Information professionals and copyright literacy: a multinational study

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present findings from a multinational survey on copyright literacy of specialists from libraries and other cultural institutions. Design/methodology/approach: This paper is based on a multinational survey of copyright literacy competencies of Library and Information Science (LIS) professionals and those who work in the cultural heritage sector (archives and museums), conducted in 13 countries, namely Bulgaria (BG), Croatia (CR), Finland (FI), France (FR), Hungary (HU), Lithuania (LT), Mexico (MX), Norway (NO), Portugal (PT), Romania (RO), Turkey (TR), UK and USA in the period July 2013-March 2015. An online survey instrument was developed in order to collect data from professionals regarding their familiarity with, knowledge and awareness of, and opinions on copyright-related issues. Findings: Findings of this study highlight gaps in existing knowledge of copyright, and information about the level of copyright literacy of LIS and cultural sector professionals. Also attitudes toward copyright learning content in academic education and continuing professional development training programs are investigated. Originality/value: This study aimed to address a gap in the literature by encompassing specialists from the cultural institutions in an international comparative context. The paper offers guidance for further understanding of copyright in a wider framework of digital and information literacy; and for the implementation of copyright policy, and the establishment of copyright advisor positions in cultural institutions. The recommendations support a revision of academic and continuing education programs learning curriculum and methods

Charting the landscape of an innovation university library within the national knowledge society strategy

The digital age calls for strategies in issues regarding access, dissemination as well as preservation of information. The global digital environment offers new and exciting possibilities to share knowledge across boundaries. In terms of scientific information access to information is crucial for research and innovation. Indeed, universities and libraries have in recent years made considerable investments in providing access to online information. The European Union has invited the member states to reinforce national strategies and structures for access to and preservation and dissemination of scientific information. Furthermore, the member states of the European Union should ensure the long term preservation of scientific information - including publications and data - and pay attention to scientific information in national information preservation strategies. In this paper the recent strategic outlines regarding university libraries in Finland will be presented. The third national information society strategy, the strategy of the Council for Finnish University Libraries, and the forming of the innovation university are discussed.reviewe

Media literacy in Finland ; National media education policy

Media literacy in Finland is the media literacy policy and the national media education policy document, published by the Ministry of Education and Culture in 2019. The document updates and extends the cultural policy guidelines for media literacy1 published in 2013. The Media literacy in Finland policy document aims to clarify the field of media education and describe the strengths, values and principles of media education in Finland. This document also highlights areas for improvement and the related social, cultural and technological development trends. According to the three main objectives of the media education policy, media education in Finland is comprehensive, of high-quality, and systematic. The policy document includes various proposals for action that support the objectives. Ministry of Education and Culture assigned the task to update the policy to the National Audiovisual Institute (KAVI) and it was prepared in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Culture in cross-administrative and cross-sectoral collaboration with actors involved in media education. An online survey on the current status and future of media education, the results of planning workshops on media education organised in seven towns and cities and interviews with professors were used in the preparation of the policy. Policy documents mentioning media education from various administrative sectors were reviewed as a part of the preparations

The Problem of Orphan Works in the EU. An overview of legislative solutions and main actions in this field

Digital and web-based information technology and media give the public new possibilities of exploiting cultural material. Works existing in analogue form can now be easily digitised and therefore reused for different purposes and by different users. Both industries and cultural institutions are taking advantage of the new opportunities opened up by digital technology. In the case of the activities carried out by cultural institutions, the purpose of digitisation is often not only to preserve cultural and scientific material but also to provide users with access to their resources, including access online. However, before digitising and further reutilising material that is still in copyright, the prospective user must often obtain consent from the copyright owner. The problem appears when it is impossible to find or locate right holders or when right holders remain unknown. This is the problem of so called ‘orphan works’. Without a suitable permission from the owner, digitisation and further exploitation of the material might not take place. Such a situation is to the detriment not only of the user, but often of the public, as no-one profits from cultural material left unexploited due to its orphan status. To promote digitisation, online accessibility and preservation of digital material of cultural institutions, the European Commission launched the "i2010: Digital Libraries" programme in September 2005. Discussions on how to deal with orphan works are currently being undertaken by stakeholders and cultural and collective management institutions at different levels and scopes. Some of them have been initiated by the stakeholders themselves, others by the European Commission or by Member States. The aim of these discussions is to find a solution to facilitate the use of orphan material without prejudice to copyright. The potential solution should provide legal certainty both to users and right holders, should the right holders reappear after the use of orphan works was made without their explicit consent. The objective of this report is to give a general overview of the situation of orphan works in the European Union. The report describes possible legislative solutions to the issue, as well as main actions that are currently underway in this field. Chapter I presents the nature and scope of the problem and describes existing and proposed legislative solutions both in Europe and abroad. It also focuses on the key issues, underlining the cross-border nature of the problem. Chapter II concerns actions undertaken by the European Commission in relation to the issue of orphan works. Firstly, it summarises the Commission Recommendation and Council conclusions on digitisation and online accessibility in relation to the orphan works’ issue. Secondly, it presents the work of the High Level Expert Group on Digital Libraries and its subgroup dealing with copyright related issues within the digital libraries framework. Finally, it describes ongoing actions undertaken by institutions and stakeholders at the initiative of the European Commission. Chapter III presents voluntary actions undertaken independently by some institutions and stakeholders. It describes current practices of institutions and mechanisms that are already working in practice, then, solutions supported by different stakeholders are presented, and finally, it gives examples of more recent actions undertaken by institutions and stakeholders at their own initiative that are still under way. Chapter IV is about the approach of Member States to the orphan works problem. This chapter presents actions, if any, that have been undertaken by Member States in order to introduce mechanisms or measures to facilitate the exploitation of orphan works in their respective countries in response to the Commission Recommendation and Council conclusions. The last part of the report contains a set of conclusions that can be drawn at this stage and possible follow-up on this issue

Mapping and searching for a theory and concept of library diplomacy

Introduction. This theoretical paper presents an exploration of how the concept and theory of library diplomacy is portrayed and presented in the library and information science (LIS) and international relations (IR) context. The paper also aims to address research gaps and position library diplomacy in today's 21st-century international environment. Method. To illustrate how library diplomacy is theorized and conceptualized, a literature review analysis is used to search for theories, concepts, and frameworks to look at the state of knowledge about the term “library diplomacy” and this paper also described the literature using a conceptual framework on the dimensions of library diplomacy. Analysis.Through reviewing several diverse scholarships on library diplomacy in the LIS and IR context, a selection of theories, concepts, and frameworks were identified. The analysis provided guidance to the trajectory of literature related to the concept and theory of library diplomacy. Results.Library diplomacy is characterized with a few LIS and IR theories including, realism, liberalism, soft power, constructivism, and the international librarianship as a practice theory. A conceptual framework of library diplomacy dimensions including (1) Libraries in diplomacy; (2) Diplomacy for libraries; and (3) Libraries for diplomacy, is identified to better understand the practices, policies and processes linked to library diplomacy. Conclusions. There are many fragmented scholarships related to library diplomacy but only few attempted to explore the concept and theory. A grounded and empirical study is needed for better understanding of library diplomacy´s related theories and concepts presented in this study

Navigating Copyright for Libraries

Much of the information that libraries make available is protected by copyright or subject to the terms of license agreements. This reader presents an overview of current issues in copyright law reform. The chapters present salient points, overviews of the law and legal concepts, selected comparisons of approaches around the world, significance of the topic, and opportunities for reform, advocacy, and other related resources

The implications of handwritten text recognition for accessing the past at scale

Before Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR), manuscripts were costly to convert to machine-processable text for research and analysis. With HTR now achieving high levels of accuracy, we ask what near-future behaviour, interaction, experience, values and infrastructures may occur when HTR is applied to historical documents? When combined with mass-digitisation of GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives and museums) content, how will HTR’s application, use, and affordances generate new knowledge of the past, and affect our information environment? This paper’s findings emerge from a literature review surveying current understanding of the impact of HTR, to explore emerging issues over the coming decade. We aim to deconstruct the simplistic narrative that the speed, efficiency, and scale of HTR will “transform scholarship in the archives” (Muehlberger et al., 2019: 955), providing a more nuanced consideration of its application, possibilities, and opportunities. In doing so, our recommendations will assist researchers, data and platform providers, memory institutions and data scientists to understand how the results of HTR interact with the wider information environment.We find that HTR supports the creation of accurate transcriptions from historical manuscripts, and the enhancement of existing datasets. HTR facilitates access to a greater range of materials, including endangered languages, enabling a new focus on personal and private materials (diaries, letters), increasing access to historical voices not usually incorporated into the historical record, and increasing the scale and heterogeneity of available material. The production of general training models leads to a virtuous digitisation circle where similar datasets are easier – and therefore more likely – to be produced. This leads to the requirement for processes that will facilitate the storage, and discoverability of HTR generated content, and for memory institutions to rethink search and access to collections. Challenges include HTR’s dependency on digitisation, its relation to archival history and omission, and the entrenchment of bias in data sources. The paper details several near future issues, including: the potential of HTR for the basis of automated metadata extraction; the integration of advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) processes (including Large Language Models (LLMs) and generative AI) into HTR systems; legal and moral issues such as copyright, privacy and data ethics which are challenged by the use of HTR; how individual contributions to shared HTR models can be credited; and the environmental costs of HTR infrastructure. We identify the need for greater collaboration between communities including historians, information scientists, and data scientists to navigate these issues, and for further skills support to allow non-specialist audiences to make the most of HTR. Data literacy will become increasingly important, as will building frameworks to establish data sharing, data consent, and reuse principles, particularly in building open repositories to share models and datasets. Finally, we suggest that an understanding of how HTR is changing the information environment is a crucial aspect of future technological development. <br/

Book History in the Nordic Countries: Introduction

What characterizes Nordic book history? This was the first thing on our minds when we considered the present special issue of Mémoires du livre – Studies in Book Culture. Setting out on the project and distributing the call for papers we hoped to come up with some sort of answer to our question. However, there is no simple single‑word or single‑sentence answer that encapsulates Nordic book history. On the contrary, several new questions arose: Are there any research topics that are especially common among Nordic book historians? And is there a special Nordic book historical approach when it comes to theory and practice