Speaking only for myself, one's PC is an extension of the desk and its
contents are as private as what's kept in that desk.  No supervisor should
be snooping around in an employee's desk except in an emergency.  Any
supervisor browsing through the files on an employee's PC, I'd say, has too
little to do or there wouldn't be time.

And yes, it's a good idea to erase all the games from a PC when it's
installed.  They just take up hard disk space.

As to what an employee produces on the PC, and whose property it becomes, I
wonder what policy exists for things produced by other employees
(illustrations ,crafts, reproductions, whatever).   If it is the
organization's policy that these become its property, then so be it with
computer work.  If you're a state agency, then there is probably a state
policy regarding intellectual property.

Trusting the employee works best.  If in this case it's a state agency, then
trust isn't enough to satisfy the bureaucracy.  If it's not, build trust
into the system by encouraging creativity -- and by making sure one's PC is
not "the enemy."

Ross Weeks Jr.
Tazewell Va
[log in to unmask]





-----Original Message-----
From: Dylan <[log in to unmask]>
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.museum-l
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tuesday, October 13, 1998 3:04 PM
Subject: Re: personnel policy on computer use


>I don't know about museum policy but every place I have worked the policy
>has been that the computers are owned by the employers and that they
>ultimatly have the right to access all files on the computer.  In as far
>as game play goes if the employer keeps games on the amchine usually the
>policy has been that game play should be done during break time.  I hope
>this helps.
>
>Dylan Kowalewski
>MSES/MPA/MSed
>
>
>On Tue, 13 Oct 1998, Amelia E. Chamberlain wrote:
>
>> We're updating a few things in our personnel policy.  I'm wondering if
>> anyone has anything in their policies regarding use of work
>> computer--for personal use, that what gets generated on it is the
>> property of the organization, playing games on the work computer,
>> privacy issues--if your supervisor needs to access a file while you're
>> gone, goes searching, and comes across personal files--what are the
>> rights of everyone, etc.
>>
>> Thanks for your help!
>>
>> Amelia Chamberlain
>> So. Oregon Historical Society
>>