James NulickUniversity of Arizona, Tucson

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for IRLS 584Dr. Kay Mathiesen

November 20, 2011

Open Access and Copyright Law in the age

of the Wired University:An Interview with Richard Doyle,

Director of Library Services, Coe College

• Open access: o Any user who wishes to read, utilize, or borrow a document in a

university library setting should be allowed to.• Learning does not occur in a vacuum:

o look to previous writings or texts for guidance and opposing points of view

o determine whether the concepts they are studying can be measured against the larger world around them.

• Open access in a university library holds intrinsic value for student research and learning.

• Copyright law is understood to be representative or all-encompassing of works that are both print and digital. 

• A private, four year liberal arts college located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

• A residential college that has approximately 1,300 enrolled students.

• Stewart Memorial Library houses more than 202,000 volumes, and contains gallery spaces featuring collections from renowned Iowa artists such as Marvin Cone and Grant Wood.

• The library has eleven full-time employees and over fifty student employees.

• Access to copyrighted material was highly restricted, and academic articles were either retrieved off the shelf or from primitive aggregate databases.

• Librarians and paraprofessionals understood fair use and the right of first sale within the constrictive framework of the born-print world.

• Open access in the born-print era was of lesser concern to university librarians due to the limited amount of information available to the university student.

• This is not quite the case in the digital era.

• Definition of the United States Copyright Act of 1976: • Copyright protection subsists, in accordance with this title, in

original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device. (17 U.S.C. 102).

 • Although not originally intended for works written in the born-

digital era, the statement “now known or later developed” is understood to be representative or all-encompassing of works that are both print and digital.

• Most students assume that any media, digital or otherwise, either directly accessed or downloaded from university computers or servers, is fair game for use either by themselves or within the broad framework of academic study.

• This is a fair argument because, "if it’s readily available for access, it must be available for use."

• Questions of open access probably never occur to the university student, for "the institution itself is responsible, and where it places responsibility for obtaining permission is largely an administrative manner." (Bridgewater, p. 143; see also Doyle interview, response no. 6).

• Early on, many university libraries placed questions of electronic media access into the hands of faculty.

• Currently, most university libraries are the main source for obtaining permissions clearance, thereby keeping copyright clearance confined to one entity, and building value in that entity, as a result of such efforts.

• "While the cultivation of copyright expertise within the academic departments can certainly be seen as a positive development, it is ineffective and inconsistent… the library ultimately adopted the responsibility for copyright clearance." (Bridgewater, p. 144).

• Libraries, both public and private, have been aware of copyright restrictions for at least the last thirty years, since the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976

• The concept of the Right of First Sale has been in effect since 1988. • The modern university library must work within these controlling parameters • Working within such strictures can be both stifling and hard to oversee,

especially in a setting where open access and freedom to gather information are so important. Many vendors recognize this and offer university libraries subscriptions that allow for broader access.

• Determining what constitutes “fair use” demands a working knowledge of basic copyright law.

• Using a work for educational purposes can be considered fair use.

• Using a work for commercial or financial gain is probably not considered fair use.

• University librarians who understand copyright law and open access are best equipped to utilize practical applications within the larger framework of the university environment.

• “The right of first sale is the fundamental right that permits libraries to loan copyrighted materials to others." (Rubin, p. 142).

• This includes materials that are both born-print and born-digital in nature.

• The university library pays a fee to the copyright owner for the use of items such as articles, books, or e-journals.

• Once fees have been paid, the library can loan these items to borrowers without having to pay the fee again.

• Professor Richard Doyle, Director of Library Services, Stewart Memorial Library, Coe College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa • Q: How long have you been a professional librarian? Where did you obtain

your professional training?  • A: 37 years, University of Iowa School of Library and Information Science. • Q: Do you find that students utilize the college library primarily for checking

out books and other related media, or do students tend to use the library more as a place to study? 

• A: The Stewart Memorial Library is ideally situated on the campus, presents open and inviting spaces, and, although small, offers a first class collection of materials. The building and its services are heavily used by students. No doubt, it is first a place to socialize and study, second is the use of the computers followed by use of the collection.

• Q: When using library computers to access information, are students required to log in using an ID such as a student ID number, as well as a password? 

• A: Yes. We had open computers up to three years ago, but decided to require logins with passwords after an arrest of a citizen of the city for viewing child pornography on a library computer. For individuals who do not have access to the College's network, we will log them in with a user name and password restricted only to the library.

• Q: Do college students still use interlibrary loan very often in today's academic library? 

• A: Absolutely, especially in a our small library. Our primary acquisition goal over the years is to have current content on the shelves to allow researchers to get started on their projects. We could never hope to acquire everything they would need, hence our continued emphasis on ILL.  We view ILL as an extension of our collection. We do not charge students or faculty for ILL, the library pays for all ILL charges. Our statistics show no decline in the use of ILL, even with the significant amount of full text available online. 

• Q: Approximately how many students work in the library under a work grant program throughout the academic year? 

• A: We have a policy of hiring only work grant eligible students. We usually have a work force of around 50 students each year. 

• Q: If a student is chosen to work in the college library under the umbrella of a work grant program, is the student mentored by a professional librarian or a paraprofessional on the definition and parameters of copyright law? Is the student advised how copyright law applies to digital media being checked out by students and faculty?

• A: No, our standard procedures do not include advising student workers about copyright law. 

• Q: If a student is chosen to work in the college library under the umbrella of a work grant program, is the student mentored by a professional librarian or a paraprofessional on the definition and parameters of open access? Is the student advised how open access applies to digital media being checked out by students and faculty?

• A: No, our standard procedures do not include advising student workers about open access.

• Q: Who is responsible for obtaining copyright clearance at Stewart Memorial Library? What is their professional title?

• A: Head of Circulation, as most of our requests for copyright clearance involve reserves. 

• Q: Have you personally experienced any difficulties with copyright owners who are unwilling to cooperate with you on a professional level regarding the issue of the right of first sale?

• A: No. • Q: In your professional opinion, is there a limit to how much the College is willing to

pay a copyright owner for the right of first sale? For digital media such as academic articles that are to be accessed by students and faculty, what would be considered an average "nominal fee" for the rights to a particular article?

• A: $30 

• Q: During your tenure at Stewart Memorial Library, can you ever recall a specific time when you felt a copyright law may have been accidentally or unintentionally breached? What were the consequences of the breach?

• A: Serving as many years as I have, yes the copyright law has been breached but with no consequences. 

• Q: Do you find it easier, or more difficult, to obtain copyright clearance for digital media as opposed to in-print media? 

• A: Probably the same. • Q: In many Masters of Library Science (MLS) classes today, the buzzword seems to

be "digital." In your professional opinion, is the digital realm now overshadowing the print realm? Does it appear to you that the printed book is becoming a relic of the past? Please be as honest as possible.

• A: No, I don't believe the printed book is a relic, it is still the most compact and portable method of storing content. 

• The freedom to access digital and other forms of electronic media needed for academic study is due largely in part to the work of university librarians and information practitioners.

• University librarians work with copyright owners, publishers, and entities such as the OCLC and the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) to obtain rights in a timely and expedient manner.

• Work that was previously performed by students, faculty, or library administrators has now been streamlined in most university settings.

• The university librarian is now in charge of securing the rights to use copyrighted material, contacting copyright owners, and paying the requisite fees for the use of such material.

• The need for transparency in the digital era is of the utmost importance to university libraries such as Stewart Memorial Library.

• University libraries exist in order to foster learning in an academic environment by acting as a natural extension of the university classroom. Having access to a university’s entire collection is understood to be part and parcel of that process.

• Librarians and other information professionals working in a university library interact with copyrighted materials on a daily basis, and can draw upon their professional expertise to make sound decisions regarding issues of open access, copyright infringement, and fair use.

• Most modern university libraries now provide students and faculty with both born-print and born-digital media.

Bridgewater, R. (2008). Shifting Responsibility for Electronic Reserves Copyright Permissions from the Academic Departments to the Library: From Confusion to Cooperation. Journal of Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery and Electronic Reserve, v. 18 no2 (2008) p. 141-152. 

Coe College website (http://www.public.coe.edu/departments/Library/). Cornell University Library Removes All Restrictions on Use of Public Domain Reproductions (http://news.library.cornell.edu/com/news/PressReleases/Cornell-University-Library-Removes-All-Restrictions-on-Use-of-Public-Domain-Reproductions.cfm).Ensign, D. (2008). Copyright Corner: Georgia State University and Digital Reproduction. Kentucky Libraries, v. 72 no3 (Summer 2008) p. 12-18. 

Gasaway, L.N. (Ed.). (1997). Growing Pains: adapting copyright for libraries, education and society. Littleton, Colo.: F.B. Rothman.Gould, T.H., Lipinski, T.A., Buchanan, E.A. (2005). Copyright Policies and the Deciphering of Fair Use in the Creation of Reserves at University Libraries. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, v. 31 no3, p. 182-197. Lipinski, T.A. (2003). The Climate of Distance Education in the 21st Century: Understanding and Surviving the Changes Brought by the TEACH (Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization) Act of 2002. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, v. 29 no6, p. 362-374.Preer, J. (2008). Library Ethics. Westport, Conn.: Libraries Unlimited.Rubin, R.E. (2004). Foundations of Library and Information Science. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc.