Public Internet Access in Libraries and Information Services

Citation

Knight, J. (2002), "Public Internet Access in Libraries and Information Services", Program: electronic library and information systems, Vol. 36 No. 4, pp. 284-285. https://doi.org/10.1108/prog.2002.36.4.284.2

Providing access to the many and varied resources that are available on the Internet to both specialist groups and the public at large is something that libraries and librarians are increasingly having to contend with. While the Internet provides many opportunities for new ways to satisfy patrons needs, it brings with it some problems of its own. Some of these problems are technical in nature and some of them concern policy decisions that need to be made. This book mainly deals with the policy side of things. As such the book is targeted at library staff and other information professionals that will be tasked with defining, drafting and upholding Internet access policies. The book is not confined to public libraries but also looks at Internet access policies in universities, schools and other specialized institutions (such as archives and museums). Whilst private organisations are not specifically covered, much of the information will be equally valuable to cybercafe owners and employers that provide staff access to the Internet.

After a brief introductory chapter, the first real chapter provides an overview of public access to the Internet. Chapter two then introduces some of the problems that the Internet can bring with it including people’s fears, potential for harmful and unreliable content, intellectual property issues, crime, legislations and filtering issues. This is followed by a chapter on the ethics of Internet access management which looks at information work ethics, freedom of information issues and confidentiality.

Law and the Internet is the subject of the next chapter. This covers topics such as the liability that a public Internet access provider will face, how to work out which law applies (which is not always easy when you consider the variety of jurisdictions that an Internet transaction can pass through) and overviews of some major legal topic areas such as human rights, freedom of information and obscenity. Having covered legal issues, we are then presented with a chapter on managing Internet access. This chapter provides advice on how librarians and other information professionals can look after the various aspects of providing public access to the Internet, including staff training, designing user instructions and user supervision.

One of the major aspects of providing public Internet access is defining and upholding a policy document on it. The final chapter of the book covers this, ranging from discussing what a policy should do and to whom it should be targeted, through the process of defining it and finishing off with a checklist to ensure that all aspects are covered. After the last chapter there is a list of selected readings and useful Web sites. The book is rounded off with a set of appendices covering examples of professional societies codes of conduct, guidance documents, examples of internal organisational policy documents, public policy documents and two Council of Europe Guidelines. The appendices are repeating public information (most of which is available on the Internet!) but collecting them together in the book is actually quite a good idea as it provides a ready reference in a single volume.

I found the writing style in the book very clear and understandable, and the structuring of the chapters in the book supported a logical development of the topics under discussion. The information presented seems to be factually accurate and presents the current state of the art in managing Internet access provision and policies in information services. The author appears to have been careful to tread a cautious line through some of the more contentious topics he has to cover such as providing access to pornography and possibly “harmful” content. This is no mean feat considering how easily flamewars over such topics can start on otherwise subdued library mailing lists!

The information on creating a policy document and then ensuring that both staff and users uphold it and abide by it should be invaluable to anybody involved in providing public Internet access. This does not mean just library managers; this book should be consulted by anyone involved in such a process as it will make some of the reasoning behind potential decisions clearer. As getting the support of all the staff in an organisation behind an Internet access policy is an important factor in its future success, it might even be worthwhile encouraging them all to read through the information in the book.

In conclusion, this book is an excellent resource that should be in the staff library of every public library that has Internet terminals. It should also definitely be consulted by students and information professionals seeking to gain an understanding of the complex issues involved in providing such a resource.