The Internet is not just a way to access information, it is entertainment, it is commerce, it is discussion, it is communication, and it, too, is pornography.
Last I looked, so was my local library. Well, maybe not the pornography, unless you count Edward Gorey's self-described The Curious Sofa.
I don't know when you last used a public library, but they typically collect items in all of your internet categories, including works of fiction, magazines, first-run videotapes, and business publications. While they don't carry outright pornography, you will find in nearly all of them books that have been banned in the United States or elsewhere at some point in history. Many also sponsor book club and story hour programs where people come into the library for discussion.
Like you, I'm not sure libraries in general are in a position to provide free unlimited public internet access, the cost of equipment and connection being an immediate hurdle for these cash-strapped institutions. Perhaps Reference Librarians should simply be trained to properly utilize the net in researching patron queries, for adults and children alike, as they already do using FirstSearch and other proprietary databases. It is unrealistic of you, though, to expect institutions that are investigating the option of filter kludges to "build" a net of their own anytime soon.
Slashdot Mirror
Last I looked, so was my local library. Well, maybe not the pornography, unless you count Edward Gorey's self-described The Curious Sofa.
I don't know when you last used a public library, but they typically collect items in all of your internet categories, including works of fiction, magazines, first-run videotapes, and business publications. While they don't carry outright pornography, you will find in nearly all of them books that have been banned in the United States or elsewhere at some point in history. Many also sponsor book club and story hour programs where people come into the library for discussion.
Like you, I'm not sure libraries in general are in a position to provide free unlimited public internet access, the cost of equipment and connection being an immediate hurdle for these cash-strapped institutions. Perhaps Reference Librarians should simply be trained to properly utilize the net in researching patron queries, for adults and children alike, as they already do using FirstSearch and other proprietary databases. It is unrealistic of you, though, to expect institutions that are investigating the option of filter kludges to "build" a net of their own anytime soon.