A couple of years ago we had a physician request information on smoking prevention and cessation for a talk he was giving to teenagers. Among many other materials there were handouts on Philip Morris' web site but we were blocked because if fell under the "Tobacco and Alcohol" category in Web Sense. It only took one phone call to IT to fix that. Also, the journal " Advancing women in leadership" was blocked for "Malicious Content"; we got that changed too. In general, we in the library have few problems getting IT to grant access to sites in which we have a legitimate business use for even if the filter blocks it.
Alexia D. Estabrook, MSLS, AHIP
Information Services Librarian
Helen L. DeRoy Medical Library
Providence Hospital
Direct: 248-849-3277
Main: 248-849-3294
Fax: 248-849-3201
-----Original Message-----
From: Medical Libraries Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Donna Beales
Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2007 3:19 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: CHAT: Have You Been Blocked from Websites on the Job?
I have been reading with interest the recent deluge of emails regarding
ILLs on Medlib-l. I particularly remember a new librarian's comments
that he hoped Medlib would give insights on serious library topics.
In that spirit, here comes one of the most serious things I've
experienced in my eight years of doing this job. I was asked for
information on LSA. We only knew that someone had taken it in some form
and was now experiencing an adverse reaction. We also had the initials
"HBWR." That was all.
Not knowing anything more than that, I first turned to Google using
"LSA" as the search term.
As it turns out, LSA is a readily available herbal product (Hawaiian
Baby Woodrose). In this case, when I tried to access a few sites to
learn more, perhaps a chemical name, I was blocked by the organization's
filtering software. Fortunately, I got lucky for in the site
descriptors Google provides I located a Latin plant name & could take it
from there using the Natural Medicines Database.
I understand my employer's need to control access to the Internet, and
certainly a usual search of this nature by an employee is likely to be
suspect, but in this case time was of the essence in determining
treatment.
Has anyone else experienced this issue? I would appreciate hearing more
from all sides of this concern.
Take care, all--
Donna L. Beales, MLIS
Lowell General Hospital
Health Science Library
295 Varnum Ave.
Lowell, MA 01854
978-937-6247
Fax: 978-937-6855
[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
www.lowellgeneral.org/library <http://www.lowellgeneral.org/library>
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