Alabama Library Challenges (Warrior Public Library)

>
Hi there Chris,

Honestly I am having some difficulty answering some of the questions like
"any current contracts with internet filtering services or providers". We
do have filters, but because we are part of the Jefferson County Library
Cooperative in Jefferson County Al, the IT department (for all of the 40
libraries in the county) would be the actual subscriber to said services
and then IT administers the services to our library. Many of the questions
you have requested we may not have a direct answer to because our IT
department handles these things. From offsite, they are not employees of
our library, they are employees of the cooperative with whom we have a
partnership.

You may notice that many of the libraries that you have sent requests to
are part of this cooperative and will have difficulty with some questions.

We have a manual that details all the things that IT offers the member
libraries but it is more generic --'we provide filtering services to our
member libraries the filter will block....categories may include...'---of
course as often as technology is upgraded we may not receive notice from
IT every time they upgrade to a new system or the newer edition etc.

Hence, until we receive some of the specific information that your team
has requested back from our IT department we will not be able to fully
respond to your request.

Also, to be honest. There have been questions raised as to the
authenticity of your corporation and or this request. Because this is
presented as an FOIA request I know some libraries in the state have
decided to seek the guidance of their legal outreach resources.

Thanks!
Erica Calvert
Warrior Public Library

>
Hi Chris, I have attached a few documents that I think will answer this
request. If there is something that is not attached it is because we do
not have that type of policy etc.

ex. we have not had a formal request or complaint for material
re-consideration. We have had patrons that say, "I only got half way
through that book, it had too many ugly words in it", they however have
not approached us to remove the item, they are just voicing their opinion
when they come in to return the item, so you will not find any of those
documents in this email.

The PDF titled "Policies to Chris" is a compilation of our various general
library policies (portions that are relevant to this request), the other
documents are support documents for more in depth information such as
exact things our filters block etc. These support documents were provided
to us from our IT department (JCLC IT Dept.- we are part of this
cooperative that provides those services to us) , they are very technical
documents.

Because we had all documents in electronic format we require no fee for
this process.

Thank You,
-Erica Calvert
Warrior Public Library
1-205-647-3006

> April 8, 2014
> Warrior Public Library
> Warrior Public Library
> 10 First Street
> Warrior, AL 35180
>
> This is a follow up to a previous request:
>
>
>
> Hello,
>
> Thank you for your responses -- this information is very helpful as we
move forward with our research.
>
> On the legal side, please feel free to ask any questions of us regarding
your obligations under the Alabama Public Records Law. We will do our
best
> to answer them.
>
> We understand that not all libraries will have the same documents -- we
have requested a wide range of documents with the understanding that not
all libraries will have each category in their possession. If your
library
> does not have a particular type of document as requested, please
indicate
> as such in your response. Please do respond to all portions of the
request
> in this way.
>
> The manual you have described sounds like it would be a document
included
> in our original request.
>
> Please let us know if there are any other questions that we can answer,
or
> clarification that we can provide.
>
> Thank you!
>
>
> ---
>
> On March 21, 2014:
>
> Hi there Chris,
>
> Honestly I am having some difficulty answering some of the questions
like
> "any current contracts with internet filtering services or providers".
We
> do have filters, but because we are part of the Jefferson County Library
Cooperative in Jefferson County Al, the IT department (for all of the 40
libraries in the county) would be the actual subscriber to said services
and then IT administers the services to our library. Many of the
questions
> you have requested we may not have a direct answer to because our IT
department handles these things. From offsite, they are not employees of
our library, they are employees of the cooperative with whom we have a
partnership.
>
> You may notice that many of the libraries that you have sent requests to
are part of this cooperative and will have difficulty with some
questions.
>
> We have a manual that details all the things that IT offers the member
libraries but it is more generic --'we provide filtering services to our
member libraries the filter will block....categories may
include...'---of
> course as often as technology is upgraded we may not receive notice from
IT every time they upgrade to a new system or the newer edition etc.
>
> Hence, until we receive some of the specific information that your team
has requested back from our IT department we will not be able to fully
respond to your request.
>
> Also, to be honest. There have been questions raised as to the
> authenticity of your corporation and or this request. Because this is
presented as an FOIA request I know some libraries in the state have
decided to seek the guidance of their legal outreach resources.
>
>
> Thanks!
> Erica Calvert
> Warrior Public Library
>
> ---
>
> On March 13, 2014:
>
> To Whom It May Concern:
>
> I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request,
copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 20, 2014. Please let me
know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further
clarification
> is needed.
>
> Thank you for your help.
>
>
> ---
>
> On Jan. 20, 2014:
>
>
> To Whom It May Concern:
>
>
> We are a team of academic researchers studying information access and
availability in public schools and libraries. We are contacting you as
part of a national effort to help us better understand the scope and
substance of the various challenges which arise in the course of
administering a public library system or public school system.
>
>
> Under Alabama's Public Records Law, we are requesting copies of the
following public records:
>
>
> -any complaints, requests, and/or challenges for removal,
> reclassification, and/or reconsideration of publications including
books,
> magazines, movies, music, and/or other media, along with any associated
records, petitions, and/or correspondence since January 1, 2003
>
> -any current collection or curriculum development policy or policies
governing your institution(s)
>
> -any records related to Internet filtering, including but not limited
to:
>
> -any current acceptable use policies, web publishing policies, or
> equivalents
>
> -any current contracts with Internet filtering services and/or
> providers
>
> -any current categories of content which your provider offers to
> block, along with which categories your library or libraries currently
block
>
> -any modifications to the standard configuration of your filter,
> including lists of sites, services, URLs, keywords, or other
> identifiers which have been specifically configured as forbidden or
allowed (i.e. "blacklists/whitelists")
>
>
> We will use these records in our research. Please note that we are not
asking for registration, circulation, or other private records protected
by state law, and you should feel free to redact personally identifiable
information from the records you send us, at your discretion.
>
>
> You may respond to this request by sending electronic documents (e.g.
emails, screen captures, spreadsheets, etc) or high-quality scanned
PDFs
> to this inbox. If you cannot respond by email, please fax copies to
206-984-9551, with “MIA” written clearly at the top of the first
page.
> If you do not have any documents responsive to our request, or if you
have
> questions about how to respond, then you may email us at this inbox. In
order to assist you in responding to our request, we have also posted
guidelines and examples at http://mappinginfoaccess.org.
>
> We understand that there may be fees associated with responding to our
request. We ask that you waive any such fees in light of our project’s
character, which is non-commercial, academic, open, and firmly in the
public interest. If you are unable to waive fees, and if they are in
excess of $20, please contact us with an estimate of fees before
responding.
>
>
> Thank you in advance for helping us better understand the important work
that you do. If you have any questions about our request or our project,
please email us at: team [at] mappinginfoaccess [dot] org.
>
>
> Sincerely,
>
>
> Emily Knox
> Assistant Professor
> Graduate School of Library & Information Science
> University of Illinois
>
>
> Shannon M. Oltmann
> Assistant Professor
> School of Library & Information Science
> University of Kentucky
>
> Chris Peterson
> Researcher
> Center for Civic Media, Media Lab
> Massachusetts Institute of Technology
>
> Filed via MuckRock.com
> E-mail (Preferred): requests@muckrock.com
>
> For mailed responses, please address (see note):
> MuckRock News
> DEPT MR 7616
> PO Box 55819
> Boston, MA 02205-5819
>
> PLEASE NOTE the new address as well as the fact that improperly
addressed
> (i.e., with the requester's name rather than MuckRock News) requests
might
> be returned by the USPS as undeliverable.
>
>
>
>
>
>
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