NTIA Internet Filtering Study

Holly D. Rogerson

Head of Reference

Vineland Public Library

Vineland, NJ

Our library does not use filters on our public access computers for children or adults; however, during March through September of 2001, the computers in our computer lab were set up to access the Vineland Public Schools network for Internet access, and that network was using the Bess filter. This situation arose because the lab monitors were school system employees being paid by a New Jersey Department of Education A.C.E. Grant and the school district insisted that their network be used. During this period of filtered Internet access, some adult patrons refused to use the lab computers because of problems they encountered in accessing their email, and some chat rooms and games.

I also received complaints from a reference librarian who attempted to teach an “Introduction to the Internet” class in the lab in September of 2001. She reported that Bess blocked her access to a number of sites that she had planned on using as examples in her class. She had prepared for her class using her office computer, which accessed the Internet through our unfiltered library network and so was blindsided when she couldn’t gain access during the class. There was no discernable reason why the sites she had chosen were blocked; for example, her search for photographs of President George W. Bush resulted in many blocked sites. As soon as the ACE grant period was over, we put the computer lab back on our library network to avoid such problems.

NTIA Internet Filtering Study

Helen Cowan Margiotti

Head of Children’s and Young Adult Services

Vineland Public Library

Vineland, NJ

Our library does not use filters on our public access computers for children or adults. We have a laptop-lending program using filtered Apple ibooks. The ibooks were purchased with a grant won through a partnership with the public schools. Patrons can plug the ibooks into their home phone lines and get Internet access through the school’s network, which is filtered using CyberPatrol. When the ibooks are returned, they frequently have pornography sites in the histories that CyberPatrol did not filter out, and the ibooks have to be “cleaned” by a library staff member before they can go out again. The filter, for the most part, is ineffective. Patrons have also complained that the filter blocks their children from getting to certain game sites, but they can still accidentally access pornography.

Before CIPA was overturned, I did investigate the possibility of putting filters on our computers. I downloaded the demo of CyberPatrol, which had gotten good reviews as an effective filter. These were some of the problems I encountered with the filter when it was blocked only for Partial Nudity, Full Nudity, Sexual Acts/Text:

• It did not block pornographic sites

• It blocked the Rutgers Sex Education newsletter site, even though Sex Education sites were “allowed”
• It blocked pictures from one of the science sites on our homework help page that were completely innocuous.
• It blocked links to books on sexuality and homosexuality in a Children’s Picture Book database.
• It blocked an art site that we have on our Children’s Homework Help page (Webmuseum Paris)
• It would not let me search “satan” even after I marked it “allowed”

When a child patron accidentally accesses a pornographic site, parents assume two things: 1) All of our computers are filtered, and 2) Filters block out all sites that are inappropriate for children. When I explain to the parents that the computers are not filtered because the filters block out good sites and do not block out enough of the bad sites, the parents do seem to understand. Many times the way a child accesses pornography accidentally is by attempting to type in a web address that they think is appropriate (one child wanted information on the singer Pink and typed in www.pink.com only to find a pornographic site). When we explain to them that they should use search engines instead of guessing at web addresses, this eliminates much of the problem. Education is key in these situations.