Only one more post on information policies, I promise

According to ALA Intellectual Freedom Manual, intellectual freedom can only exist through the following:

“Intellectual freedom can exist only where two essential conditions are met: first, that all
individuals have the right to hold any belief on any subject and to convey their ideas in any form they deem appropriate; and second, that society makes an equal commitment to the right of unrestricted access to information and ideas regardless of the communication
medium used, the content of the work, and the viewpoints of both the author and receiver of information. Freedom to express oneself through a chosen mode of communication, including the Internet, becomes virtually meaningless if access to that information is not protected. Intellectual freedom implies a circle, and that circle is broken if either freedom of expression or access to ideas is stifled.”

This means several things for libraries, since they exist to help people achieve intellectual freedom. We are living in a technological age, where immediate information is readily available to people who know how to find it. Unfortunately, not everyone has the financial ability (or desire) to partake in this. D’Elia, Jörgensen, Woelfel and Rodger (2002) studied internet use in public libraries and the effect on library utilization. While this article is dated, is does provide an interesting viewpoint. D’Elia et al (2002) surveyed library utilization and why people make decisions to not have the Internet. In 2002, a significant percentage claimed the expense and privacy concerns with not wanting to engage in Internet searches. This behavior and belief has, of course, changed, but many people still seek out personal computers and the Internet at their local library.

Currently, there is a concentrated focus on the establishment of Internet policies that govern how libraries provide Internet service to its patrons. Federal mandates and legislation, “have made some type of filtering mandatory” (Rubin, 2004, p. 194) in cases where libraries receive federal monies. Filters block content or block certain websites. However, this could lead to some legitimate websites also being blocked from a search. A student searching for information on “breast cancer” as a classmate recently explained, could possibly result in significant blocking due to the sexual term “breast”. The American Library Association has taken a stand against filters and has passed resolutions and policies regarding filtering. This is important to the ALA since “filters in fact deprive both young people and adults of constitutionally protected speech and that libraries have a special obligation to protect such access” (Rubin, 2004, p. 200).

Does this change the way information is disseminated by library and information science professionals?

Citations

D’Elia, G., Jörgensen, C., Woelfel, J., Rodger, E. (2002). The impact of the Internet on public
library use: An analysis of the current consumer market for library and Internet services. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology. 53(10), 802-820.

Rubin, R.E. (2004). Foundations of library and information science. New York: Neal-Schuman.