The meeting was held at Barrington Public Library. It was convened by CLAN Chairperson Debbie Barchi at 9:35 A M. The list of attendees is incomplete so please let me know if you have been omitted and I'll add your name: Debbie Barchi, BAR; Judy Bell, JAM; Peter Bennett, PRO; Heather Field, ASH; Joan Hackett, HAR; Christine Jeffers, PAW; De Johnson, JOH; David Macksam, CRA; Ginny Moses, CLAN; Pick Payette, CLAN; Doug Pearce, WAR.
Two visitors attended the meeting to discuss internet filtering in libraries, and the order of the agenda was changed so the guests could be heard first. The guests were Rachel Carpenter and Carla Weiss, of RIC and the RILA Intellectual Freedom Committee.
Debbie: How would CLAN put together a symposium on Internet Filtering (IF)? There
is controversy brewing in public libraries and we need to learn more.
Carla distributed the results of a survey of 61 libraries (not branches), including academics, on the subject of IF.
---Most libraries have a written internet policy for patrons
---6 say they filter (3 filter children's access only, 3 filter everyone)
---Most libraries responding do not get lots of patron complaints
---NO complaints have been lodged in RI
Debbie: Why are there so few complaints?
Rachel: New England in general hasn't had many complaints, perhaps due to its
diverse makeup and liberal tendencies.
Dave Macksam: I was approached by a legislator about filtering-an ACT called
COPA, Child Online Protection Act-it is stalled right now.
Carla: Maybe we've been lucky so far.
A discussion of the structure of an IF forum ensued.
De Johnson was concerned about the "mixed bag" of IF options.
The possibility of setting up pc's with various IF's was raised, as were other ideas.
It was decided that initial meetings about IF would include librarians only-no speakers from other venues.
Debbie had had a complaint when director at COV-from a mother whose son accessed pornography at the library. There was even an article in the local paper, yet her town council made no mention of it, nor was there any public reaction at all. (It turned out the woman's son was 19 years old!)
It was decided that a committee will be formed to generate sample questions to pose to libraries. Volunteers for that committee include so far: De Johnson and Joan Hackett.
Rick Payette warned that IF's are customizable and may not be typical of the generic product. He also said that with some IF software you can fund out what is blocked but some will not reveal what is blocked.
Doug Pearce warned that any library's blocked sites changes daily.
Rick Payette and Ginny Moses said that they had looked at/into Webivore abd found it to be "not ready for prime time." Maybe it will be improved.
It was agreed that there will be a special meeting at BAR on October 19, 2000 at 9:30 A.M. (right before the Steering Committee Meeting at 1 P.M.)to discuss IF. Ginny Moses will look into work the Connecticut Library Association has done on IF and report at that meeting.
Ginny Moses gave her report at this time:
---As of 5/23 Joan R. Reeves said there was no news re: funding of Library Links project.
---1st quarter invoices have gone out
---PC purchasing is proceeding with excellent response
---Davisville Free Library is joing CLAN (we have 48 members now)
---TelecircII is installed and running (Gayle Wolstenholme: the voice on TelecircII is
scary.)
---Results of the Champlin Recommendations workshop are on the CLAN website at
204.17.98.73/minutes
---Peter, Ginny, Rick and Cindy will be meeting with Dave King of Champlin
Foundations to discuss CLAN's possible grant request for a Horizon system
Peter Bennett reported:
---Any library using TelecircII can turn it off for any given patron by putting an
asterix by the phone number in the patron record.
---Epixtech is aware that no one likes the voice on TelecircII and is looking into the
possibility of changing it in a future upgrade.
Christine Jeffers: PAW has dropped TelecircII-it was too time-consuming.
Doug Pearce: there is a learning curve to using it, but the staff likes it now and it is
cheaper.
---Very few "holds" are called to early by TelecircII-though there can be a problem if a
library has less-than-daily delivery
---TelecircII's introduction can be re-recorded if you want it changed.
---Data Broadband's internet line installations are happening rapidly, though timing can
be difficult.
Rick Payette reported:
---PC Reliance is being installed at many libraries. He's done about 2/3 of the CLAN
libraries to date. The remaining 1/3 are either scheduled or awaiting equipment.
--PC Reliance has come in handy lately with downtime.
Judy Bell: What should we do with our old telxons?
Peter Bennett: Send them to Data Processing. They can still be used for inventories
until PC Reliance adds an inventory function in a future upgrade.
---Regarding PC purchasing, people want more variety, so in the future we will offer a
choice of a standard PC with a 17" monitor AND a small form factor PC. Information will be posted on the web.
---Since requests for other types of equipment (laptops, flat panels, multi-media, etc.)
are coming in we are looking into it and by Fall we'll publish a purchasing schedule.
---Dell is good-it stands behind what it sells with very good support.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:40 A.M.