Libraries’ involvement in copyright clearance of reading list provision in the top 20 UK Business Schools

The copyright process on reading list provision in executive education of the UK top 20 business school is a neglected area of research. This dissertation focuses on the libraries’ involvement in copyright clearance and finds out how the libraries provide reading materials. The current trends of the copyright process are investigated to determine whether the libraries are involved in copyright clearance, the degree to which they are involved, and what the challenges are that they experience in relation to copyright clearance. This dissertation used a mixed method approach to achieve the research objectives. The methods used were a case study set in two libraries which used semi-structured interviews, initial web research of their websites of the top 20 business school libraries in the UK, and a questionnaire survey of the libraries. This research indicated that the library’s involvement has not been felt universally across the business school libraries in the UK. Also the copyright clearance service is being offered by administration team/staff within the business school institutes. Even the libraries which are responsible for processing copyright clearance tend to deliver a limited service. The main conclusions are: to support executive education, copyright cleared materials are supplied to the participants; however, the libraries’ involvement in this copyright process tends to be rather limited, in spite of high awareness of copyright compliance within the institutes and general agreement that libraries are expected to deal with copyright issues. This research argues that there is a need for more study into copyright clearance practice within the organisations, including administration departments, in order to find out how the libraries can support them and work together to comply with copyright law and reduce the risk of copyright breach. Libraries need to demonstrate their value in providing this service in the ever changing digital age of the futur