Access to Digital Libraries for Disadvantaged Users

Digital libraries, designed to serve people and their information needs in the same way as traditional libraries, present distinct advantages over brick and mortar facilities: elimination of physical boundaries, round-the-clock access to information, multiple access points, networking abilities, and extended search functions. As a result, they should be especially well-suited for the disadvantaged. However, minorities, those affected by lower income and education status, persons living in rural areas, the physically disabled, and developing countries as a whole consistently suffer from a lack of accessibility to digital libraries. This paper evaluates the effectiveness and relevance of digital libraries currently in place and discusses what could and should be done to improve accessibility to digital libraries for the disadvantaged

Access to Digital Libraries for Disadvantaged Users

Digital libraries, designed to serve people and their information needs in the same way as traditional libraries, present distinct advantages over brick and mortar facilities: elimination of physical boundaries, round-the-clock access to information, multiple access points, networking abilities, and extended search functions. As a result, they should be especially well-suited for the disadvantaged. However, minorities, those affected by lower income and education status, persons living in rural areas, the physically disabled, and developing countries as a whole consistently suffer from a lack of accessibility to digital libraries. This paper evaluates the effectiveness and relevance of digital libraries currently in place and discusses what could and should be done to improve accessibility to digital libraries for the disadvantaged

Can new laws make public services better? Reflections on diversity legislation for libraries

This paper argues that government-led social legislation inspired by Victorian ideals of paternalistic law-making is still an appropriate way of intervening to promote citizenship and equity in the information society of the twenty first century. However, to do so effectively is more complex than traditional models suggest and needs ongoing and energetic participation from the LIS profession to ensure good laws are put on to the statute book

Fair Use Challenges in Academic and Research Libraries

Summarizes findings from a survey of librarians on the application of fair use in copyright practice to fulfill libraries' missions of teaching and learning support, scholarship support preservation, exhibition, and public outreach

Piece by Piece Review of Digitize-and-Lend Projects Through the Lens of Copyright and Fair Use

Digitize-and-lend library projects can benefit societies in multiple ways, from providing information to people in remote areas, to reducing duplication of effort in digitization, to providing access to people with disabilities. Such projects contemplate not just digitizing library titles for regular patron use, but also allowing the digitized versions to be used for interlibrary loan (ILL), sharing within consortia, and replacing print copies at other libraries. Many of these functions are already supported within the analog world (e.g., ILL), and the digitize-and-lend concept is largely a logical outgrowth of technology, much like the transitioning from manual hand duplication of books to printing presses. The purpose of each function is to facilitate user access to information. Technology can amplify that access, but in doing so, libraries must also be careful not to upset the long established balance in copyright, where authors’ rights sit on the other side of the scale from public benefit. This article seeks to provide a primer on the various components in a digitize-and-lend project, explore the core copyright issues in each, and explain how these projects maintain the balance of copyright even as libraries take advantage of newer technologies

Iowa Department for the Blind Performance Report, FY 2006

Agency Performance Repor

Extent Of Service: Minnesota Libraries Disability Services And Quality Of Websites: Assessing Public & Academic Libraries

This article addresses the availability of software/hardware and other sources for all persons with disabilities in Minnesota libraries, and also the navigability of websites of these libraries for those who are visually impaired. Many electronic resources are prohibitively difficult or impossible for the Blind to access. On a practical level, the article surveys and evaluates what is available and what works for people with disabilities at present. I surveyed all Academic Libraries and Public Library Systems in Minnesota as to their disability services, and evaluated the accessibility of library websites through the help of people with visual disabilities. The websites chosen were those of public Academic Libraries/Learning Resource Centers, and those of Public Libraries or Library Systems. To evaluate Minnesota library web sites, I was able to recruit 5 volunteers, and using their personal screen readers (JAWS 4. 0 or later), evaluated 20 Public Library and 40 public Academic Library web sites. Existing legislation concerning persons with disabilities is overviewed as well as issues and concerns that arose during the course of my writing and surveying. The work provides timely information and raises questions for further research

Copyright Literacy in the UK: a survey of librarians and other cultural heritage sector professionals

Based on a survey of UK library and information professionals and those who work in the cultural heritage sector, carried out in December 2014, this research sought to examine the levels of copyright „literacy?. The survey aimed to obtain responses from all sectors, however most responses were received from academic libraries. The research examined their knowledge of national and international copyright issues as well as copyright policies at an institutional level. The survey also explored the need for copyright education for new and existing professionals and suggested topics for inclusion in training activities. The findings suggest that levels of knowledge amongst UK professionals are higher than those in other countries who participated in the first phase of the project. UK institutions are also more likely to have a copyright policy and an individual with responsibility for copyright. The results should be of interest to library managers, library educators and those with responsibility for staff training

The European Commission's public consultation on the review of EU copyright rules: a response by the CREATe Centre

No abstract available