Month: January 2020

The idea of censorship in school libraries as opposed to other libraries is an interesting issue to discuss further….. Obviously there will be resources that are inappropriate for whatever reason for students. How does one censor certain materials in a K-12 school?

What a conversation to be had…. Freedom to access all knowledge VS materials that may coerce, promote or distort information, and this being available to young malleable minds…

Filtering as censorship- in regard to school content filter programs is another interesting discussion. From personal experiencing, the over-filtering creates more problems for teachers than I feel it protects students from harmful information.

When does censorship of certain materials (perhaps identified in the collection management policy) stop being done properly and become an opinion or personal moral standpoint of the Teacher Librarian (TL)? Self-censorship?

Legalities and Ethics….

Whilst engaging in the readings on the copyright laws that govern Librarians in the Education sector, I began feeling a sense of unease.

Copyright in Australia is governed by the Commonwealth Government’s Copyright Act 1968 (last amended in July 2016). This law does not contain the ‘fair use’ provision which means educators need to be careful in their use and distribution of resources. There are additional (paid) licences, which allow for some provisions but the rules are many and varied… not to mention ‘word-heavy’.

I believe a Teacher Librarian (TL) or any educator within a school has the best intention when utilising resources for their students and so question the all the governing restrictions. It makes an educator nervous of braking a law and therefor I believe hesitant in using resources.

Although the website Smartcopying: the official guide to copyright issues for Australian schools and TAFE that is provided has comprehensive information, the wording is very ‘legalised’ in nature and still leaves me hesitant in being confident I am not breaking a law in the way in which I provide my students certain information.

Copyright Act (1968). Retrieved from https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2016C00741

National Copyright Unit (2016). Retrieved from http://www.smartcopying.edu.au/