Online Privacy and Security

I thought this was a good way to start off the programme, as it often tends to be dismissed or overlooked by those eager to move onto the next exciting trend. The Netsafe advice has always been balanced and sensible, but it took many years for libraries, even school libraries, to appreciate its value. While a key tenet of librarianship has always been to avoid censorship, nevertheless caution around the Internet is needed, particularly with children, and Netsafe provides a good framework. In libraries, computers available for the public to access the Internet still rely to some extent on a notice displaying the policy regarding "appropriate" content, and vigilance on the part of library staff, and this is sometimes questioned by patrons. No easy answer to it really.

I am often amazed by the tenacity of a handful of patrons to find a way around the system - collecting multiple Pharos logons/temporary passes, etc. And travelling from branch to branch to ensure unlimited hours of Internet access - surprising to see a regular ECB Internet user appear one day at Devonport, the next at Glenfield, and so on! Do they have no life?

All OPACs have a reminder to log out of My Info at the end of a session, and this is particularly important now that there are Web Accounts for patrons for reviews, comments, etc. I think that the majority of patrons don't worry too much about it though, as libraries are "safe" and non-financial, so they don't see any potential problems, whereas with commercial organisations they would be much more wary. Registration time is when the PIN/password conversation needs to be had, and it is amazing that people will often tell you that they only use one PIN for everything - we librarians must have honest faces!