Board Motion number : 08-14
Date of Review: January 22, 2008
Date of original motion: May 23, 2007

Internet Access Policy:

In response to advances in technology and the changing needs of the community, the Terrace Bay Public Library endeavors to develop collections, resources and services that meet the cultural, informational, recreational and educational needs of Terrace Bay’s diverse multicultural community. It is within this context that the Terrace Bay Public Library offers access to the internet.

The Terrace Bay Public Library does not monitor and has no control over the information accessed through the internet and cannot be held responsible for its content. The internet is a global entity with a highly diverse user population and the Library patrons use it at their own risk.

All internet resources accessible through the Library are provided equally to all library users. Parents or guardians, not the Library or its staff, are responsible for the internet information selected and or accessed by their children. Parents and guardians may restrict their children and only their children from access to internet resources accessible through the Library. Parents are advised to supervise their children’s internet sessions.

Responsible use: All user of electronic information resources such as the internet are expected to use these resources in a responsible manner which includes:

• Using resources for educational, recreational and informational purposes and not for unauthorized or illegal unethical purposes;
• Respecting the privacy of others using public access workstations and not interfering with their use;
• Making only authorized copies of copyrighted or licensed software or data;
• Respecting library time limits for using the internet and yield to the next assigned person;
• Patrons agree to take responsibility for all financial transactions they perform on the internet (i.e. online banking, shopping, stock trading etc.). The library assumes no responsibility for lost data or financial transactions which may occur during system down times, scheduled or unscheduled.

Violation of the acceptable use policy is defined as internet abuse and can include the following:

a)      using the internet to access, display, download, upload, print, forward or email material with pornographic (as defined by the criminal code of Canada section 163) criminal or hate literature content;

b)      subverting or attempting to install viruses or other programs designed to damage or alter software on the workstations the LAN (Local Area Network) or the internet, or seeking unauthorized access to any computer system;

c)      using email to send unsolicited commercial material, spamming or mail bomb;

d)      misrepresenting oneself as another user;

e)      attempting to modify workstations in any manner or attempting to gain access to files, passwords or data belong to others;

f)        attempting to modify, vandalize or steal library property.

Violations including but not limited to the above may result in the following:

• the Library reserves the right to request the patrons discontinue use of the internet;

• patrons in violation of the Library’s internet use policies will have their internet privileges revoked or may be banned from using the library;

• patrons using the library’s internet workstations for illegal purposes will be subject to prosecution.

Guidelines for accessing the internet @ Terrace Bay Public Library

a)      You will need a current Terrace Bay Public Library membership card. Anyone wishing to use the public access computers must check in with staff at the circulation desk. Non-members will be charged a $3.00 fee for internet access.

b)      The public access computer is normally available, subject to periodic maintenance during regular library hours.

c)      Use of the public access computer is on a first-come first-serve basis. Those using the internet will have a time limit of one half hour assigned and upon consultation with the circulation desk staff, may be extended. Only one person is permitted at each computer.

d)      Public access computers are to be used for education, business informational and email purposed. Online games and chat lines will not be allowed on computes 3,4,5 or 6 at any time.

e)      You may not use your own software programs on the internet access computes. This will prevent viruses that are common on public computers.

f)        You will need to ask circulation desk staff if you wish to save files. Diskettes are available for purchase from the circ desk at a cost of $1.00 and $2.00 for a CD. You will be charged .25 cents per sheet of paper when printing and $1.25 per sheet for colour printing.

You may not be able to always go to the places on the internet you want to visit. There are reasons, among them

·        There are too many internet visitors and the host computer has closed or limited access from the outside world;

·        The database or resource is licensed to a particular institution in which case you would need to be affiliated with the institution or order to gain access;

·        The host computer has changed its address or has closed down;

·        The library’s internet connection may be periodically and temporarily unavailable due to technical difficulties;

·        Security on the computer.