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Canada’s Copyright Consultations Close on September 13

The government of Canada is holding copyright consultations with the public until September 13. I am pleased to see that the official government website allows for comments and some social functionality; you can view the most read comments and the most recent comments easily. The topics covered by the consultation – Copyright and You, Test of Time, Innovation and Creativity, Competition and Investment, and Digital Economy – bear some similarities to the CRTC’s spring eConsultation on ISP practices. Looking through some of the comments, I was pleased to see people comment in favour of expanded fair dealing (that’s the approximate Canadian equivalent to the U.S. concept of “fair use”) and protection for the public domain. I would also compliment the designers of the commenting system – there are moderators for each area and background documents to help citizens get up to speed. You can also attend townhall style meetings to comment on this issue in person and read transcripts of the nine sessions already held.

Librarians, information professionals and anyone with a stake in the digital economy should pay attention to copyright issues. As the economy shifts more and more toward services and intellectual production, copyright becomes a central issue. It wasn’t always this way. I recall a lecture that Michael Geist gave where he remarked that copyright was regarded as something of an esoteric aspect of commercial law in the 1980s; that is certainly no longer the case. Copyright is a balancing act that needs to take account of the needs of creators to obtain compensation and users to access those materials. Arguably, recent changes in copyright law (especially in the United States) have tilted the balance too heavily toward content owners and creators.

Many Canadian librarians and associations have been active in speaking out during these copyright consultations. The Canadian Library Association’s Copyright Working Group has argued for stronger fair dealing, critiqued digital locks, and that a “notice and notice” regime for ISPs should be adopted (rather the the “notice and takedown” procedure used in the US). The Ontario Library Association has also produced a guide to help librarians understand what the implications of copyright reform to their professional duties. Karen Adams, speaking on behalf of the Canadian Association of Research Libraries, spoke at the Winnipeg round table and public hearing back in August. Of course, there are many more contributors out there; this is simply a sampling.

What did I learn in doing research? I knew that there was a proposal to adopt protection for digital locks (digital locks prevent one from accessing content on media such as DVDs and making a backup copy, for example). Making it illegal to circumvent digital locks would have harm the ability of disabled persons to access materials. Copyright reform affects everybody, so take a few moments and learn about the issues. Then, if you are so moved, communicate your views to your Member of Parliament or comment through the online consultation system.

How to keep your skills sharp

Whether you are a new graduate like myself or a more experienced professional, pursuing professional development opportunties is one of a great career move. Improving our skills increases our human capital (here’s a recent definition I came across: “any form of wealth  capable of being employed in the production of more wealth”) which improves our job security or ability to locate employment. Here are some of the strategies that I am using to develop professionally. I have also found that professional development is a great way to keep my spirits up when in transition between positions. It definately beats whining or watching old DVDs again! If cost is an issue, remember that many types of professional development are eligible for tax credits (this is true in Canada at least; for advice, ask your accountant).

Taking short courses through organizations like SLA, the Professional Learning Centre, or Simmons GSLIS has many benefits. These organizations tend to be recognized by your peers and superiors which can make it easier to get time off work to attend or funding. Since these courses are tailored to meet the needs of professionals in our field, it is also a great place to meet new people and learn about the sheer variety of options that people work in. I’ve met people who work in the federal government, hotels, public libraries, universities, law firms and TV. This week, I am taking two courses through the PLC: Web Analytics and Information Management Fundamentals – both should be great. I have taken a course with SLA earlier this year and found it to be worthwhile. The Simmons program is new to me (heard about it through Twitter last night) but it looks good as well.

Taking technology courses either self-designed or through a local college presents the chance to develop broader skills. Does your public library subscribe to Safari Books Online (mine does!)? If so, you are well on your way to learning about everything from blogging to MySQL. Though some reference works offered are not very useful to a novice, there are plenty of books (even video books that walk you through all the steps) that provide instruction. While I am learning from some books, I want to balance this by taking a course through one of my local colleges that offers technology courses like George Brown College. In doing an unscientific comparison between the costs of the courses referred to in the last paragraph and the ones referred to here, it does look like these courses are cheaper. Beyond technology, I would also suggest learning some more business skills (e.g. marketing, sales, finance) and take on a second language. I’ve studied French and German myself – few things in life stretch me than learning to communicate in new languages.

Finally, share what you learn with others. When I worked as a graduate teaching assistant at the University of Western Ontario, I found the discipline of communicating, motivating and engaging with undergraduate history students to be rewarding. If you have difficulty explaining how to do something to somebody else, then that’s a sign you need to study further. Sharing can take different forms. Two good options are blogging about what you learn and simply informally discussing with your colleagues in the workplace.

Forecasting the future of academic librarianship

John Dupuis, science librarian at York University, is working his long running blog series “My Job in 10 Years” into a book. Dupuis has been working on this series since 2005 where he started to reflect on trends in collections. The series reflects on changes in publishing, the physical space of the library and advocating for the role of libraries in the university context. As we approach 2020, Dupuis argues that print books will still be produced but journals will change by moving from the concept of issues to simply publishing individual articles. There are many good points to the articles and blog posts that John has written over the past several years. The collections collection is an important one – as the free Web gets better and better, how and what should be bought? If the academic publishing industry goes the same way as newspapers, then few publications will be available for purchase at any rate.

While we all wait for the book, you can read an article version of the idea from York University’s repository.

Book Review: The Library PR Handbook: high-impact communications edited by Mark R. Gould

Disclosure: I received a free copy of the book to review directly from the publisher, ALA Editions.

This small book, just over one hundred pages, covers a variety of public relations and marketing concepts that apply to public libraries. The fourteen chapters can be divided into two categories; practical ideas and high level strategies. I will review these two broad themes and then offer some general observations. While I found the book useful, I would say that it is would not be appropriate as an introduction. If you are looking for a more systematic introduction to library marketing and PR, I would refer you to The Accidental Library Marketer by Kathy Dempsey (here is my review of it). That said, the ideas presented here are quite creative and would make for good discussion.

Several chapters of the book offer high level strategies that instruct the reader on how to understand audiences and connect with their needs. The two articles informed by the Metropolitan Group – “Building a Community: Empowering People as Messengers” and “Building Public Will for Libraries” – articulate the big picture of marketing public libraries particularly well. These articles walk you through the steps of connecting what libraries to values that people already have. The authors point out: “Public will building acknowledges that trying to change or teach new values is extremely difficult and often threatening.” (25) The chapter on messengers describes how to recruit others who value the library to articulate that to decision makers. Acting with allies is particularly important in circumstances where ethics codes and restraints on public servants bar them from getting involved in politics or campaigning. For libraries that serve ethnically diverse populations, the opening chapter “Increasing Relevance, Relationships, and Results: Principles and Practices for Effective Multicultural Communication,” will be invaluable. The greatest strength of that chapter is that each point is reinforced by both a library and non-library case study to show the reader how it was all done.

Read the rest of this entry »

A September Friday Five

1. Sound archive of the British Library goes online, free of charge: Guardian (Hat Tip: Guy Kawasaki )

I  have often been impressed with the work of the British Library and this latest move only strengthens that opinion. In its latest move, the Library has made available close to 30,000 audio recordings of all sorts of things. If you visit the Archival Sounds Recordings section of the BL, you will find a wealth of interesting materials. However, this is no mere collection of recordings. The many different accents of the England (Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland aren’t there yet) are often a delight for visitors and you can hear samples of all UK accents and dialects here by browsing simply browsing a map. Here’s an example of a Manchester resident talking about pigeon racing. You can also enjoy World War 1 war songs like, “If the sergeant drinks your rum, never mind” sung by a war veteran Roy Palmer. Alas, the British Library has followed the lead of BBC and locked up some of the content to UK IP addresses only. Still, there is a lot there to enjoy for Anglophiles, audiophiles and others.

2. Emerging Trends in New Zealand Special Libraries (PDF) (April 2009) Hat tip to Stephen Abram

It is always interesting to see detailed research on the state of the profession, in this case in New Zealand. Based on research with 786.45 full time equivalent library staff in 292 special libraries, the report has a wealth of detail. The main areas for growth has been government and health organizations as industry and manufacturing have suffered in New Zealand as head offices go eslewhere. The literature review section of the report was of great interest to me as it surveys trends around the world including Canada, Australia, Germany, the United States and other countries.

The report offers numerous recommendations including skills to acquire: business skills, such as project planning, budgeting and preparing a business case were needed. IT training is essential for working in new areas of opportunity such as records management software systems.

3. The Open Book Alliance vs. Google Books

The Open Book Alliance is a big tent organization (ALA, SLA, ARL, Amazon, Microsoft, the Internet Archive and Yahoo! are all members) that seeks to change the Google Books arrangement reached last year. My general sympathy lies with the OBA which has raised quite a few questions about Google Books including privacy and economic/access issues. The controversy over the Google Books court settlement is something I need to investigate further.

4. The Humble Index

Dorothea Salo offers a defence of the indexing arts and why they are more valuable than fully automated search engines. Salo argues that search engines do not produce indexes, but rather concordances – a subtle but important distinction. In essence, an index is an selective construction of a book’s ideas whereas a concordance is rather more like a glorified list. One of the greatest virtues of indexes is that they can cover concepts, rather than merely words. Some particularly well constructed concepts can even provide a guide to a book’s ideas. I do hope that indexes will continue to be produced.

5. The Future of Libraries, with or without books: CNN

Appearing in the technology section of CNN, this article reminds of the keynote address at this year’s CLA conference – print materials will stay important with ever declining importance. Librarians understand that and are not threatened by it. CNN is right on the money in understanding the mission of many libraries: To be a free place where people can access and share information. Free is a bit misleading as that best applies to public libraries and then not really. I am fond of saying that libraries are free like health care (i.e. you can walk in and get services but those services are paid for by taxes). The remark about libraries opposing Google Books is also a bit confused (some libraries fully cooperate with Google, while others have concerns about quality etc). Still, I found it a thoughtful look at the current and future state of U.S. libraries.

Job seekers continue to flock to libraries: USA Today

Yesterday, USA Today reported on how American libraries are helping people get through the recession. Two points in particular struck me as noteworthy from this article. I have seen a number of articles about this trend, but this one offered some particularly interesting observations that I wanted to write about it. It is worth reading the article as well to read about the nurse who found a job through the library – libraries and librarians made a difference for that person.

“Libraries are really the first responder in this economic crisis, and particularly for job seekers,” says Larra Clark, who managed the study due for release Sept. 15.” [the ALA is conducting a study into libraries and the recession]. One could argue that unemployment benefits are the ‘first’ responder, but libraries are more flexible and have more to offer. While benefits can help with bills now, libraries are helping people to find work which is more important in the long term. Beyond Internet access, libraries are also offering classes to help people get ready for their job search.

Despite this critical role in assisting people in economic difficulties, libraries have suffered as well. Larra Clark points out that 22 states have cut funding for libraries though demand for services has only increased. I suspect this may be due to the fact that many city budgets have taken a hit and some of these cuts have been passed along to libraries. This is short sighted given the role libraries play in helping people climb out of the recession. I wonder if the study will compare states that have retained or expanded library funding with those that have seen cuts. I look forward to this study coming out later this month.