Exactly, John.
There's an interesting crystallisation here.
On the one (right) hand:
ID cards will be of benefit because they will simplify procedures and
therefore save money for resources and staff (I wonder how that will
affect access to the People's Network - last week my wife was refused
access at R******** library - "you have to be a member and anyway we're
closing soon", but welcomed with open arms at C******* library, both
places far from her home county).
On the other (left) hand:
Libraries become (even more) a tool of the state. (See
http://digbig.com/4berc) And if you don't have an ID card, you're
certainly not getting on the PN.
It's a little like that eternal and inevitable dichotomy of libraries -
come in, there's all this amazing uncensored stuff for you to use; but
there are a few rules.......
The transcript at http://digbig.com/4berb doesn't inspire confidence
that ID cards are going to help us much. If homegrown smart cards are
giving better access to services (there's another debate), why would we
as a profession favour a low tech ID card?
Personal reactions COULD perhaps be relevant because they inform us of
the likely reactions of users at large.
But what I DO favour is that we should debate it. How about more links
to arguments and evidence on both sides? After all, what we CAN do is
look it up.
Derek Harper
-----Original Message-----
From: John Hughes [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 19 May 2004 13:57
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: ID Cards, the National Identity Register and Data
Protection
On Wednesday, May 19, 2004, at 01:48 PM, Mike Morris wrote:
> Its LIS applications are hardly going to be uppermost in [the
> Minister's] mind.
Enter CILIP, centre stage
And, for political balance, other interested lobbyists, stages left and
right.
**********************************************************************
Receipt of this e-mail is subject to conditions:
Click link to view the disclaimer--> <a href="http://www.southwestrda.org.uk/email-disclaimer">http://www.southwestrda.org.uk/email-disclaimer</a>
*********************************************************************
______________________________________________________________________
This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System.
For more information please visit http://www.messagelabs.com/email
______________________________________________________________________
|