"Terror Reading"

[Kathleen Dolan]

In many states, it is illegal to store records showing who borrowed a
book from a public library. Maryland, for example, requires destruction of
the record after a point and even backups cannot be accessed without a
court order.

KAD



On Wed, 26 Jun 2002, Harmon Seaver wrote:

> On Wed, Jun 26, 2002 at 01:09:53AM -0700, Bill Stewart wrote:
> > It's been almost ten years since I was in the Keyport NJ library,
> > but I'd be surprised if they've computerized their recordkeeping.
> > If you wanted to see who'd checked out a given book
> > that was on the shelf, you'd look at the card in the back and
> > see the library card numbers of the people who'd checked it out,
> > and they might have had dates as well.  To find which 3 or 4 digit number
> > corresponded to which person, it'd depend on whether they took their
> > library card home with them the last time they'd returned books
> > or left it at the library (mine might still be there?),
> > and if they currently had books out, it was definitely at the library.
> > If they took the card home, they had privacy, though the librarian
> > often did know her regular customers by sight.
> > They might have computer records for books they got on interlibrary loan,
> > but that'd be about it - no sense in spending money on computerizing
> > when old-fashioned card catalogs worked well enough for the speed at
> > which they acquired books.
> 
>    You'd probably be surprised then, because I'd bet it has been
> computerized. In WI and MN at least, even the tiniest libraries are on line. It
> came about because of laws mandating that all public libraries belong to a
> library consortium, and the consortiums run the centralized databases. If they
> don't join the consortium, they can't get state funding, and since most
> libraries are strapped for cash, they join. And the computer revolution has been
> going on in libraries for a decade now -- I can recall libraries where the staff
> was terrified of computers, but most of those people either got on board or
> retired. I'm sure there are non-computerized libraries in backwards states like
> AL or MS, where they don't even fund the public schools, let alone libraries,
> but NJ? Hardly.
> 
> > 
> > On the other hand, any place that does computerize finds it almost as easy
> > to keep records permanently as not, and it's certainly easier to centralize
> > records and make them searchable.
> 
>    It's a matter of policy not to keep records, that, and the fact that library
> software comes with that turned off by default. In some cases I think it would
> take custom programming to turn it on. And in most cases, since most systems
> librarians are not really computer gurus and rely heavily on outside
> consultants, they would have to call the software manufacturer or an outside
> consultant to help them figure out how to turn on the retention of patron
> records after the books is checked back in. And then explain to them *why* they
> would want to do such a nasty thing. And, as I said, there would be immediate
> outrage on the part of the other librarians with much shouting and wailing and
> demands for explanations, and demands that it be turned off.
> 
>    I think most people don't realize what strong civil libertarians most
> librarians are -- and how much privacy and freedom of speech is stressed in
> library administration and library schools. 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Harmon Seaver	
> CyberShamanix
> http://www.cybershamanix.com
>