Saturday, August 30, 2003

King County Library System King County Library System Takes Lead on Internet Filtering. Gary Price noticed This Annoucement that says King County, WA, Library System Board of Trustees voted August 27 to adopt Internet filtering protocols in anticipation of implementation of the federal Child Internet Protection Act. According to Jed Moffitt, Associate Director, Information Technology Services, full implementation of KCLS' new filtering policy will take a few months. It requires both software modifications and additional hardware to ensure that the Library's computer systems meet KCLS performance standards while handling the added workload filtering will bring. [LISNews.com] 11:19:56 PM    comment [] Internet Use by Region in the United States This looks to be a fascinating report; need to file away for future use regarding issues around the "Digital Divide." Internet Use by Region in the United States. This Pew & The Internet Report has been making the rounds. The Pew Internet & American Life Project has tracked the growth of Internet usage in the United States, from just under half of American adults in 2000 to about 59% of adults at the end of 2002. These statistics have continually shown that Internet penetration in the United States has been and continues to be uneven. We have discussed in other reports why this growth has not been evenly distributed among those in various racial and ethnic groups, those of various ages, and among those with different levels of education and income. This report explores the reasons behind the uneven distribution of Internet penetration by geographical region. And it looks at variations in use of the Internet by region. The following table outlines the disparities in Internet penetration among 12 regions of the country in 2002. (California is considered separately because Internet access and use vary dramatically from neighboring states.) [LISNews.com] 11:17:53 PM    comment [] Codebreaker reveals a diarist to rival Pepys. Charles Davis writes "A Puritan's journal written in cryptic shorthand to foil the King's men paints a vivid picture of 1600s London, reports Will Bennett A remarkable million-word account of life in late 17th century England which is as vivid as Samuel Pepys's diary has been transcribed by experts after lying largely forgotten for more than three centuries. A specialist code-breaker was brought in to crack the shorthand that Roger Morrice, a Puritan minister turned political journalist, used in part of the diary to stop the King's agents reading it. More at The telegraph.co.uk" [LISNews.com] 11:15:42 PM    comment [] The Work of Prison Librarians. I've been intrigued by the prison library stories posted on LISnews in recent months. Here's another, featuring an interview with a librarian in Canada's largest prison. The cardinal rules of prison librarianship, according to the article, "Don't get involved in fights, don't fraternize with inmates and, most importantly, do no favours." Read more about the work of prison librarians at the Toronto Star. [LISNews.com] 11:14:14 PM    comment []

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