PD: CENSORSHIP

For this professional development activity, I conducted a critical review of the paper Isajilovic-Terry, N. & McKechnie, L. (2012). An exploratory Study of Children’s Views of Censorship. Children & Libraries: The Journal of the Association for Library Service to Children, 10(1), 38-43.  Whilst I was conducting this critical review I researched topics and papers regarding censorship in public libraries.  Although the research of Isajilovic-Terry & McKechnie has tended to focus on the fact that children’s voices are seldom heard, rather less attention was paid to how libraries can apply this in practice.

The most important issue highlighted in this professional learning activity was that if a library has a concrete policy regarding collection development and internet access policies then decisions in the workplace can be validated. This is an important consideration because Bundy’s (2007) Looking forward survey revealed that 56% of Australian public libraries do not have a specific policy statement for children and young people.

This activity was relevant to professional practice because censorship laws and how it applies to libraries is a topic that all information professionals should be knowledgeable about.  What was of particular interest in researching this topic of censorship was the issue of self-censorship.  In this situation, acquisitions librarians can purposely not select an item due to its controversial nature, or label the material to indicate sensitive material to prevent subsequent challenges they could receive from the community (Moody, 2004, p.145).

Having previously worked in a public library I do have a working knowledge of internet policies and the issues of censorship and filtering software.  In my previous workplace filters that were placed on the children’s computers as a result Facebook could not be accessed on the computer in the young adult area, which defeated the purpose as that is why they were there in the first place.  The end result was that some of the filters were changed to allow this social networking software.  

Historically, censorship is a complex issue faced by information professionals in the role of providing access to information.  According to Moody (2004, p.1) censorship is a difficult term to define however, ‘essentially it encompasses those actions which significantly restrict free access to information”.  Censorship of information in this modern age is relevant to print materials as well electronic information.  Cerny, Markey & Williams (2006, p.38) contend that “If we have strong well-designed policy to help us make decisions the controversy can be minimised.  The Australian Library and Information Australia (ALIA) do not advocate censorship in Australian libraries and demonstrate this in their Statement on Free Access to Information (2007), “Freedom can be protected in a democratic society only if its citizens have unrestricted access to information”.  Applying this ideal to practice in public libraries becomes difficult when faced with, “community expectations, socio-political environments are some of the pressures that librarians face when providing access to information” (Moody, 2004, section 1). Further, the internet has added another level of complexities to the issue of censorship. Houghton & Berryman (2007, p.18) concur when they say that a “major challenge to the freedom of access to information is continuing calls to regulate or filter online content”.  What is more, ALIA’s (2011) Internet access in public libraries survey revealed that over 1/3 of public libraries used software filters on their terminals, mostly as a mechanism to filter offensive content , with one in five libraries having a separate terminals for children.  Highlighted in this survey is that onus in the majority of libraries is that parents are responsible for their children whilst in the library and they should therefore regulate their access.  In conclusion, censorship in libraries is complex, however by following ALIA’s guidelines and implementing policies that provide a solid framework for decision making.

References

ALIA.(2011). Internet Access in Public Libraries. Retrieved 13 May 2013 from, http://www.alia.org.au/advocacy/internet.access/Internet.Access.Survey.2011.pdf

Bundy, A.(2007). Looking ever forward: Australia’s public libraries serving children and young people. Retrieved from http://www.fola.org.au/pdfs/Looking_ever_forward.pdf

Cerny, R., Markey, P. & William, A. (2006). Outstanding library service to children: putting the core ,competencies to work. Retrieved from Ebook Library.

Moody, K.(2004). Covert censorship in Libraries. Retrieved from http://www.a lia.org.au/publishing/alj/54.2/full.text/moody.html

Houghton, J., & Berryman, J. (2007). Ethics and law for information practice. In Ferguson, S. (Ed.), Libraries in the twenty-first century: Charting new directions in information services (pp. 266-288). Wagga Wagga, NSW: Centre for Information Studies.