We would like to offer Internet gaming, for the first time ever, in our Children's area.  We have 6 computers that have had pre-packaged software games in the past.  There has been a lot of concern expressed by our administrators and technology coordinator regarding this request to offer Internet gaming.  We talked about having whitelists or blacklists for certain games, but that seems unmanageable.  We want to make the computers as open as possible, without causing harm to the computers or the kids.  Can anyone help me by directing me to library Web sites that have clear-cut policies for game-playing on public computers?  Any guidance will be most welcome.  Traci Juhala
Head of Children's Services
Bismarck Veterans Memorial Public Library
Bismarck, North Dakota

Hello, Traci.

Here at the Goodnight Library we don't do anything to discourage online
game play, with the exception of pornographic or ultra-violent content.
We have had to run people off for playing a Texas Hold 'em game that
popped up a pornographic shot between hands (poor choice of words, I
know ;))

That being said, our computer use policy prohibits stuff like that, with
clearly stated consequences for violators. Here's a link to our policy
in PDF format. Additionally, on our Children's Services page and on our
Teen Services page, we list several online game sites that are
age-appropriate and are always on the lookout for more.

As far as managing the content, I would recommend building an
open-source appliance. You can even use an older PC, put IPCop on it
with Dansguardian and set it up to allow all content but the porno
stuff. You'll likely have to manually key in okay sites, for medical
professionals and students. We have one EMT that goes to
www.hultgren.org, a Kentucky EMS site, that most parental controls will
filter out as questionable due to anatomical content. And that brings up
another point to consider: parental controls on the children's
computers. You could use Internet Explorer's, but they are rudimentary
and easy to get around. In fact, parental controls are nearly useless if
the user goes to an anonymizer site like kproxy.com or anonymouse.org.
The controls see the anonymizer site's address and don't pay attention
to where the patron goes beyond that.

I hope this helps you out, and good luck!

Jim Peterson
Technology Coordinator
Goodnight Memorial Library
203 S. Main St.
Franklin, KY  42134
(270) 586-8397
www.gmpl.org
Tweet me @GMLGeek
Library Technology Blog

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Hello Traci,

Here at the Goodnight Library, we don't do anything to limit online game
play, with the exception of pornographic stuff. We have had people go to
online casinos to play hold 'em, and in between each hand a pornographic
picture would pop up.

That being said, our computer use policy prohibits behavior online that
causes harm to the computers or its users whether current or future.
Here's a link to our policy,n

Jim Peterson
Technology Coordinator
Goodnight Memorial Library
203 S. Main St.
Franklin, KY  42134
(270) 586-8397
www.gmpl.org
Tweet me @GMLGeek
Library Technology Blog