Re: [ARSCLIST] Copyright and the LOC - was "Incompetence..."

[Don Cox <doncox@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 02/11/06, Karl Miller wrote:
> On Wed, 1 Nov 2006, Steven C. Barr(x) wrote:
> 
>> This indeed makes sense to me (sadly, in some ways)...and I have
>> found that publicly-funded libraries in general tend to "err on
>> the conservative side" in relation to any copyrights applicable
>> to their holdings. In fact, I wonder if this practice comes
>> from the difficulty they might have, should the question be
>> forced, in justifying making their holdings freely (and FOR free)
>> to the portion of the public they serve!
> 
> By law, libraries are allowed to purchase and loan out materials.
> Hence, fear of having that right removed is not a concern.
> 
> In general, my 30 years of work in libraries has told me that
> librarians are conservative, and reactive by nature. I believe one
> needs to keep in mind that most librarians have rarely done any
> research other than that needed to get their library degree. The
> effect of this in the world of research libraries is a topic that has
> already been addressed in the pages of the Chronicle of Higher
> Education and is being further explored...some of you might remember a
> posting on this list asking for librarians with doctorates in subjects
> other than librarianship to respond to a survey.
> 
> In general, I believe the reactive nature of librarians is due in part
> to the nature of those who choose the profession. Libraries are
> generally a secure working environment and as they are monopolies, are
> not subject to any measurable quantification of effectiveness other
> than things vaguely identified as "Patron Satisfaction" surveys. How
> does one evaluate your University Library when you have nothing to
> compare it to?

You can compare it to other university libraries that you have
experience of.

> 
> While I don't see much hope for change, I must admit that what I have
> read from the writing of Dr. Billington, the Librarian of Congress I
> am extraordinarily impressed. His background includes a PhD, a Rhodes
> Scholar who has taught history at Harvard. This sort of background is
> not what one usually encounters in the world of libraries. He is both
> a researcher and a scholar.
> 
> I believe that the push to access will have to come from the research
> community, for, in my experience, librarians, especially those on the
> front lines of public service, are subject to administrations which,
> in general, do not have research experience or understand the needs of
> researchers. I also believe that the internet has, in general, made
> the spirit of the law, and the intent of the law, unenforceable.
> 
> This morning I got an email from a friend who sent me a website in
> Japan where I could download, for free, copyrighted Stokowski
> recordings (All American Youth Orchestra), in decent transfers.
> 
> I just hope things change before I die. There is too much I want to
> hear and study and just don't have the resources to hang out at the
> Library of Congress, or New York Public, or Stanford...
> 
> Karl
> 
Regards
-- 
Don Cox
doncox@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx