RE: MySpace and Public Libraries

Samantha (and Margaret) and all,

This is exactly the information I am looking for! I need to
outline these
concerns to my director.
It would be very helpful to see what you have, if possible.
Thanks!
Jami

On 1/26/07, Samantha Schmehl Hines <samhinesgmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hi Margaret and others,
>
> I don't know if this has been discussed to death (I'm
on the web4lib
> digest) but at Law for Librarians last April in Chicago
we were
> encouraged to think of MySpace, blogs and the like as
public fora and
> manage them in ways that we manage other public fora
(have clear
> policies for what can and can't be posted reviewed by
an attorney, in
> accordance with other policies like those for meeting
rooms, public
> bulletin boards and displays, etc.)  I can try to drag
out my material
> if you'd like but I don't think I have any firm case
law, statutes
> etc.
>
> Samantha Hines
> Social Sciences Librarian,
> University of Montana
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 21
> Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2007 15:51:28 -0800
> From: "HAZEL Margaret E"
<margaret.e.hazelci.eugene.or.us>
> Subject: RE: [Web4lib] MySpace and Public Libraries
> To: <Web4libwebjunction.org>
> Message-ID:
>        <BD2384CED8410B40A1620A83097F94FC014F29D3cesrv010.eugene1.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain;      
charset="us-ascii"
>
> I have a somewhat different angle on this question -
I'm trying to find
> out if anyone implementing social networking tools of
any sort for the
> public has gotten a legal opinion on our role as public
institutions in
> providing that public interaction.  Are we creating a
public forum, and
> what can we and can't we do, once we've done this? 
Have people
> considered the intellectual freedom aspects of
providing the access to
> these interactive tools?  What kind of training,
disclaimers, rules,
> etc. have you set in place around the tools?
>
> -Margaret Hazel
> Eugene Public Library
> Eugene, OR
> _______________________________________________
> Web4lib mailing list
> Web4libwebjunction.org
> http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/
>
_______________________________________________
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Web4libwebjunction.org
http://lists.we
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So, in other words, keep them bland and of no interest with
no
controversies? 

Bill Drew
drewwemorrisville.edu

-----Original Message-----
From: web4lib-bounceswebjunction.org
[mailto:web4lib-bounceswebjunction.org] On Behalf Of Samantha
Schmehl
Hines
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 1:59 PM
To: margaret.e.hazelci.eugene.or.us; Web4libwebjunction.org
Subject: RE: [Web4lib] MySpace and Public Libraries

Hi Margaret and others,

I don't know if this has been discussed to death (I'm on the
web4lib
digest) but at Law for Librarians last April in Chicago we
were
encouraged to think of MySpace, blogs and the like as public
fora and
manage them in ways that we manage other public fora (have
clear
policies for what can and can't be posted reviewed by an
attorney, in
accordance with other policies like those for meeting rooms,
public
bulletin boards and displays, etc.)  I can try to drag out
my material
if you'd like but I don't think I have any firm case law,
statutes
etc.

Samantha Hines
_______________________________________________
Web4lib mailing list
Web4libwebjunction.org
http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/

I've pulled out my notes from Law for Librarians and here
are the
relevant bits.  First of all, let me just emphasize that I
am not a
lawyer and please don't construe any of this as legal
advice.

In a seminar by Teresa Chmara on the First Amendment and
libraries,
she discussed the general concept of the library as a public
forum.
In this seminar she said the main determination of whether
your
specific library is a public forum is to look at the mission
of your
library and your policies.  Who do you serve?  Students? A
corporation? Everyone who walks through the door?  She also
pointed
out that the creation of a public forum must be intentional.
 If you
have a blog, for example, the turning on of the comments
feature could
be construed as the creation of a public forum since you
could just as
easily not allow comments.  Conversely, if you have a
bulletin board
for the purpose of promoting library events, you don't have
to allow
everyone to post their own notices just because it is a
bulletin
board. The creation and consistent enforcement of written
policies
with provisions for challenges was emphasized repeatedly. 
Another key
point is that you shouldn't discriminate based on content in
public
fora, even if you draft that into your policies.

She did mention a couple specific cases that may be of
interest:

Perry Education Assn v. Perry Local Educators' Assn, 460 Us
37, 46
(1983): The state can't discriminate based on content in
public fora
unless it can demonstrate a compelling interest that makes
the
restriction necessary and that there's no other less
restrictive way
to achieve that interest.

Cornelius v. NAACP Legal Def. & Educ. Fund, 473 US 788,
802 (1985):
Public fora are only created by intentional action creating
a space
for public discourse.

I hope this helps--I can try to clarify/explain further if
there are
questions.  I should also say that none of this case law has
been
applied to online forums as far as I know, but was just
suggested as a
consideration when creating MySpace pages, blogs and so on.

Samantha
U of Montana



On 1/26/07, Jami Haskell <jamihaskellgmail.com> wrote:
> Samantha (and Margaret) and all,
>
> This is exactly the information I am looking for! I
need to outline these
> concerns to my director.
> It would be very helpful to see what you have, if
possible.
> Thanks!
> Jami
>
>
> On 1/26/07, Samantha Schmehl Hines <samhinesgmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Hi Margaret and others,
> >
> > I don't know if this has been discussed to death
(I'm on the web4lib
> > digest) but at Law for Librarians last April in
Chicago we were
> > encouraged to think of MySpace, blogs and the like
as public fora and
> > manage them in ways that we manage other public
fora (have clear
> > policies for what can and can't be posted reviewed
by an attorney, in
> > accordance with other policies like those for
meeting rooms, public
> > bulletin boards and displays, etc.)  I can try to
drag out my material
> > if you'd like but I don't think I have any firm
case law, statutes
> > etc.
> >
> > Samantha Hines
> > Social Sciences Librarian,
> > University of Montana
> >
> > ------------------------------
> >
> > Message: 21
> > Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2007 15:51:28 -0800
> > From: "HAZEL Margaret E"
> <margaret.e.hazelci.eugene.or.us>
> > Subject: RE: [Web4lib] MySpace and Public
Libraries
> > To: <Web4libwebjunction.org>
> > Message-ID:
> >
> <BD2384CED8410B40A1620A83097F94FC014F29D3cesrv010.eugene1.net
> >
> > Content-Type: text/plain;      
charset="us-ascii"
> >
> > I have a somewhat different angle on this question
- I'm trying to find
> > out if anyone implementing social networking tools
of any sort for the
> > public has gotten a legal opinion on our role as
public institutions in
> > providing that public interaction.  Are we
creating a public forum, and
> > what can we and can't we do, once we've done this?
 Have people
> > considered the intellectual freedom aspects of
providing the access to
> > these interactive tools?  What kind of training,
disclaimers, rules,
> > etc. have you set in place around the tools?
> >
> > -Margaret Hazel
> > Eugene Public Library
> > Eugene, OR
> > _______________________________________________
> > Web4lib mailing list
> > Web4libwebjunction.org
> > http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/
> >
>
>


-- 
"What is this, slap the librarian day?"

--Flynn Carsen, "The Librarian"
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