Technology and Access Committee Programs

2005 ALA Annual Conference Program

To Save or Not to Save? Strategies for Protecting Patron Information Revisited

A major challenge for public and academic libraries is to protect their patrons' anonymous access to information while retaining enough data to continue to provide and develop existing services. This program will give an update on issues surrounding safeguarding patron privacy, and present strategies for identifying and minimizing the potential risks of saving data.

Speaker Presentations

  • Joan Airoldi, Whatcom County Library System (recently featured on National Public Radio's Morning Edition);
  • Update from the Chicago Chapter of the ACLU;
  • Abby Goodrum, Syracuse University; on the effects of the PATRIOT ACT on Public and Academic Libraries;
  • Amy West , University of Minnesota; on configuring public access computers to not keep patron data;

 

2004 ALA Annual Conference Program

To Save or Not to Save? Strategies for Protecting Patron Information

A challenge for public and academic libraries is to protect their patrons' anonymous access to information while retaining sufficient data to inform the development of existing future services. This program will discuss issues surrounding the identification and retention of personal patron information in various library systems and present preemptive strategies to identify and attempt to minimize the potential risks of saving data.

Speaker Presentations