Announcements

From martoran@library.ucsb.edu Tue Mar 16 11:24:10 1999
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 16:10:44 -0800 (PST)
From: Janet Martorana <martoran@library.ucsb.edu>
To: lauc-sb@abilene.library.ucsb.edu, tiffney@magic.geol.ucsb.edu,
Robert Crew <crew@abilene.library.ucsb.edu>,
Renata Hundley <hundley@abilene.library.ucsb.edu>,
l.g.carver <carver@abilene.library.ucsb.edu>
Cc: sarah pritchard <li3303@ais.smith.edu>, penley@humanitas.ucsb.edu,
paula.rudolph@shot9.ucsb.edu
Subject: Program meeting: Guidelines for public computers

The topic of use of UCSB public computers has been brought up in a series of recent emails. Thank you, John, for sending this topic for discussion out so widely and for prompting such interesting dialogue.

Please join us at a LAUC program meeting on Wednesday, March 17 at 10AM, 2nd floor conference room to begin a discussion on the issues addressed in the emails. We are planning to invite several discussants to help us understand the various legal and intellectual freedom issues involved in computer use and computer use policy. Constance Penley, a member of the Senate's Academic Freedom Committee, and who teaches a film class on pornography, will join us on Wednesday, as will the campus Sexual Harrassment Officer, Paula Rudolph.

Subsequent meetings may include, depending on their schedules, Dan Linz, Chair, Law and Society, who has published on the effects of viewing sexual violence, and pornography; Gayle Binion, a law & society scholar who has published on women's rights and the constitution; Richard Flacks, a sociologist whose research includes social movements, labor, and issues of societal freedoms; and Ray Huerta, the campus' Affirmative Action Officer and a lawyer; Judy Guillermo Newton, the Women's Center sexual harrassment training contact, and Farfallah Borah, campus Personnel Office, who conducted the sexual harrassment training in the Women's Center before moving to Personnel.

We invite your ideas for other discussants on this important issue. We are also interested in your ideas on good "think" pieces on this issue. Please send your ideas out to LAUC-SB, or to any of the program committee members.

Some of the issues stated:
What is the library's stated committment to freedom of access?
What written policies are there regarding asking someone to leave the library?
Are there other ways to handle these concerns other than to restrict access and use?
How does one determine if someone is viewing sites for research or academic reasons, or leisure, and is it the library's role to decide?
Has "hostile environment," regarding internet use been legally defined?
What is the extent of the problem regarding limited computer resources?
What are the incidents and background that has led to the proposed restrictions on computer use?
What are the legal and intellectual freedom ramifications of throwing someone out of the library for looking at "sexually explicit" sites versus "pornography"?
Will employees be in the position of judging which sites are too sexually explicit?
What are the legal and intellectual freedom implications of limiting viewing of one type of site and not others (e.g., hate sites, gay/lesbian, etc.)
What training has been done to prepare library workers for the wide scope of possible research they may encounter? What are library workers told, if anything, regarding the library's committement to open access and intellectual freedom? What training and counseling is available to library workers who are disturbed by print or visual library materials?

The Program Committee:
Barbara Ceizler Silver
Sylvia Curtis
Sylvelin Edgerton
Janet Martorana, Chair
Lucia Snowhill

And a follow-up email:

From curtis@library.ucsb.edu Tue Mar 16 11:24:37 1999
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 08:26:42 -0800 (PST)
From: Sylvia Curtis <curtis@library.ucsb.edu>
To: Janet Martorana <martoran@abilene.library.ucsb.edu>
Cc: lauc-sb@abilene.library.ucsb.edu, tiffney@magic.geol.ucsb.edu,
Robert Crew <crew@abilene.library.ucsb.edu>,
Renata Hundley <hundley@abilene.library.ucsb.edu>,
l.g.carver <carver@abilene.library.ucsb.edu>,
sarah pritchard <li3303@ais.smith.edu>, penley@humanitas.ucsb.edu,
paula.rudolph@shot9.ucsb.edu
Subject: update Re: Program meeting: Guidelines for public computers--next meeting, and readings

Paula Rudolph, the campus Sexual Harrassment Officer, will come to the next LAUC-SB forum, scheduled for Wednesday March 24th at 10am, 2nd floor conference room. Constance Penley will be at tomorrow's meeting.

Readings:

CAF Computers and Acdemic Freedom: Sex, Censorship, and the Internet
http://www.eff.org/CAF/cafuiuc.html

This site includes links to "Top Library Intellectual Freedom Policies" (ALA as well as individual library policies)

Policy on Use of Library Public Workstations
Miami University Libraries Policy
http://www.lib.muohio.edu/libinfo/compolicy.html

Sylvia for the Program Committee

**********************

**********************

Sylvia Y. Curtis
Library - Reference Services
University of California
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
805 893 3454
805 893 4676 fax
curtis@library.ucsb.edu

Links to Intellectual Freedom & Computer Use Issues and Documentation

• ACLU
  Traditionally very strong advocates of public library battles against censorship,
  e.g., ACLU Defends California Library Against Internet Censorship
  
  
• ALA
  Several offices and ALA units examine the entire range of issues:
  
  • AREAS OF INTEREST AND ACTIVITY: Intellectual Freedom
    
    
  • Library Bill of Rights
  
  
• ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom
  
  • First Amendment of the Bill of Rights to the United States Constitution
    
    
  • Access to Electronic Information, Services, and Networks: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights
    
    
  • Questions and Answers: Access to Electronic Information, Services, and Networks: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights
    
    
  • Civil and Criminal Liabilities for Libraries Related to Using or Failing to Use Internet Filtering Software or Other Content Screening Mechanisms
    
    
  • Civil Liability for an alleged hostile work environment related to patron or employee Internet use.
    
    
  • Other ALA Policies, Procedures, Resolutions, & Guidelines Protecting the Freedom to Read
    
    
  • ALA Office for Information Technology Policy: Selected Readings on Internet Content Regulation
  
  
• EDUCAUSE
  Formerly CAUSE and Educom, "a new consolidated association to galvanize thought and action at the intersection of higher education and information technology."
  
  • EDUCAUSE discussion group and archives on policies
  
  
• University of California, Academic Personnel Manual
  
  • Academic Freedom
    The official statement of academic freedom of the University of California, for the Academic Personnel Manual: APM-010.
    
  • Faculty Conduct and Administration of Discipline
    Professional rights of faculty at the University of California, from the Academic Personnel Manual: APM-015, section II, part I: Free inquiry and exchange of ideas.

B. Guidelines and collections of library computer policies

• Guidelines
  
  
  • Guidelines for the Development and Implementation of Policies, Regulations and Procedures Affecting Access to Library Materials, Services and Facilities
    
    
  • What guidance is there for creating or evaluating a computer policy?
  
  
  
• Collections
  
  
  • Computer Policy and Law Policies List (Cornell University Computer Policy and Law Program)
    700+ policies covering many computer uses and in corporate as well as all grade levels of educational institutions
    
    
  • EDUCAUSE Current Issues: policies & practices
    Links to various policies, including individual library "Policies on Information Resources"
  
  
  
• Two examples of library computer policy
  
  
  • MIAMI UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES POLICY
    POLICY ON USE OF LIBRARY PUBLIC WORKSTATIONS
    
    
  • IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY CODE OF COMPUTER ETHICS
    
    • ISU GUIDELINES FOR THE USE OF PUBLIC COMPUTING LABS
      
    • ISU POLICY ON SEXUAL HARASSMENT

C. Sexual Content

• CAF Computers and Acdemic Freedom: Sex, Censorship, and the Internet
  Many intellectual freedom issues, policies and exercises
  
  
• Project 2000: The Cyberporn Debate

Documentation Texts

This sign is placed by public computers:

These workstations are intended for library research purposes. Use of other than the preloaded software constitutes a violation of the ISU Code of Computer Ethics. Violators are subject to removal from the Library and appropriate University sanctions.

Please refrain from handling e-mail or playing games on these PC's.

Please note also that material of a sexually explicit or suggestive nature can be considered intimidating, demeaning, hostile, or offensive to others and, therefore, displaying such materials in public is in violation of ISU's sexual harassment policy. Violators may be subject to disciplinary action as described in the Student Handbook and applicable faculty and staff handbooks.

Conduct disruptive to the concentration of others is not allowed. This includes the playing of radios, and tape and CD players that others can hear. Anyone causing a disturbance will be asked to leave.

NO FOOD NO DRINK NO SMOKING

If you experience trouble with someone who is not following these guideline, please contact the Reference Desk or the Circulation Desk.

Date: Wed, 10 Mar 1999 18:30:24 -0600
From: Olivia Madison <omadison@iastate.edu>
(via email)

"Respect for intellectual labor and creativity is vital to academic discourse and enterprise. This principle applies to works of all authors and publishers in all media. It encompasses respect for the right to acknowledgment, right to privacy, and right to determine the form, manner, and terms of publication and distribution.

"Because electronic information is volatile and easily reproduced, respect for the work and personal expression of others is especially critical in computer environments. Violations of authorial integrity, including plagiarism, invasion of privacy, unauthorized access, and trade secret and copyright violations, may be grounds for sanctions against members of the academic community."

The above statement provides a guide for the ethical use of computer facilities whether one is using a microcomputer, minicomputer, mainframe computer or supercomputer, or computer network, and whether the computer files, programs, or data are stored on floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, or other storage media. Computer facilities and files owned by others should be used or accessed only with the owner's permission.

Viewing or using another person's computer files, programs or data without authorized permission is unethical behavior and an invasion of that person's privacy. Such behavior, if used for personal gain, is plagiarism. Ethical standards apply even when material appears to be legally unprotected. Improper use of copyrighted material may be illegal.

The following guidelines govern ethical computer use at Iowa State University:

• Unauthorized access to restricted data bases is unethical.
  
  
• Use of computer facilities by an individual must be authorized by the owner or administrative unit.
  
  
• Prior permission to use another user's computer account or user-id must be acquired from the owner of the account, who is responsible for its use. Changing another person's password is considered a form of harassment and is unethical behavior.
  
  
• Users are responsible for their use of computer hardware, accounts and user-ids. These should be used only for the stated purpose; e.g., instructional class accounts must be used only to support the given courses. University computer facilities are not to be used for private monetary gain unless specifically authorized for such use.
  
  
• Users must not browse, access, copy or change private files without authorization, or change public files without authorization. Users must not attempt to modify the computer systems or software in any unauthorized manner. The use of invasive software, such as "worms" and "viruses" destructive to computer systems, is unethical and illegal. Copyrighted software must only be used in accordance with its license or purchase agreement. Users do not have the right to receive and/or use unauthorized copies of software, or make unauthorized copies of software for themselves or others.
  
  
• University computing facilities are a valuable resource for University use and they should be conserved. Users should properly utilize these resources to minimize any unnecessary impact of their work on others, for example, users should avoid excessive game playing.
  
  
• ISU policies regarding the appropriate use of university facilities and the ethics of personal behavior apply to the use of all forms of electronic communication. In addition, users of any electronic communication facilities, such as electronic mail, networks, bulletin boards and newsgroups, are obligated to comply with the restrictions and acceptable practices established for those specific facilities. Certain types of communications are expressly forbidden. This includes the random mailing f messages; the sending of obscene, harassing, or threatening material; or the use of the facilities for commercial or political purposes.
  
  
• Hardware, software, manuals, supplies, etc., must not be removed from computing sites without proper authorization.
  
  
• Abuse or misuse of any computer hardware or software will be regarded as illegal and/or unethical behavior.

Violations of the University Code of Computer Ethics are treated like any other ethical violation as outlined in the Student Handbook and applicable faculty and staff handbooks. Violators may also be billed for illegal use of the computer systems and may be prosecuted for statutory violations, including Chapter 716A, Computer Crime, of the Iowa Code.

Permission to reproduce all or part of this document for noncommercial purposes is granted, provided the author and Iowa State University are given credit. To copy otherwise requires specific permission.

Updated: August 4, 1997

Last modified: March 19, 1999