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| Format: | Recurso educativo Open Access |
| Language: | en |
| Published: |
2005
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ720344 |
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| _version_ | 1867181044180975616 |
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| author | Ostrowsky, Ben |
| author_facet | Ostrowsky, Ben Ostrowsky, Ben |
| collection | Education Resources Information Center |
| contents | Anonymous Library Cards Allow You to Wonder, "Who Was That Masked Patron?" Ostrowsky, Ben Privacy Library Services Like the Lone Ranger's mask, a good information retention policy can safeguard personal identity information. Librarians want to be sure that patrons will return what they borrow, and they want statistics that quantify the library's value to its community. Librarians also want to protect customers' privacy; they usually don't keep personally identifiable information unless they have to. Libraries must, however, have means in place to protect itself from theft and damage, and most require your identity (verified with a photo ID) as collateral. In some cases, collecting personal identity information about customers is a dangerous activity for a library. It can lead to "information theft"--opponents in an election could expose possibly unethical behavior by the incumbent: fees that were waived as a courtesy, fines accrued for overdue items, or controversial books that he or she borrowed. In this article, the author claims that soon libraries will be able to protect themselves from problems of this sort by opting to let patrons remain anonymous. This can be accomplished by issuing borrower cards that use cash, rather than personal ID information, as collateral. He cites this example: If a privacy-minded user deposits $20 to get an anonymous library card, she can check out "The Terror State" without identifying herself. Her account balance is temporarily reduced by $15, and when the library checks the CD back in (in good condition), her balance is restored to its original value. This type of anonymous lending opens the doors to new kinds of users, protects the library from loss of materials, protects the borrower from loss of privacy, and protects both from the repercussions of a privacy breach. This article also discusses some of the drawbacks of anonymous library cards: (1) The card represents value that vanishes if the card is lost or damaged; and (2) A cash card does not address the needs of poor people. A sidebar in this article provides information about Horizon 8.0 software that enables a library to create "guest users" and issue anonymous, cash-based cards. |
| format | Recurso educativo Open Access |
| id | eric_EJ720344 |
| institution | ERIC Institute of Education Sciences |
| language | en |
| publishDate | 2005 |
| record_format | eric |
| spellingShingle | Anonymous Library Cards Allow You to Wonder, "Who Was That Masked Patron?" Ostrowsky, Ben Privacy Library Services Anonymous Library Cards Allow You to Wonder, "Who Was That Masked Patron?" Ostrowsky, Ben Privacy Library Services Like the Lone Ranger's mask, a good information retention policy can safeguard personal identity information. Librarians want to be sure that patrons will return what they borrow, and they want statistics that quantify the library's value to its community. Librarians also want to protect customers' privacy; they usually don't keep personally identifiable information unless they have to. Libraries must, however, have means in place to protect itself from theft and damage, and most require your identity (verified with a photo ID) as collateral. In some cases, collecting personal identity information about customers is a dangerous activity for a library. It can lead to "information theft"--opponents in an election could expose possibly unethical behavior by the incumbent: fees that were waived as a courtesy, fines accrued for overdue items, or controversial books that he or she borrowed. In this article, the author claims that soon libraries will be able to protect themselves from problems of this sort by opting to let patrons remain anonymous. This can be accomplished by issuing borrower cards that use cash, rather than personal ID information, as collateral. He cites this example: If a privacy-minded user deposits $20 to get an anonymous library card, she can check out "The Terror State" without identifying herself. Her account balance is temporarily reduced by $15, and when the library checks the CD back in (in good condition), her balance is restored to its original value. This type of anonymous lending opens the doors to new kinds of users, protects the library from loss of materials, protects the borrower from loss of privacy, and protects both from the repercussions of a privacy breach. This article also discusses some of the drawbacks of anonymous library cards: (1) The card represents value that vanishes if the card is lost or damaged; and (2) A cash card does not address the needs of poor people. A sidebar in this article provides information about Horizon 8.0 software that enables a library to create "guest users" and issue anonymous, cash-based cards. |
| title | Anonymous Library Cards Allow You to Wonder, "Who Was That Masked Patron?" |
| topic | Privacy Library Services |
| url | https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ720344 |