problems