are public places, incidents involving inappropriate behavior in libraries (sexual and otherwise) existed long before libraries provided access to the Internet. 2.  Methods for Regulating Internet Use The methods that public libraries use to regulate Internet use vary greatly.  They can be organized into four categories:  (1) channeling patrons’ Internet use; (2) separating patrons so that they will not see what other patrons are viewing; (3) placing Internet terminals in public view and having librarians observe patrons to make sure that they are complying with the library’s Internet use policy; and (4) using Internet filtering software.  The first category – channeling patrons’ Internet use – frequently includes offering training to patrons on how to use the Internet, including how to access the information that they want and to avoid the materials that they do not want.  Another technique that some public libraries use to direct their patrons to pages that the libraries have determined to be accurate and valuable is to establish links to “recommended Web sites” from the public library’s home page (i.e., the page that appears when patrons begin a session at one of the library’s public Internet terminals).  Librarians select these recommended Web sites by using criteria similar to those employed in traditional collection development.  However, unless the library determines otherwise, selection of these specific sites does not preclude patrons from attempting to access other Internet Web sites.

Libraries may extend the “recommended Web sites” method further by limiting patrons’ access to only those Web sites that are reviewed and selected by the library’s staff.  For example, in 1996, the Westerville, Ohio Library offered Internet access to children through a service called the “Library Channel.”  This service was intended to be a means by which the library could organize the Internet in some fashion for presentation to patrons.  Through the Library Channel, the computers in the children’s section of the library were restricted to 2,000 to 3,000 sites selected by librarians.  After three years, Westerville stopped using the Library Channel system because it overly constrained the children’s ability to access materials on the Internet, and because the library experienced several technical problems with the system.

Public libraries also use several different techniques to separate patrons during Internet sessions so that they will not see what other patrons are viewing.  The simplest way to achieve this result is to position the library’s public Internet terminals so that they are located away from traffic patterns in the library (and from other terminals), for example, by placing them so that they face a wall.  This method is obviously constrained by libraries’ space limitations and physical layout.  Some libraries have also installed privacy screens on their public Internet terminals.  These screens make a monitor appear blank unless the viewer is looking