Howell Carnegie District Library Access to Information on the Internet The Howell Carnegie District Library is pleased to offer access to the wealth of information available on the Internet to advance the library's mission. The Internet provides unprecedented opportunities to expand the scope of resources available to users. However, not all sources on the Internet provide information that is accurate, complete, current, or legal. Appropriate judgment is needed when using sources from the Internet. Filtered Internet access is available in the Youth Services Department. All Users must show official identification and sign the library's Internet Acceptable Use Agreement each time he or she uses a computer with Internet access including those who are sharing access to the Internet. Anyone age 10 or under must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian while using the Internet. Provisional Policy effective 10-1-00 Howell Carnegie District Library Internet Acceptable Use Agreement As a user of the Internet in the Howell Carnegie District Library, I agree to: * abide by all federal, state and local laws and the library's Rules of Conduct when using the Internet. Examples of such laws and rules: o Having sexually explicit materials harmful to minors on the Internet on display to minors in public libraries is illegal. o Printing of materials with copyrights and trademarks may be illegal. o Violations of software license agreements may be illegal. o Unauthorized access or damage to equipment, software or data violates the library's Rules of Conduct and may be illegal. o Willfully disturbing other library users violates the library's Rules of Conduct. * abide by the time limits imposed on the Internet computers in order to provide access to as many users as possible. * not install, download, or modify software, hardware or equipment. * promptly pay for any incurred charges for printing or other authorized fees. (printing is $.10 per page) * end a session and leave the computer when asked to do so by a library staff member. Consequences: Library employees are authorized to terminate any user's access session for any violation of the Internet Acceptable Use Agreement. They may prohibit a user from subsequent access sessions for four weeks from the date of informing the user of that action, given cause to believe that the user has willfully violated the Internet Acceptable Use Agreement. Internet users whose access session has been terminated for four weeks may request a copy of the "Terminate Internet Access" form, which describes their violations and may petition for their Internet access privileges to be reinstated. Users who violate laws may be subject to prosecution. Provisional Policy effective 10-1-00 Howell Carnegie District Library Access to Information on the Internet PROCEDURES * Clipboards will be at the Reference desk and the Youth Services desk with the Acceptable Use Agreement on top and a sheet of paper for all users of the Internet to sign before they use a computer. All users must show valid identification, e.g. library card, or photo i.d.. Because this procedure will be new in October, we will have a grace period of one month for users to get used to the idea that they must bring identification before they will be able to use the Internet in the library. * Inform users who request restricted access that the computer in Youth Services has a filter on it. * Copies of our Internet Policy, Acceptable Use Agreement, and Procedures plus the library's Rules of Conduct and PA 212 will be available at each desk. * Privacy screens will be on some Internet computers, and can be removed by a staff member if requested. * Mouse pads at each of the Internet computers will have our Acceptable Use Agreement displayed. * Staff may ask users to end a session on the Internet when: o the user has exceeded his/her time limits ( inform him or her that he or she may come back after 30 minutes if no one else is waiting and another computer becomes available). o materials displayed on a screen are inappropriate in a public setting. o the user is disturbing others in the library or is violating any part of the Acceptable Use Agreement * If a user has willfully used the Internet computers to violate the law or has willfully violated the Acceptable Use Agreement over a period of time, staff members may terminate access for four weeks. The staff member will fill out a "Termination of Internet Access" form. The user whose access has been terminated may request a copy of the form, which includes a section to request Internet access reinstatement. The completed form will go to the department head. Provisional Procedure effective 10-1-00 Suggested Guidelines for staff: The law (PA 212) is vague about what libraries must do to comply. We have drafted policies and procedures that we believe comply with the law. Some of those procedures are: * All of the Internet monitors are easily visible to staff and staff is empowered to ask people to terminate his or her session on the Internet computer if that person is violating the Internet Acceptable Use Agreement. * The computer in Youth Services will have a filter installed. * Privacy screens have been installed on some computers. * All users must sign our Internet Acceptable Use Agreement and show proof of identification with a library card and/or photo i.d.. * Children age 10 and under must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian at all times. * Library Guardian will be installed by early 2001, which will provide more opportunities for users to choose access levels to the Internet for themselves and their children. If someone is upset because he or she believes that we are not complying with the law or some other aspect of our Internet service, you may say, "I am sorry to see that you are upset. You may fill out a Suggestion/ Comment form and the library director will contact you or I can get a supervisor to talk to you about this now."