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Intellectual
Significance
I became interested in digital reference through discussions in two of my core classes on reference services. In LIS 520
(Information Resources, Services, and Collections) we practiced search techniques using old Internet Public Library (IPL)
reference questions and in LIS 521 (Principles of Information Services) we
became temporary members of IPL's network of digital librarians. There are a number of interesting questions
that have been raised about the provision of digital reference services in the library and information science literature, including:
what it is possible to do with digital reference, what questions can and cannot be answered using digital reference technologies, and
whether it possible to conduct an adequate reference interview in the digital reference environment.
As I began investigating these questions, I became fascinated with the history of how librarians had dealt with the challenges of using
digital communications to provide greater access to reference services. The history of
digital reference provides us with an abundance of information about the creative, sometimes quite elegant and other
times not so elegant, solutions that librarians have created when faced
with the challenges of digital reference. This includes information
about the types of services that were developed, how they were implemented,
the volume of traffic they received, what types of questions
were fielded, and what policies were put in place to govern those
services. Librarians have also published information about what
innovations worked well and which ones were less successful. Many books and articles have been written that cover
pieces of that history, but little or nothing has been
written that covers the whole story, from it's beginnings in the late 80's and early 90's to the present day. This paper
attempts to bring together this wealth of information
through a review of the literature on digital reference, focusing on the use of e-mail to
provide digital reference services. When we know
what has worked well in the past, and what works best in the present, then
we can move forward and provide even better services for the future.
Significance
The Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) and the Neighborhood Children's Internet Protection Act (NCIPA) have stirred up
a great deal of controversy in the political realm, amongst concerned parents and library patrons both for and against the Acts,
and in the field of library and information science. These Acts require schools and public libraries receiving federal funding
through the Library Services and Technology Act, Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, or the E-rate program
for the purpose of purchasing computers and software used to access the Internet or paying for Internet service to institute Internet
safety policies and use Internet blocking or filtering technologies. While many sympathize with the objective of protecting children
from "sexually explicit" or "harmful" material on the Internet, many people also have concerns about the potential for censorship that
blocking or filtering technology presents. CIPA and NCIPA have been lambasted by those who believe that these Acts are nothing more than
legally sanctioned censorship, thinly disguised behind the veil of "protecting the children." These Acts have also been criticized by those
who feel that the "technological protection measures" required by those Acts are faulty instruments which may (1) fail to block all sites
containing "sexually explicit" or "harmful" materials, and (2) may over-block and deny users access to Constitutionally protected material.
This paper examines what the CIPA and NCIPA legislation means for libraries providing internet access, arguments for and against these
legislative measures, and some of the key problems with current filtering technologies.
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An Historical Perspective on the Use of Electronic Mail for Reference
To Filter or Not to Filter: A Review of the Controversy Over CIPA and
NCIPA
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