An analysis of American public libraries’ policies on patron use of Internet pornography

Drawing on and expanding previous graduate course research, this paper investigated and analyzed public libraries’ policies regarding patron use of legal, visual Internet pornography on public computers. Pornographic imagery that falls within legal boundaries is protected by the First Amendment. Incidents of, and library responses to, pornography viewing are not a new issue and have caused turmoil across the field of library and information science. In an attempt to understand the problem, the research question asks: how do public libraries respond to patrons viewing legal Internet pornography, while upholding First Amendment rights as well as the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) and other legal requirements? Libraries tread a fine line to protect First Amendment rights, respect community laws, and uphold CIPA. Research indicated that responding to Internet pornography use in public libraries is heavily dependent on individual, community and library values. Policies are more likely to prohibit patrons from accessing Internet pornography, and most libraries have at least some Internet filtering software restricting what content may be accessed on public use computers. However, evidence also suggests that regardless of policy or filters, library staff will at some point encounter a patron accessing Internet pornography.

15 Years Later: Considering the ALA/CIPA Dispute Through Uncertainty Reduction Theory

Uncertainty reduction theory describes how individuals and organizations react when faced with a new relationship, including information seeking about the new entity. In 2002, the American Library Association entered into conflict with the new Children’s Internet Protection Act, and this paper will demonstrate how the resulting lawsuit (and defense against the Department of Justice’s appeal) illustrate information seeking behavior on behalf of the American Library Association in order to reduce uncertainty regarding the new Act. This paper offers uncertainty reduction theory as a theoretical framework for conceptualizing this series of events, and will describe the American Library Association’s uncertainty, consider possible factors behind their uncertainty level, and describe the uncertainty-reduction information seeking behavior demonstrated.

Do High School Students Benefit from the Children's Internet Protection Act?

The Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA; 2000) requires an Internet filtering and public awareness strategy to protect children under 17 from harmful visual Internet depictions and has been implemented nationwide since 2001. However, little literature is available documenting its impacts on children’s Internet safety. This chapter first reviews CIPA as well as other existing regulations in protecting children on the Internet. It then presents empirical evidence that CIPA is associated with a decrease in high school students’ Internet use at school but does not appear to have a beneficial effect on their knowledge of Internet safety or opportunities for Internet safety education.

One Law with Two Outcomes: Comparing the Implementation of CIPA in Public Libraries and Schools

<span>Though the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) established requirements for both public libraries and public schools to adopt filters on all of their computers when they receive certain federal funding, it has not attracted a great amount of research into the effects on libraries and schools and the users of these social institutions. This paper explores the implications of CIPA in terms of its effects on public libraries and public schools, individually and in tandem. Drawing from both library and education research, the paper examines the legal background and basis of CIPA, the current state of Internet access and levels of filtering in public libraries and public schools, the perceived value of CIPA, the perceived consequences of CIPA, the differences in levels of implementation of CIPA in public libraries and public schools, and the reasons for those dramatic differences. After an analysis of these issues within the greater policy context, the paper suggests research questions to help provide more data about the challenges and questions revealed in this analysis.</span>