Introducing The Source
Beyond 1923: Characteristics of Potentially In-copyright Print Books in Library Collections
From the D-Lib Magazine website
Issues of copyright and permissible use have swirled around efforts to digitise print book collections. Sharp debate has ensued over the circumstances in which creating a digital surrogate and making it accessible online runs afoul of copyright protections, and what remedies might be appropriate to compensate rights holders. Some digitisation efforts, such as the Open Content Alliance, have restricted themselves to public domain materials; Google Books, on the other hand, has sought to reach agreement with copyright holders represented by the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers.
The Google book settlement provoked spirited discussion of its potential ramifications, mimicking the commotion that followed the announcement of the original Google Print for Libraries (later re-named Google Books) project in December 2004. Using data from the WorldCat bibliographic database, OCLC Research published an article in 2005 aimed at illuminating issues surrounding Google's plan to digitise the print book collections of five major research libraries. The present article is motivated by a similar purpose: to provide empirical context for the many discussions surrounding the digitisation of in-copyright print books. The settlement has raised challenging questions regarding permissible use of print book titles published after 1923; many of these titles may eventually form a significant part of the Google book database should it come to pass.
International Copyright: Why It Matters to Libraries (Note: PDF)
From the Library Copyright Alliance website
Because libraries share a unique social responsibility for preservation of, and access to, the world’s intellectual heritage, they have an interest in promoting copyright laws that provide the broadest possible use of information for creativity, research and education. The Library Copyright Alliance (LCA) is working to address an increasing number of international legal and policy issues that affect libraries and the public, because of the many unresolved aspects of intellectual property rights in information in the digital age. The library community has long been engaged in responding to and developing proposals to amend international copyright law. In 2007 LCA gained accreditation as a non-governmental organisation with observer status at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). This has enabled even more direct involvement. LCA represents the U.S. library community at WIPO at the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR), Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP), and Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC), and in other international fora.
A Low Cost, Low Memory Footprint, SQL and Servlet-based Solution for Searching Archived Images and Documents in Digital Collections
From the D-Lib Magazine website
Easy online access to digital documents in special collections is a must for any library. Many of the resources in special collections are unique and irreplaceable. Because of their singular characteristics, their preservation, digitisation and availability online are of high priority for the library, and in many cases it is part of the strategic plan of the institution. Vendor products, as well as open source options, are available: as a commercial example, CONTENTdm® is being used at the University of Southern Mississippi Libraries, at the University of Washington, at IUPUI Libraries, and at many other places. On the other hand, Fedora is an open-source digital repository software which supports the University of Maryland Libraries Digital Collections, as well as others. Because of their richness of features, these software options were too complex to implement at the institution featured in this article: dedicated personnel is necessary in both cases, and financial support is required for the purchase and maintenance of any commercial product; neither of these requirements could be met.
In this article, we demonstrate a simple, elegant solution created in-house, with no additional monetary commitment that meets the needs of the institution.
Digital Economy Bill [HL] 2009-10
From the United Kingdom Parliament website
Summary of the Bill:
- make provision about the functions of the Office of Communications
- make provision about the online infringement of copyright, about licensing of copyright and performers’ rights and about penalties for infringement
- make provision about internet domain registries
- make provision about the functions of the Channel Four Television Corporation
- make provision about the regulation of television and radio services
- make provision about the regulation of the use of the electromagnetic spectrum
- amend the Video Recordings Act 1984
- make provision about public lending right in relation to electronic publications
From TIFF to JPEG 2000? Preservation Planning at the Bavarian State Library Using a Collection of Digitized 16th Century Printings
From the D-Lib Magazine website
Studies and user reports claim JPEG 2000 to be – or at least will become – the next archiving format for digital images. The format offers new possibilities, such as streaming, and reduces storage consumption through lossless and lossy compression. Another often claimed advantage of JPEG 2000 is that the master image can possibly serve as the access copy as well, and thus replace, derived compressed, low resolution access copies. The National Library of the Netherlands (KB-NL) evaluated the suitability of alternative file formats such as JPEG 2000 to their currently used format uncompressed TIFF.
Having the advantages of JPEG 2000 in mind, the Bavarian State Library (Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, BSB) also considered the option of migrating from TIFF to JPEG 2000 as the archive format for digitised images of rare books. BSB aims at digitising its complete collection of manuscripts and rare books, applying high standards and policies that result in considerable image sizes of the TIFF-master copies.
In order to find out whether TIFF or JPEG 2000 would be a more suitable archival master format, the BSB, together with the Vienna University of Technology, created a preservation plan for a representative collection of digitised 16th century printings. The goal of the project was to evaluate possible strategies for migration from TIFF to JPEG 2000 using lossless compression, including the alternative of keeping the status quo. The current preservation plan documents the resulting decision, taking into consideration the institution's preservation policies, legal obligations, organizational and technical constraints, requirements, and preservation goals, as well as the capabilities of the tested tools.
Knowledge as a Public Good
From the Scholarly Publishing & Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) website
One of the most durable arguments for OA is that knowledge is and ought to be a public good. What is a public good? In the technical sense used by economists, a public good is non-rivalrous and non-excludable. A good is non-rivalrous when it’s undiminished by consumption. We can all consume it without depleting it or becoming “rivals”.
Knowledge is non-rivalrous. Your knowledge of a fact or idea does not block mine, and mine does not block yours. Knowledge is also non-excludable. We can burn books, but not all knowledge is from books. We can raise the barriers to knowledge, through prices or punishments, but that only creates local exceptions for some people or some knowledge. When knowledge is available to people able to learn it, from books, nature, friends, teachers, or their own senses and experience, attempts to stop them from learning it are generally unavailing.
What Do Teens Want?
From the Publishers Weekly website
In an industry without a lot of good news to report, the one consistent bright spot has been publishing for teens. While adult trade sales are expected to fall 4% this year, juvenile and young adult sales are expected to increase 5.1%. Although it's impossible to completely break out juvenile from young adult (YA), it is possible to look at expected growth rates for different categories. In the fiction/fantasy/sci-fi segment, where most sales in the YA category fall, we expect nearly 13% growth in 2009, reaching $744 million. By 2013, sales in this segment are anticipated to hit $861 million, a 30.6% increase over 2008.
Sure, lots of the growth in the teen category can be attributed to some phenomenally successful, blood-sucking bestsellers. And there is no doubt that there is a great deal of crossover readership from adult buyers. Nevertheless, this buying bubble is being fuelled by a teen demographic about which we know very little.
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