Filtering Software

The following are a couple of definitions of filters and filtering taken off the ODLIS (Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science) site which is a very helpful resource. The link to this website is http://lu.com/odlis/

filter

A computer program designed to allow only selected data to pass through to the user, for example, an e-mail system that alerts the recipient to selected incoming messages or software that blocks access to Web sites containing certain types of content, usually violent or sexually explicit material considered unsuitable for young children. In the United States, filtering has become the focus of a national debate over intellectual freedom and censorship. Click here to learn about the American Library Association (ALA) position on filters and filtering. See also: adult content filter, Children's Internet Protection Act, and V-chip.

filtering

In computing, the use of specially designed software to prevent the user of a specific computer, network, or system from viewing certain types of content by blocking access. Filters are used primarily to prevent children from viewing violent and/or sexually explicit material and by employers to prevent employees from engaging in non-work-related activities on the job. In libraries, the passage by Congress of the Children's Internet Protection Act has made filtering a controversial issue. Click here for the American Library Association's position on filters and filtering and here to learn about state filtering laws in the United States, courtesy of the National Conference of State Legislatures. Compare with content rating. See also: censorship and intellectual freedom.


People (especially patrons) may not always agree with filtering software in public libraries, but I think they are necessary in school libraries… to some extent. Still, there are pros and cons filtering.

Filtering software can filter out some resources that students really need! For example, I was teaching Spanish to a class one day in the computer lab and after they all logged on, I instructed them to navigate to the website http://www.mrpicassohead.com to have some fun with Picasso while learning. I had tested this webpage out for myself only a short time earlier. However, under the students' log-ins, the district had filtered out this website because of it falling under the "games" category. I then wasted valuable time by going to each computer to log students in under my name -- not an action I was happy with, but I did not know else to do.

On another hand, some of the more clever students know how to go around the filtering software. When I was subbing in a middle school last year, I caught a student image googling the letter "O," which, lo' and behold, brought up a nude picture of a woman.

I'm sure it's difficult for any school or company to decide which content to filter out and to keep. I know it's constantly being updated and students are finding it more and more difficult to do what they want on their school computer. Then again, students should not be deliberately looking at inappropriate sites on the internet, and this is when software filtering is worth the time and money.