Spent the weekend at The Mitchell Library in Glasgow; soaking up the atmosphere from the latest Aye Write Book Festival. Attended a couple of really good events too. However, despite enjoying both of these events immensely they’re not what I remember most about my visits…
I had thought it might be a good idea to tweet about the events I attended but when I tried to access Twitter on The Mitchell Library’s public access computers I was informed that Twitter was considered to be an ‘unacceptable website’. Surely not, I thought, so I tried again, on a different computer. Same message again. Made me wonder about what else would be blocked. Attempted to login to Facebook and although the ‘unacceptable website’ message did not pop up, a strange login screen did and when I attempted to type in my user name and password I realised that nothing was appearing on the screen. Seemed to be locked out of that one as well. Tried MySpace, same thing! Okay, they’re blocking social networking websites I thought….but then something happened that made no sense whatsoever. I was able to login to Bebo no problem. I also tried to access Flickr and YouTube but they were inaccessible too. Stranger still was what I found out later. Glasgow City Council had been using Twitter to help promote the Aye Write festival, and there were buttons on the Aye Write website encouraging users to visit their profile on both Facebook and MySpace…
Confused and annoyed I asked a few different Library Assistants why I couldn’t access these websites and they all gave me the same answer; “all social networking sites are banned in the library”. I asked each one why social networking had been banned and also, if there was a ‘blanket ban’ like they were suggesting, why was I able to access Bebo? None of them could answer this question but they did invite me to write my queries on a customer comment card, which I did. I’m looking forward to receiving a response because I really do want to know why Glasgow Libraries have taken this stance against social networking, especially when they appear to be using social networking themselves to promote their own book festival.
I know that Glasgow is not alone in their approach to social networking but I am also aware that a growing number of library authorities are using these new technologies to promote awareness and engagement outwith the constraints of the ‘walled garden’; providing users and staff with an opportunity to learn web 2.0 skills; educating users on how to effectively manage their virtual lives; and encouraging participation and collaboration.
I understand the need for AUPs in public libraries and I am also aware that social networking is sometimes presented negatively in the press but instead of banning these websites wouldn’t it be more beneficial, for both the library service and the users, if more public libraries took on the role of educator rather than censor?
After all, when two world leaders, Barack Obama and Gordon Brown, start using these very websites to communicate with citizens and promote awareness, is it not about time that we stopped banning access to them in our public libraries?
Erm…I can understand why social networking sites can be banned in workplaces (viewed as timewasting etc), but surely in a public space, with public facilities, unless patrons are viewing inappropriate content, surely their choice of how to spend the time on facilities partly funded by themselves is up to them?
Another good test of their blocking criteria would be seeing if you can get on LinkedIn…a social network, but professional / business based…
Wow interesting blog post, shame on GCC. That’s really surprising I thought we may have moved on from that! Seems idiotic to censor them particularly as marketing via twitter or facebook etc may even be what brought a lot of the visitors who wish to access them to the library in the first place.
Agree with your comment that public libraries should take on the role of educator rather than censor.
This type of censorship is definitely behind the times.
Social networking is one of the most important tools on the Internet right now. That is such a shame. I know so people many who found jobs, or made business connections, or are making tons of money from social networking. We need to start getting libraries into the new millennium 🙂
I’m head of Marketing and Public Relations at Glasgow City Council, so I’m interersted in what you’re saying here.
You’re quite right, we do use Twitter to promote what the council’s doing (http://twitter.com/GlasgowCC).
I’ll look into this and get back to you.
Best
Colin Edgar.
I can see why you were confused and annoyed Christine but disappointingly I wasn’t surprised by this.
Ever since the introduction of public access computers in public libraries we’ve been struggling against the censorship of electronic information.
As new ways of using the web develop so it seems are new ways of preventing access to those tools.
I don’t think it’s libraries that are acting as censors, it’s more that we work within local authority frameworks. The people behind these frameworks seem to work on the premis that people need to be protected from the ‘evils’ of the internet and consequently buy into commercial filtering (read censoring) software and see the use of Social Networking tools as ‘timewasting’.
Saying this, it’s also our fault as librarians for not organising more coherently around these issues. The CILIP guidance on Acceptable Use Policies actually states that access for adults should be un-filtered. Yet how many public libraries are in this position.
It would be interesting to hear how the Glasgow authority justify themselves on this.
I use the computers in Glasgow libraries fairly often and have not had any problems accessing Facebook or My Space (Bebo I can live without as it seems to be aimed at 12 year olds!). The problem for me is the speed, or lack of it, of these PCs. Often you can wait for several minutes to access a fairly routine site and it simply times out before you get there.
Interesting responses. 🙂 Glad I’m not the only one outraged by this. As Kev points out, there have been many debates about the pros and cons of internet filtering in public libraries. But nobody seems to have agreed on a solution, which is what annoys me most, both as a public library researcher and a public library user.
Unfortunately there seems to be a lack of understanding with regards what a social networking website actually is. Certainly there seems to be a lack of knowledge about how it can be used and what benefits it can deliver. Of course, websites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter etc. can be used to keep in touch with friends, and dare I say it, to have fun….but what’s wrong with that? Many people use the newspaper section of their local library to meet up and chat about the weather, world events, what they got up to at the weekend…much in the same way that they now use social networking websites in virtual worlds to meet, exchange ideas, collaborate and communicate. In addition to the fun aspect there are also myriad opportunities to connect with people professionally, to ask for advice, to form communities, to learn from others etc. And these are only a few of the benefits users can enjoy. The possibilities are endless, as pointed out already by PC Sweeney, Carly & Jennie.
Of course, there are risks associated with joining commercial websites such as these, but I think it’s the role of public libraries to educate users about these risks, help them to understand all aspects of SNS and web 2.0; the good, the bad and the ugly! I’m lucky that I’m able to access all of these websites from home but what about those who don’t have this luxury? Many of them might rely on their local libraries to provide routes into the virtual world; a world that is discussed and promoted regularly on TV and in the press, and largely credited with helping Barack Obama to win the US election.
Scott’s response is an interesting one because it points to a lack of consistency across the library service…something that I think the Scottish Library & Information Council is already looking into on a national level.
I look forward to receiving a response from Glasgow Libraries re. my customer complaints card and feedback from Colin Edgar from Glasgow City Council.
Ok, I’ve had a check into this and can confirm that Facebook, MySpace and Bebo are not blocked sites in the Real Learning Centres within Glasgow libraries.
It seems that at the present time there is a small technical problem affecting access to both Facebook and MySpace which is being investigated. Culture and Sport Glasgow manages Glasgow libraries on behalf of Glasgow City Council and full details of the public access computer Acceptable Use Policy can be viewed at
http://www.csglasgow.org/services/Library_Services/Computers_in_Real_Centres/
Glasgow City Council’s Twitter feed can be viewed at: http://twitter.com/GlasgowCC
We’re hoping to use it to tell people what we’re doing, remind them about consultations they might be interested in and to update live from committee meetings so if there’s a decision you’re waiting for, you won’t have to go to the meeting.
Hope this helps but I’m happy for people to contact me direct at colin.edgar@glasgow.gov.uk if you have any other queries or points you wish to make.
Best
Colin
Thanks for looking into it Colin…your feedback does not match the response that I received from three different Library Assistants at the weekend…they all informed me, without prompting, that social networking websites were banned in the library.
Also, your response re. Facebook and MySpace does not address my concerns about Twitter, YouTube and Flickr being deemed ‘unacceptable websites’. I already stated in my original post that these were the websites which produced the ‘unacceptable website’ messages, not Facebook or MySpace.
Any idea if they’ll be dropping the ‘unacceptable website’ messages and allowing access to Twitter, Flickr or YouTube in the future?
Thanks
Christine
We’re having a look at that just now.
You’re throwing up another interesting question for Local Government: Do you get back to the customer with what information you have, thus ensuring that you give a quick, although not full, response? Or do you wait ’till you have all the facts before getting back, thus ensuring a full, but slower, response?
You’ll see I tend towards the former.
One other thing: we have a customer contact system which logs enquiries, complaints etc, and the responses and response times. I don’t know whether we’ve ever logged the message trail following a blog posting in this system, so this could be a, small but significant, first.
Best
C
Thanks Colin – I really do appreciate your prompt response and understand the challenges involved in addressing customer queries / complaints in a Local Government context, so thank you again. 🙂
My original blog post was a reaction to my experiences as a public library user and the challenges I faced trying to access websites at The Mitchell Library. I really wanted to tweet about the Aye Write events as and when they happened….but that wasn’t possible, and I found that quite frustrating.
I’m hoping to investigate SNS access at a few different library authorities over the next few weeks. It seems like there is a need for a national strategy or at least some guidance to ensure consistency across library authorities in Scotland…
I tried Myspace in South lanarkshire Libraries a while ago and couldn’t get on there either. There was also a sign in the library warning uses not to use Hotmail but instead register for an official Library email address – digital divide or what, if you did as they suggest what about if you move to another area or want to use email at home aswell as in the library?
Excluding public library users from social networking sites = an example of social exclusion? I think so.
I can’t say i’ve ever come across the ‘register for an official Library email’ route before. What’s the point? Any idea what South Lanarkshire’s thinking behind this is? Other than ‘protecting’ people from the scary web.
Yet if excluding people from social networking sites is an example of social exclusion then by extension excluding any library user from any website = social exclusion.
We need to prevent ourselves however from falling into the trap of saying that this use of the web or this type of website is ‘better’ or more ‘useful’ than another.
It’s one thing to control access in terms of the amount of time people spend on the web (such overwhelming demand makes this inevitable) but quite another to try and control what people are ‘allowed’ to see or read.
It’s not a surprise that GCC behave or respond in this way. Like all massive organisations, they use policies and procedures to fall back on, when there is a lack of coherence in policy implementation and a lack of understanding of the services on offer. My experience as a user of GCC Library services is that the staff don’t have the skills to deal with the challenges of Web 2.0 and don’t really know how to react when their service changes from being an information provider to being a space where customers can interact with information and engage in peer learning or peer interaction, rather than be given information or access to information in the traditional manner that libraries provide. It’s a shame. What you are seeing is another example of public bodies failing to react to technological change. As an aside, the laughable way that CILIP are dealing with Twitter and the way they communicate to their members, is an example of this attitude which is not peculiar to GCC
They didn’t know Bebo existed, but thanks to you, it will be added to the list! 😉
Our IT department is clueless on social sites; thus, the kids use black planet, tagit, bebo, xanga, etc. They block only IP addresses, so, when the kids answer a facebook e-mail they are on FB w/out a block! The faculty and staff I work w/ have free access to all websites except porn.
Hey Cathy – the situation in South Lanarkshire does sound a bit strange. Perhaps it was just that one library that had decided to go down this route, fingers crossed it’s not an authority wide rule…
Kev – I understand what you’re saying but I would have to disagree with your comment:
“We need to prevent ourselves however from falling into the trap of saying that this use of the web or this type of website is ‘better’ or more ‘useful’ than another”.
I disagree because I believe that librarians have an essential role to play in helping users to navigate the web. Many people can be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of resources out there and I think it’s helpful if librarians pull together a list of quality resources to promote to users. That’s not to say we should block access to sites that we perhaps don’t like, but that we should share the wisdom of our knowledge when it comes to online resources…in the same way that we do with stock selection and promotion in our libraries.
Jock McGrumpy – that’s exactly how I feel! It’s really not good enough to ban access to useful resources simply because the people working in the library have little knowledge and/or a lack of understanding about web 2.0. I’m following this blog piece up with an article in April’s edition of Information Scotland so hopefully that should help to dispel some myths. I’m also working with SLIC to help produce a set of Web 2.0 guidelines for distribution to every library authority in Scotland…so keep an eye out for that!
Maggie – that’s what I find the strangest thing about filtering policies and lists of banned websites. IT department only ever seem to ban the ones that they’ve heard about; often as a result of a piece of sensationalist journalism in a tabloid newspaper. This means that well known sites such as Twitter and Flickr get banned whilst users can still access FriendFeed, LinkedIn…and all of the other sites that you listed in your comment above….it’s quite laughable actually!
My fault for not being clearer…the trap I was trying to avoid is the one I come across quite regularly where people can be heard to say ‘but all they do is watch youtube’ or ‘what do they do on Facebook all the time’. It’s an attitude that says social networking or sharing application sites are not as valid as say electronic databases.
I would disagree with myself if i felt we should not be using our skills in critical evaluating material to help people through the web. Too many people still feel that if simply because information is available via the internet then it must have some value. We couldn’t be better positioned to disabuse people of this notion.
I know Leeds libraries are developing strategic guidelines around the use of Web 2.0 and it would be interesting to see the guidelines you are producing with SLIC.
[…] due to restrictions imposed on them by council-wide IT departments and their filtering policies (click here for a previous blog post about Glasgow City Libraries & internet filtering). A shame really, […]
I’ve just read this, rather late, and was inspired to go and check out the situation at my own public library, in a village called Ivinghoe in Buckinghamshire (we’re part of Bucks CC libraries). The two computers were in use from a bunch of enthusiastic school kids but I did check out the situation with the librarian. She told me that you could get on to sites like Facebook, but you couldn’t use them for chat. This policy is due to the filters the library had on its websites to protect children from undesirable websites, and undesirable people using chat rooms.
This sounds to me like quite a sensible policy. I wonder if others have experienced similar policies towards social websites and how libraries can ‘support’ them without risking their ‘undesirable’ use?
Hi Margaret & welcome to the debate! 🙂
Like you, I understand the need to protect children from “undesirable websites” but the fact remains that there are so many chat sites out there that the children will more often than not find a way around these filters. We’re dealing with kids who’ve never known life without the internet; and these kids are totally clued-up; more so that than most of us digital immigrants; and they know exactly how to get around website bans by going through proxy websites etc.
My concern is that when you ban something like this you just make it more desirable for children to try to access (the forbidden fruit and all that)! Best to educate children about proper use of online chat and to help them identify grooming behaviour in virtual communities so that they can protect themselves – don’t you think?