REGARDING A NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE WITH LINK AND EXCERPT BELOW:
The New York Times article cited below is the last
Education Column that will be authored by Pamela Mendels. Librarians are
one of the key groups that are concerned about the damage that censorship
of the internet by blocking and filtering programs can do to freedom of
speech in general and on the internet in particular. A posting of a New
York Times story about New Jersey's plans to list sex offenders whose
victims are juveniles on the web was rejected by a highly protective
filtering system at some school and returned to my email unaccepted
because of suspected inappropriate sexual content. This article focuses
on Karen G. Schneider, a librarian in a New York state suburban public
library. The article notes attention she has gotten for her strong
support of freedom of speech and access on the internet. The article also
describes other concerns that she feels in regard to the web including the
damage that its over- commercialization will have on the youth who use the
internet.
There is an excellent set of links on the Educational
Cyberplayground regarding the internet filtering issue in connection with
its use by children:
Child Safety on the Internet, Filtering Software, Netiquette
http://www.cyberplayground.net/morestuff4.html
This article about the Cyberpatrol may also stir some
interest when read on the Cyberplayground:
Blacklisted by Cyber Patrol
http://www.cyberplayground.net/Technology/Cyber_Patrol_Blacklisted.html
Sincerely,
David Dillard
Temple University
(215) 204-4584
jwne@astro.temple.edu
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Source: New York Times (NYT)
Author: PAMELA MENDELS
Title: Librarian, Long an Internet Booster, Sees Clouds on Web
Horizon
Source Date: April 19, 2000
Resource Type: News Article
Description/Keywords: Librarians, Internet/WWW, Viewpoints,
Filtering/Blocking, Children, Internet Use, Commercialization, Impacts,
Issues
URL: Listed Below Article Summary
(Free Registration Required by the New York Times)
April 19, 2000
By PAMELA MENDELS
Librarian, Long an Internet Booster, Sees
Clouds on Web Horizon
For years, Karen G. Schneider, a librarian in the suburbs of Albany,
N.Y., has been known as a fighter for free speech online.
She was the author of one of the
early books about filtering, a critical
examination for librarians of various
software programs used to shield
children from objectionable content
online. She has long been vocal in
decrying legislative and political
efforts to curb an unencumbered
exchange of information in
cyberspace. And among those who
follow the growing presence of the
Internet in people's lives, she has
often been asked to weigh in, be it in
court or in print.
So it was not surprising that the
Electronic Frontier Foundation, a
group advocating civil liberties online,
recently selected Schneider to accept
an award recognizing "librarians
everywhere" for their efforts to
preserve the public's right to free speech
on the Internet.
What is perhaps more surprising about Schneider, an Internet
enthusiast since she first logged on to a computer bulletin board at her
library graduate school program in 1991, is that she sees clouds on the
Internet horizon other than threats of censorship.
For one thing, she said, she worries about the mass commercialization
of the Web and the effect it is having on young people, who now
increasingly encounter advertising and promotion from a variety of media
in schools, once a kind of safe-haven from consumerism.
Web Sites Related to This Article:
Karen Schneider on Filtering
http://www.bluehighways.com/
Electronic Frontier Foundation and the foundation's Pioneer
Award
http://www.eff.org/
http://www.eff.org/awards/pioneer.html
Shenendehowa Public Library
http://www.shenpublib.org/
American Association of School Librarians
http://www.ala.org/aasl/index.html
Samuel E. Ebersole's study
http://www.uscolo.edu/ebersole/diss/
University of Southern Colorado
http://www.uscolo.edu/
Jean Armour Polly's site
http://www.netmom.com/
Check My Articles on Database Searching
http://www.Edu-CyberPG.com/
Click on Ringleaders and Then Reference
Diversity University Collaboratory Mailing List (DUC)
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/diversity.html
Full Story May Be Read At:
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/04/cyber/education/19education.html
MSNBC.com AND USA TODAY HOT SITE PICK AWARDS
The Educational CyberPlayGround <http://www.edu-cyberpg.com>
Diversity University Collaboratory Listserv [DUC]
<http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/diversity.html>