It's no secret that the Web carries more than its share of bizarre pornographic material, but in some research situations explicit sexual images and text might provide valid information about human sexuality and practices, say champions of free speech.

    What's a university to do?

    York's only real ban on Web sites was during the Karla Homolka trial when universities were ordered not to carry material and York complied, says York's Web manager Rod Potter. "We were strong-armed into not carrying it, but it was pointless. At York we don't filter anything that comes in, and there's nothing anyone can't access if they really want to."

    Short of invading people's privacy by monitoring or filtering, there is no way to censor access, Potter says. "Unless you want to close down the service."

    Perhaps the best censor is personal taste. "Critical skills" is also a factor, suggests Ellen Hoffman, York's associate vice-president (Academic and Information Services) and university librarian. "We need to make an enormous array of material available for people to undertake teaching and learning. We're trying to teach students critical skills in order to access, select and evaluate information. It isn't our role to censor that information."

    Although there is no direct censorship at York, there are broad guidelines to maintain control over content and presentation of information on Web pages.