I maintain a list of all the public library websites in the state of Vermont.
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@technicalotter @gdt I can get VERY nerdy about this very quickly, so feel free to ask if you have more questions but I think the big difference here is that the libraries here are all really different from one another so for some, a small link on a larger website might work but for most, being able to have their own identity that is distinct from the town is useful for them.
Fair point about town sites that don't allow reasonable editing/content and that sometimes libraries are not just part of town government. I'd say that being a sub-part of a town site is not bad, and the real questions - which are harder to answer - are whether the site appears to be one that the library director/staff can effectively use to have richer content and whether there are ad/tracking objects.
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@technicalotter @gdt I can get VERY nerdy about this very quickly, so feel free to ask if you have more questions but I think the big difference here is that the libraries here are all really different from one another so for some, a small link on a larger website might work but for most, being able to have their own identity that is distinct from the town is useful for them.
@jessamyn @technicalotter
And, whether the library is also publishing content on FB or other proprietary/surveillance-based sites. In the ideal world, not at all, in still-quite-tood, just FB posts with links to blog posts on the library site, and then varying degrees of bad as people not on FB get a worse experience.Perhaps related, my town's library (with trust fund that paritally funds, but trustees are elected so it's ~all govt) no only posts of FB but uses gmail for contacting!
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@technicalotter @gdt I can get VERY nerdy about this very quickly, so feel free to ask if you have more questions but I think the big difference here is that the libraries here are all really different from one another so for some, a small link on a larger website might work but for most, being able to have their own identity that is distinct from the town is useful for them.
@jessamyn @technicalotter I've been unclear on the statutory basis for patron privacy (MA, Federal?). I see the carve-out from public records in MA, but use of gmail to communicate with patrons seems improper. Do you have a statute/regulation pointer?
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@jessamyn @technicalotter I've been unclear on the statutory basis for patron privacy (MA, Federal?). I see the carve-out from public records in MA, but use of gmail to communicate with patrons seems improper. Do you have a statute/regulation pointer?
@gdt @technicalotter Library patron privacy laws are on a state by state basis. The American Library Association keeps track of these laws and you can see them here.
https://www.ala.org/advocacy/privacy/statelaws
A lot of these laws have to do with whether or not patron info (i.e. what they're reading, any data in their library account) is considered a public record and thus able to be obtained by agents of the state. While I don't disagree that gmail is problematic, I don't think it runs afoul of the laws.
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@gdt @technicalotter Library patron privacy laws are on a state by state basis. The American Library Association keeps track of these laws and you can see them here.
https://www.ala.org/advocacy/privacy/statelaws
A lot of these laws have to do with whether or not patron info (i.e. what they're reading, any data in their library account) is considered a public record and thus able to be obtained by agents of the state. While I don't disagree that gmail is problematic, I don't think it runs afoul of the laws.
@jessamyn @technicalotter Thanks! I had found that law, but thought there must be more because it does not prohibit disclosure! It says "not public records"; given a public records request, the library can/must decilne to provide them.
I agree; that MA law does not prohbit the library deciding to publish patron data, selling it to a data broker, responding to law enforcement queries, or disclosing it to gmail for AI training because they aren't paying attention to their gmail contract!
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@jessamyn @technicalotter Thanks! I had found that law, but thought there must be more because it does not prohibit disclosure! It says "not public records"; given a public records request, the library can/must decilne to provide them.
I agree; that MA law does not prohbit the library deciding to publish patron data, selling it to a data broker, responding to law enforcement queries, or disclosing it to gmail for AI training because they aren't paying attention to their gmail contract!
@gdt This is one of those things where maybe the MA Library Association has something more robust (or even individual libraries). I know in Vermont, there are state laws which are sort of the minimum and then individual libraries can have policies that go even further. I know my library is a "No patron info AT ALL without a warrant" but there may be other libraries in the state which are less stringent. Libraries are privacy-focused in terms of patron reading material, less so in other ways.
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@gdt This is one of those things where maybe the MA Library Association has something more robust (or even individual libraries). I know in Vermont, there are state laws which are sort of the minimum and then individual libraries can have policies that go even further. I know my library is a "No patron info AT ALL without a warrant" but there may be other libraries in the state which are less stringent. Libraries are privacy-focused in terms of patron reading material, less so in other ways.
@gdt More to the point, at least in my state, libraries are dealing with the fact that they only have a few options for a lot of vendor things in terms of, for example, ebooks. Or email providers. I think people in tech are aware that there are always trade-offs between convenience and privacy. I think people in libraries in smaller locations are aware of that idea generally but not at all sure what to do about it specifically.
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