Politech: FC: Library filtering use doubles in two years, report says

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

[This is from David Burt, a longtime filtering-everything advocate who is 
now an employee of a filtering software vendor. --Declan
*******

> From: "David Burt" <dburt () n2h2 com>
> To: "James S. Tyre" <jstyre () jstyre com>, "Hudsond () Fac  Org" <hudsond () fac org>,
>         "Declan McCullagh" <declan () well com>, <kaplanc () nytimes com>
> Subject: Library Filters use nearly doubles in two years
> Date: Sat, 23 Sep 2000 14:07:28 -0700
>
> The Mainstream Loudoun ruling almost certainly slowed filtering down 
> (based on plenty of anecdotal evidence), but it certainly hasn't stopped 
> library filtering.  See below article, and table 11 of the attached .pdf, 
> which says:
> Public Libraries using filtering: 3,711 or 24.6 %
> Public libraries filtering all access: 1,445 or 9.6%
> Public libraries filtering some access: 2,265 or 15.0%
>
> September 25, 2000
>
> Study: PL Net Access Rises; Filtering Up
> <http://www.libraryjournal.com/articles/news/thisweek/20000925_15930.asp>http://www.libraryjournal.com/articles/news/thisweek/20000925_15930.asp
>
> The National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) has 
> released <http://www.nclis.gov/statsurv/1998plo.pdf>Public Libraries and 
> the Internet 2000, which follows up on the 1998 Public Libraries and the 
> Internet study, both conducted by Florida State University academics. John 
> Carlo Bertot and Charles R. McClure.
> The study shows that the Internet has remained and grown as a vital public 
> library service, as Internet connectivity in public libraries is at 95.7%, 
> up from 83.6% reported in 1998 and with virtually all of those that are 
> connected providing patron access. In two years, public library outlets 
> have nearly doubled the number of public access workstations, and 
> libraries are steadily gaining in speed of connectivity. While the 
> percentage increase in connectivity over two years may not seem dramatic, 
> Bertot pointed out that urban, suburban, and rural libraries are now 
> connected nearly equally.
> While the study states that "75.5% of public library outlets do not block 
> and/or filter Internet content," that formulation obscures what seems to 
> be a not insignificant trend toward filtering. In 1998, only14.6% of 
> libraries reported using filters, while a 
> <http://www.libraryjournal.com/articles/news/thisweek/20000710_15197.asp>2000 
> survey by the Library Research Center of the University of Illinois said 
> that 16.8% of libraries use filters. The 24.5% figure in the new study 
> includes 9.6% of libraries that are filtering all workstations -- a 
> legally questionable position, at least based on the 1998 decision in the 
> litigation involving the Loudoun County Public Library, Leesburg, VA.
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> | David Burt, Marketing Research Manager dburt () n2h2 com http://www.n2h2.com/ |
> | Intelligent Technologies For A Safe and Productive Internet |
> || Phone 206 892-1130  Fax: 509 271-4226 |
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> |
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