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Issues in Librarianship

Censorship | Copyright | International Librarianship | ROI (Return on Investment)

Censorship

Sources for information about intellectual freedom and censorship, especially in libraries.

Confused by copyright?  These websites explain it well.

  • A Fair(y) Use Tale (NOT a Disney movie) You Tube – “Professor Eric Faden of Bucknell University provides this humorous, yet informative, review of copyright principles delivered through the words of the very folks we can thank for nearly endless copyright terms.”
  • Bound by Law? Tales from the Public Domain Free digital versions of the graphic novel: starring filmmaker Akiko, who encounters the befuddling world of intellectual property, and must determine what fair use entails.
  • Code of Best Practices in Fair Use The Center for Media & Social Impact maintains this list of best practices documents produced by scholarly, artistic, and other communities of practice in order to help people make fair use judgments related to particular types of material. Examples include best practices for documentary film, scholarly research, use of images, and academic libraries.
  • Columbia Fair Use Checklist This checklist is a tool to help people make a fair use assessment when they are considering use of copyrighted material. It allows you to mark off features that typically count for and against fair use based on existing law and see the results as a whole. Users must make a judgement for themselves whether the analysis is in favor of fair use.
  • Copyright The American Library Association’s copyright page offers information about copyright as it pertains to libraries and beyond, and about evolving law and policy.
  • Copyright Advisory Network “A community of librarians, copyright scholars, and policy wonks.” Lots of information is presented in a wiki, Q & A forum, and blog. Interactive online tools aid in identifying whether a work is in the public domain (http://librarycopyright.net/digitalslider) and whether a particular use of copyrighted material qualifies as “fair use.” (http://librarycopyright.net/fairuse)
  • Copyright and Fair Use Hosted by the Stanford University Libraries, this site provides background and links on US copyright law and practice.
  • Copyright on Campus You Tube video, produced by the Copyright Clearance Center. “Join Jane, the campus librarian, as she provides a fun and informative overview of U.S. copyright law and its impact on colleges and universities.”
  • Fair Use Evaluator This Interactive online tool helps you decide whether a particular use of copyrighted material qualifies as “fair use.”
  • Intellectual Property “Patents, copyright and trademarks, oh my!” A resource guide prepared by the reference staff of UIUC’s Law Library.
  • Is It Protected by Copyright? A suite of interactive digital copyright tools.
  • Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900) Eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer. A full text and image database of historical sources on copyright in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and the United States.

International Librarianship

These sources will help you explore librarianship around the world.

ROI (Return on Investment)

Find sources that document the economic value of libraries.