Banning IM at the Library
I remember when libraries banned e-mail. Can you imagine banning e-mail today?
Plenty of libraries are still banning IM, either through policy or technical means. Michael Stephens has posted a screenshot of one example.
This library doesn’t even have the well-worn "security excuse" that they don’t allow downloads and thus you can’t IM on their computers. They’re banning the Meebo website specifically, a web-based IM site that requires no download or installation.
Banning an online communication method is making a value-based
judgement on the way a person chooses to communicate with his or her
colleagues or friends. It’s prioritizing what we think our users
should be "allowed" to do on our public internet computers. This is poor, poor customer service.
February 28th, 2006 at 6:01 am
that certainly proves that the decision is based more on patrons’ “appropriate use” of computers than the safety of the computer. although the userbase is not quite as big, I wonder if they’ll ban Gmail now that it has a built-in chat function?
February 28th, 2006 at 2:22 pm
I think that most libraries/librarians don’t even know that Gmail has a chat function yet, but you raise an interesting problem. If the chat is built into an e-mail site, how do you block it? You’d also be blocking the e-mail, which is getting into the VERY BAD customer service territory… I’ll be interested to see what happens when a library does it, which someone no doubt will.