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Filtering Software Reps Meet with Librarians at ALA, March 12, 1999ALA President Ann Symons hosted an all-day meeting at ALA Headquarters in Chicago March 12 with representatives of a dozen manufacturers of filtering software. She held the meeting “to provide a forum for discussion of ALA’s concerns about the use of filters in libraries and future developments in Web management technology.” Ten ALA member-leaders also talked to the group, including Intellectual Freedom Committee chair Steven Herb, who described how better products could meet the needs of librarians in their commitment to intellectual freedom on the Internet. Karen Schneider, ALA councilor and American Libraries’ Internet Librarian columnist, told the company representatives that “librarians will not use tools that compromise their professional authority.” She said that a better filter would be one that allows librarians to know the criteria used for blocking and permits configurable access control at the workstation. Others voiced concerns that Web management software should:
The software manufacturers acknowledged that while filtering technology has evolved, overblocking can occur. They also noted that filters are not 100% effective in blocking pornography, that children can circumvent them, and that parents need to be advised of this. Some software manufacturers maintained that although the technology exists to produce filters customized for a public-library setting, ALA has not provided a clear road map for their development. Nor does it seem to realize that customized software could be expensive and more expensive to administer. Jim Goulka of EdView observed that “ALA needs to clarify fundamental ambiguities” in its position, especially to defining “parental responsibility.” Others asserted that the distinction between access for children in school libraries and public libraries has not been clarified. Symons maintained that ALA is “being demonized for some of our stands” but emphasized that the Association is “not backing down” on its position that filtering of constitutionally protected material violates the Library Bill of Rights—a position reinforced when the Supreme Court struck down the Communications Decency Act in 1997 (AL, Aug. 1997, p. 11). Symons told the group that ALA Council made its decision about filtering two years ago and “whether or not the policy will come to Council again I don’t know.” This was a “historic” meeting, she concluded, to general agreement that the dialogue must continue. The meeting was the clearest indication to date that ALA leaders think some form of restricting children’s access to the Internet can be implemented without sacrificing the principles adopted by ALA Council in 1996, supporting “access to information on all subjects that serve the needs or interests of each user, regardless of the user’s age or the content of the material.” Vendors and librarians agreed with one software representative who said, “The press has done an incredible job of publicizing the negative side of the Internet.” Following the meeting, Symons said she plans to take the topic further by exploring:
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