Not all Internet content has been edited or approved. Anyone who has the knowledge and equipment needed to create information on the Internet may do so, without having to ensure that it has been verified.

“The question before libraries is how to respect an individual’s right of access to information with violating another’s right to protection from objectionable information”. [1]

An Internet use policy must therefore be comprehensive and must respect the right of access to free information, as well as the rights of freedom of thought and expression. (See the Canadian Library Association’s Statement of Principle, which has been drafted with reference to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Canadian Declaration of Individual Rights.)

An Internet use policy contains the library’s principles and directions that support its philosophy of access, as well as the guidelines for Internet use and certain restrictions imposed on the users.

Through their policy, libraries contribute to informing parents of the role they must play with their young surfers. It is parents who supervise their children, not the library staff. To assist them in this responsibility, consult the Resources and Activities for the Public section, which offers a number of suggestions, such as holding a meeting to discuss how children use the Internet and how to develop critical thinking skills in young people.

In summary, the role of an Internet use policy is primarily to serve children and to assist them in growing up in a reasonable and safe environment like that of other parts of the library. The best way to achieve this goal is to define clearly unacceptable behaviour and to identify what consequences will occur if a person is found to be behaving unacceptably.

Guidelines for an Internet Policy

There are a number of essential topics that should be addressed in an Internet use policy to ensure its effectiveness and its completeness. We would like to acknowledge the source of this list from the 2001 Public Library Trustee Manual of the Washington State Library.

• Relate how the Internet resource is consistent with the library mission and how it correlates with adopted policies on intellectual freedom, collection development, customer rights and responsibilities, and children’s access to library materials.
  
  
• State that the library is not responsible for Internet content, reliability, accuracy, currency or bias. Nor does the library endorse or sanction controversial, offensive material found on the Internet.
  
  
• Note the value of the Internet resources in adding to the total library capabilities. Identify actions the library will take to link to sites, especially for children, that support the library role.
  
  
• Emphasize that library staff will recommend and assist users just as they do with all other library resources. Note if library will provide Internet training classes.
  
  
• Support the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution [Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms] and emphasize the responsibility of the library to meet the diverse needs and interests of the community.
  
  
• Recognize the rights and responsibilities of parents to guide their children in using all library resources including the Internet. Determine whether age limitations will be established or if a parental permission form will be offered.
  
  
• Define illegal Internet use, particularly accessing sites containing legally obscene materials. Define ethical use on the part of library users, such as being mindful of materials that may not be legally obscene but may be offensive to other library users if they should view the monitor screen.
  
  
• Explain the library position on filtering. If the library uses a filter, make clear that no filtering software is 100 percent effective. Some offensive material may still be accessed, and some appropriate sites may be blocked.
  
  
• Address library efforts to protect users’ privacy and confidentiality. Note that there are security issues that customers must monitor for themselves, such as sending personal information on the Internet, or logging off properly so Web browsers erase the list of visited sites.
  
  
• Establish that the library cannot guarantee access to a site. Internet addresses and sites change constantly and technical difficulties may also intervene.
  
  
• Emphasize that copyright laws are applicable to the Internet and the user is responsible for consequences of copyright infringement. Users should assume that material is copyrighted and federal copyright law must be respected unless permission to copy is included on the site. Users may not reprint or distribute without permission of the author.
  
  
• Note that the library director will establish operational procedures such as:
  
  
• • Time limits and reservation procedures
    
    
  • Copying files to a disk, and the fee for purchasing disks.
    
    
  • Access to e-mail, listservs, or online chat rooms
    
    
  • Printing regulations and fees
    
    
  • Requiring immediate reporting of difficulties to staff
    
    
  • Other, as appropriate to the library
    
    
• Note that the library director will also list prohibited behaviors such as:
  
  
• • Accessing sites containing illegal material.
    
    
  • Unauthorized copying of material protected by federal copyright laws.
    
    
  • Fraudulent or unlawful purposes prohibited by federal, provincial/state, or local laws.
    
    
  • Violating software license agreements made by the library.
    
    
  • Violating network usage policies and agreements.
    
    
  • Hacking or impeding computing activities of others.
    
    
  • Violating another user’s privacy.
    
    
  • Harassing, libelling, or slandering individuals.
    
    
  • Damaging equipment, software or data belonging to the library or others.
    
    
  • Changing equipment or software settings.
    
    
  • Installing other software programs.
    
    
  • Establishing commercial activities including sale or purchase of goods.
    
    
• Identify the consequences if a patron purposely breaches policy. The consequences may begin with a warning and progress to denying access to the computers, denying access to the library, or legal proceedings.” [2]

It may be useful to put a procedure in place to collect complaints about users who do not follow the rules cited above.

These guidelines aim to develop critical skills without limiting access to information. They allow the library to inform the public and particularly young people on how to search the Internet in a safe and responsible way.

You can use the documents as references on which to base your library’s policy. To ensure that the public understands the essential points, it may be useful to draft and display a simplified version that can be consulted quickly and easily every time someone uses the Internet. See the Ottawa Public Library’s Revised Internet Access Policy in the right sidebar. Following other libraries, you may wish to ask your users, before they go online, to acknowledge understanding of your policy and to commit to respecting it by having them sign a paper document, or complete an online agreement form.

[1] Manitoba. Minister of Culture, Heritage and Tourism. “Internet Content and Library Liability” in Public Library Services Newsletter. No. 23, April 1999. p. 2.

[2] Washington State Library. 2001 Public Library Trustee Reference Manual, Chapter 15: “Recommended Policies,” pp.11-12 Consulted online, on April 19, 2004

Managing the Internet in the Library
[Internet Use Policy] [Filters at the Library] [Laws and Regulations] [Best Practices]

Communications and Promotion Toolkit