108 · Survey Results: Survey Questions and Responses
a privacy statement that tells users what we are collecting and what we do with it.”
“Ensuring the privacy of our users. Within Facebook, some librarians are concerned about maintaining
personal information in a site that end users can access.”
“It makes us uncomfortable that our users are sharing so much of their personal information that can be used
by advertisers.”
“Library patrons are demanding/expecting more and more in based on the types of services they are getting
through tools such as Amazon or Google. To provide these tools requires that libraries stretch our traditional
defense of privacy. We are finding, though, that library patrons are more than willing to make these sacrifices.
This is worrisome.”
“Patron privacy is a major issue for us generally and this is something we will watch closely in the social
tagging environment.”
“Privacy of library data and communication on academic side, FERPA regulations. We have made specific
attempts to acquire patron permission to publish reference questions on our reference blog, even when we’ve
stripped away all user identifiers because patrons ‘own’ the content of their questions.”
“QuestionPoint database addresses concerns for reference transactions. Have not fully assessed Meebo, were
we to implement it, for example. Have password protected two staff blogs and Wikis. There has not been a
systematic attempt to address concerns, but library staff more concerned than public at large as indicated by
OCLC study and other reports read and meetings attended by staff.”
“Some staff have shown concern about privacy issues, though we have not yet addressed them as an
organization. The Task Force may do so.”
“Transcripts of chat sessions are available to staff for evaluation purposes. We do make users aware that the
transcripts may saved for a period of time and reviewed.”
“We’re using a number of third-party services (Flickr, Google gadgets, Facebook apps, Meebo widget) where
patron use of the services is probably being tracked by these third-parties. We have provided disclaimers to
users to alert them that while the library protects their privacy, these third-parties may not. Where practical,
we’ve used locally installed versions of social software tools (like WordPress) where we can control the
privacy practices, but in other cases use of the third-party service is essential.”
“When we use non-university, commercial servers and software systems to support interactions between
librarians and users, we: a) lose the ability to guarantee privacy to the individual in terms of confidentiality of
issues discussed, and b) everyone’s interactions and data are ultimately managed by a corporate entity which
sponsors the site/software rather than an educational institution which would not exploit this information
commercially.”
Policies
“Campus developed a policy for using social networking sites.”
“Generally not greatly concerned, but will need to set general policy statements once these services become
permanent features of our website and other offerings.”
“The Library ensures that the social software it hosts complies with the privacy policies posted on the Web
a privacy statement that tells users what we are collecting and what we do with it.”
“Ensuring the privacy of our users. Within Facebook, some librarians are concerned about maintaining
personal information in a site that end users can access.”
“It makes us uncomfortable that our users are sharing so much of their personal information that can be used
by advertisers.”
“Library patrons are demanding/expecting more and more in based on the types of services they are getting
through tools such as Amazon or Google. To provide these tools requires that libraries stretch our traditional
defense of privacy. We are finding, though, that library patrons are more than willing to make these sacrifices.
This is worrisome.”
“Patron privacy is a major issue for us generally and this is something we will watch closely in the social
tagging environment.”
“Privacy of library data and communication on academic side, FERPA regulations. We have made specific
attempts to acquire patron permission to publish reference questions on our reference blog, even when we’ve
stripped away all user identifiers because patrons ‘own’ the content of their questions.”
“QuestionPoint database addresses concerns for reference transactions. Have not fully assessed Meebo, were
we to implement it, for example. Have password protected two staff blogs and Wikis. There has not been a
systematic attempt to address concerns, but library staff more concerned than public at large as indicated by
OCLC study and other reports read and meetings attended by staff.”
“Some staff have shown concern about privacy issues, though we have not yet addressed them as an
organization. The Task Force may do so.”
“Transcripts of chat sessions are available to staff for evaluation purposes. We do make users aware that the
transcripts may saved for a period of time and reviewed.”
“We’re using a number of third-party services (Flickr, Google gadgets, Facebook apps, Meebo widget) where
patron use of the services is probably being tracked by these third-parties. We have provided disclaimers to
users to alert them that while the library protects their privacy, these third-parties may not. Where practical,
we’ve used locally installed versions of social software tools (like WordPress) where we can control the
privacy practices, but in other cases use of the third-party service is essential.”
“When we use non-university, commercial servers and software systems to support interactions between
librarians and users, we: a) lose the ability to guarantee privacy to the individual in terms of confidentiality of
issues discussed, and b) everyone’s interactions and data are ultimately managed by a corporate entity which
sponsors the site/software rather than an educational institution which would not exploit this information
commercially.”
Policies
“Campus developed a policy for using social networking sites.”
“Generally not greatly concerned, but will need to set general policy statements once these services become
permanent features of our website and other offerings.”
“The Library ensures that the social software it hosts complies with the privacy policies posted on the Web
