A committee of Dallas City Council members unanimously recommended Tuesday that city libraries install Internet monitoring software on its publicly accessible computers. At first the committee had considered using more restrictive filters that actively block Web content, such as pornography. There has been much concern with the content of internet web pages being accessed in the public libraries and this new monitoring software should help to eliminate the possibility of internet misusage. The recommended monitoring software would send an electronic message to librarians and Internet users alike when possibly inappropriate content is accessed on a public library computer. There are instances when a site must be accessed for research and is not necessarily pornography, but this new software will alert the librarians allowing them to make a decision whether or not the material is appropriate. The proposed monitoring software would allow library patrons to choose whether to continue to the selected Web sites after being notified, on-screen, that they've accessed potentially objectionable content, such as sexually explicit images. The software would also automatically send a message to a librarian's computer when suspected inappropriate content is accessed on the Internet. Librarians could then request an Internet user to stop accessing material they deem in violation of the library's internal service policy.
I think that this software is a smart way of monitoring the usage of the internet in the public setting. It is one thing for someone to view inappropriate material on their own computer but to do so at a public library where children or someone who may object to such material is not acceptable.
1 comment:
I agree with you that monitoring the usage of the internet while in public libraries is a good thing. People should not come to the pubic library to look up porn or other illicit materials on the web, if people need to look at that kind of information than they need to do it from the privacy of their own home and their own internet connection. It is also a good way of detouring strange people from coming into the library.
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