Copyright, Fair Use and the Digital Age in Academic Libraries: A Review of the Literature

Copyright law in the United States has gained a certain notoriety for its complexity and ambiguity, which has only been compounded by the evolution (or, some would say, revolution) of print resources to electronic resources. The purpose of this literature review is to review the current understanding of copyright law within the context of academic libraries in universities and colleges. Additionally, this review will describe what issues academic librarians face in complying with copyright law in this new digital age while continuing to perform duties such as processing course reserve materials, developing an institutional repository, and maintaining a digital collection. This literature review emphasizes the need for further and continuing education about copyright law among all members of the campus community, and, in particular, academic librarians

Copyright Literacy in Spanish Library and Information Sciences (LIS) students

Copyright literacy in Spanish Library and Information Sciences (LIS) students was studied using a web survey as part of a multinational research project. The study focused on their knowledge, opinions and experiences with various aspects of copyright and intellectual property legislation and training. Results show that Spanish students are familiar with copyright and related laws at the national level, as well as with Creative Commons Licenses. However, most of respondents were very unfamiliar with topics related to the protection of rights in the digital environment and international copyright issues. Therefore, there is a need to increase information and knowledge of copyright issues in the LIS curricula, since copyright issues are already, and will continue to be in the future, a relevant part of information professionals' expertise

Information Literacy Competencies and Copyright in Brazilian Higher Education Institutions

RESUMEN: La competencia informacional o alfabetización informacional (COINFO/ALFIN) es la evolución natural de la antigua formación de usuarios en las bibliotecas adaptada a los nuevos tiempos, donde la tecnología juega un importante papel. Por su parte, el uso ético y legal de la información es una de las competencias que conforman este tipo de formación dentro de los estándares internacionales COINFO/ALFIN. Con el objetivo de conocer la repercusión del uso ético y legal de la información dentro de estos planes formativos de las bibliotecas de educación superior en Brasil, se diseñó un breve cuestionario en línea para averiguar si poseen un plan de COINFO o de formación de usuarios, si dentro de los planes se trata el uso ético y legal de la información y los derechos de autor, en qué consiste esta información cuando se produce, y si las bibliotecas disponen de personal preparado para atender dudas sobre estas cuestiones. De los resultados se desprende que las bibliotecas de educación superior en Brasil aún tienen un largo camino por recorrer en materia de COINFO. No todas tienen planes adecuados para sus usuarios y entre los que sí tienen, cuando se habla sobre derechos de autor, el discurso se centra en los aspectos sancionadores de los mismos, sin dar cabida a la formación que permita saber a autores y usuarios qué derechos tienen, cómo usar las obras de terceros o cómo pueden compartir sus obras, entre otros.ABSTRACT: Information literacy (IL) is the natural evolution of the old “user training” in libraries, adapted to the new times where technology plays an important role. Legal and ethical use of information is one of the competencies incorporated in important international standards of IL. In order to know the impact of the ethical and legal use of information within these training plans in libraries of higher education entities in Brazil, a brief online questionnaire was designed and executed. The questionnaire aimed to research the existence of plans for IL and/or user training , the ethical and legal use of information, copyright, what kind of information they show, and the availability of staff members at libraries to address concerns on these issues. The results show that libraries of higher education entities in Brazil still have a lot of work to do in our area. Not all of them have adequate education plans for their users and those who do have them, and also include some information about copyright, the discourse focuses on disciplinary aspects, without training authors nor users about their rights, how to use the work of others, how to share their own work, amongst others

Introducing e-journal services: an experience

Purpose – This case study seeks to discuss the author's experience of providing e-journal services to the scientists at the Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute – a centre of excellence in the field of glass and ceramics situated in Kolkata, India. It describes the developmental activities involved in providing user access to the e-journals and its impact on library operations. Design/methodology/approach – The article begins with background information on the Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute and its parent body, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, and then goes on to discuss the development of e-journal services within the library of the Institute. Findings – The author shows that providing training to the staff as well as library users and managing services of the e-journals were the most important issues. The author also shows that e-journals have added enormous resources to the collection and improved the service of the library, enhanced access to journal literature, and decreased the demand for photocopy services as well as document delivery of single articles. Originality/value – This case study of the Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute experience should be useful to others for deciding their activities to access e-journals as well as the library community in genera

Derechos de autor y ciencia abierta: el papel de la biblioteca universitaria

Los conflictos entre las actividades de los profesores y alumnos universitarios y los derechos de autor se han incrementado debido al desarrollo del movimiento open access y la ciencia abierta. Las dudas sobre los derechos de autor y su impacto sobre las posibilidades de uso de los artículos científicos o los trabajos de postgrado han crecido sobremanera: qué derechos se transfieren al editor y cuáles mantiene el autor; condiciones de almacenamiento en los repositorios digitales; propiedad de los derechos y posibilidades de publicación de las tesis doctorales, etc. Pero, como demuestran diversos estudios, lo habitual es que ni profesores ni estudiantes tengan los conocimientos mínimos para responder a estas dudas, lo que no solo provoca infracciones de los derechos, sino también la negativa a participar en las actividades de ciencia abierta por temor a tener problemas legales. Ante esta situación, algunas bibliotecas universitarias están aprovechando su posición estratégica para asumir una nuevo papel formando, apoyando y asesorando a sus usuarios en esta materia. Este trabajo analiza las posibilidades de las bibliotecas universitarias para contribuir a un adecuado desarrollo de la ciencia abierta mediante el apoyo y asesoramiento a sus usuarios en las cuestiones de derechos de autor. Para ello se delinean el perfil profesional necesario y los servicios básicos que las bibliotecas deberían ofrecer a sus usuarios para que la legislación de derecho de autor y las dudas que su cumplimiento provocan no sean un obstáculo para el adecuado impulso y desarrollo de la ciencia abiertaThere has been an increase of conflicts between university faculty and students in relation to copyright in the last years due to the development of the open access movement and open science. Several questions have been raised on copyright and its impact on the use of scientific articles and the work of graduate students: What rights are transferred to the publisher and which ones are reserved for the author? What are the storage conditions of digital repositories? Who holds the rights and what are the possibilities of publication of the doctoral dissertations? However, as several studies show, it is usual that neither faculty nor students have the knowledge to answer these questions, which not only causes the infringement of rights, but also the refusal to participate in open science activities for fear of having legal problems. Given this situation, some academic libraries are taking advantage of their strategic position to assume a new key role in the training, support, and advise of their users in relation to this area. The present paper analyzes the possibilities of academic libraries to contribute to an adequate development of open science by supporting and advising the academic community on copyright issues. To achieve this, we outline the necessary professional skills and the basic services that libraries should offer to their users so the copyright law and its related questions are not an obstacle to the proper promotion and development of open science.Ibero-American Science and Technology Education Consortiu

Copyright and Fair Use Resources for Undergraduates: A Content Analysis of Academic Libraries' Websites

Using content analysis, this study examines what information on copyright and fair use academic libraries offer users through their websites, with a particular focus on undergraduate information needs. This was done by analyzing the websites of thirty-three academic libraries, selected from the list of the member institutions of the Association of Research Libraries. The results of this exploratory study show that while most libraries provide general educational information on copyright, they do not fully explain all aspects of copyright and fair use. Particularly lacking are resources that help undergraduate creators understand what they can and cannot do under fair use. For academic libraries to support undergraduates in becoming effective information users and creators, they should offer resources that fully educate undergraduate students on their rights and responsibilities as both creators and consumers of information

College students' misunderstandings about copyright laws for digital library resources

[[abstract]]Purpose – This paper has two primary purposes: to explore common copyright-related problems that arise when librarians promote the use of digital library resources; and to investigate college students' misconceptions of copyright laws that arise when the students use these resources. Design/methodology/approach – Four librarians in charge of the management of digital library resources were interviewed regarding student-users' problematic copyright-infringement behaviors that these librarians often encountered when they promoted the use of digital library resources. Also, a semi-structured questionnaire with nine questions about copyright-related behaviors was developed and distributed to college students. Students needed not only to identify whether the behavior was acceptable, but also to explain the reasons for their identification. A total of 109 valid sets of data were collected from 18 universities or colleges, the sets comprising responses from 48 undergraduate, 56 postgraduate, and five doctoral students. Findings – The librarian-interview results indicate that students' problematic behaviors included systematic downloading, distribution to unauthorized users, and going beyond the purpose and character of academic use. The student-survey results indicate that students had four major areas of misunderstanding about copyright laws when using digital library resources: the digital resources should be shared; the downloaded digital resources are all legitimately authorized and permitted; all educational use is fair use; and any downloading is permitted as long as students are paying tuition. Originality/value – This paper explores students' understanding and misunderstandings that arose when students used the school digital library resources and discusses implications of these results for librarians and libraries with regard to the design of related instruction. The paper also presents interpretations of students' thoughts and conduct, as well as some future possible research topics.