[Publib] My Space and U Tube

[Cherry, Kevin]

All:
 
Just a few questions:
 
If someone complained about books that a library was making available or that their neighbors were reading (instead of social networking sites), what would we do? 
 
If gangs were hiding messages (or little packages of white powder) between the pages of certain books, would we pull all books in the librar or just those that provide popular hiding places--or do something else? And if it is something else, what would that something else be?
 
If certain people keep breaking library codes of conduct, what is the appropriate response according to your local policies? 
 
Why should we treat social networking sites differently than we do other information resources made available by the library? What compelling reasons have any of you heard that would explain the difference in this treatment?
 
Does anyone know how a social networking site is defined? Has anyone defined "social networking sites" for legal reasons? At what point does the inclusion of networked personal spaces, discussion boards, personal networks of "friends," linked chat (and whatever other mix of tools might be involved) become an online resource that we can call social networking? For example, I think that there are a number of online course management tools for distance instruction that come close to a social networking model in a number of ways, and all sorts of social and political groups are attempting to build online communities (social networking sites) to aid their cause, educate their members, build greater support for some issue, sports team, etc. It seems that current Web trends seem to point to more of a "social networking" of the entire Web. (Because once Friendster and Myspace are not available, I am sure it is only a matter of time before someone starts using a rare book collectors Web site to start sharing illicit messages--and then, we'll haveto block it, and after that it will be the wild flower fanciers site . . .) If libraries decide to drop access to social networking sites, do we run the risk of opting out of the information tool/media that everybody else is embracing? What might be the longterm result of this decision?
 
I am not trying to be some sort of smart aleck. Really, I am just asking the questions. I know that no matter what side we might take on this issue (or other issues), 99.9% of us here do care about our communities and our users, and we are all trying to do the best that we can for them, often with limited resources and in challenging situations. 
 
Soooo, what are our answers?
 
 
Kevin Cherry

________________________________

From: publib-bounces at webjunction.org on behalf of Kevin Okelly
Sent: Sun 9/2/2007 8:12 PM
To: Angela Williams; publib at webjunction.org
Subject: Re: [Publib] Re: My Space and U Tube



You wrote:

"patrons complained about what is being viewed"

What gives these patrons the right to have any control over what other
patrons do?

And if some patrons are violating library codes of conduct, then ban the
patrons, not the websites.

Kevin O'Kelly
Reference and Cataloging Librarian
Somerville Public Library
79 Highland Ave.
Somerville, MA 02143
(617)-623-5000


-----Original Message-----
From: Angela Williams <spartangirl68 at yahoo.com>
To: publib at webjunction.org
Date: Sat, 1 Sep 2007 06:35:08 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [Publib] Re: My Space and U Tube

> The Greenville (SC) Public library just recently banned all social
> networking sites like My Space and Facebook. We did this for 3 reasons:
>   
>   1.  patrons complaints about what is being viewed
>   
>   2. repeated violations of the Library Code of Conduct
>   
>   3. Gangs are using these sites to coordinate activity.
>   
>   I sure our library isn't the only one having these problems with My
> Space, etc. How have you dealt with these issues?
>   
>   Angela Williams
>   Library Assistant III
>   Greenville County Library System
>   Greenville, SC
>   awilliams at greenvillelibrary.org
>   
>  
>
> 
>
>
> Angela Williams
> spartangirl68 at yahoo.com
>       
> ---------------------------------
> Building a website is a piece of cake.
> Yahoo! Small Business gives you all the tools to get online.


_______________________________________________
Publib mailing list
Publib at webjunction.org
http://lists.webjunction.org/mailman/listinfo/publib


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.webjunction.org/wjlists/publib/attachments/20070902/dc46d421/attachment.htm