Banned Websites

It was Banned Websites Awareness Day yesterday (October 3) in the U.S.. Although the day has passed I thought this was a good time to bring attention to this other type of censorship that can occur in public institutions (including libraries).

I recently read an article about how schools (including post-secondary) that prohibit students from using their wireless and public access computers to access social media sites can actually inhibit students' ability to create a positive online presence and networking community. ALA's Banned Websites Awareness Day was developed "to raise awareness of the overly restrictive blocking of legitimate, educational websites and academically useful social networking tools in schools and school libraries". The American Association of School Libraries has designated one day during Banned Books Week as Banned Websites Awareness Day.

Located on the Banned Books website is background material, a complimentary webinar, and resources and activities - including the article mentioned above.  If your library uses internet filters, or you just want to know more about it, the resources on this website are helpful to get you thinking about the issues of internet filtering. Even though this site is geared towards school libraries, the issues still apply.

The Banned Books website is located at: http://www.ala.org/aasl/advocacy/bwad