What are the intellectual freedom issues involved in public digital libraries?
The protection of patron’s rights to freely express themselves using the internet facilities in their public library is also supported by the National Research Council (1994), albeit for different reasons: Providers that assert the right to control the content of public traffic may be subject to a more stringent liability (e.g., for defamation) for that traffic than those that do not assert such a right … Information services supported by public funds, operated by government, or otherwise deemed public cannot discriminate among users on the basis of their electronic communications for First Amendment reasons … Service providers of all types are well advised to establish the rules under which they provide their services, their services, preferably in advance and perhaps in consultation with their users.
