Re: E-Reserves question

[ESperr@xxxxxxx]

Sandy --

I wonder then if you could comment on the difference between the AAUP 
circa 1996, which seemed to recognize the importance of Fair Use to the 
system of scholarly communication, and the AAUP circa 2011, which (along 
with the plaintiffs in the GSU case) seems to take a breathtakingly 
maximalist position. It is *very* hard to reconcile the proposed CONFU 
guidelines of then with the proposed injunction that the publishers are 
seeking against GSU right now.

I agree with Kevin that guidelines like this aren't the be-all-end-all, 
but at the end of the day I need something more concrete to tell my 
faculty than "it depends". On campus, we do try to communicate the notion 
that our policy is a "floor and not a ceiling". Coloring inside the lines 
should always be safe, but there *may* also be uses outside our policy 
that are okay as well.

Going forward, I am very much looking forward to the new Fair use guide 
coming from the ARL 
(http://chronicle.com/article/Pushing-Back-Against-Legal/127690/)....
 

Ed Sperr, M.L.I.S.
Copyright and Electronic Resources Officer
St. George's University
esperr@xxxxxxx



Sandy Thatcher <sandy.thatcher@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> 
09/02/2011 12:41 PM

To
ESperr@xxxxxxx, digital-copyright@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
cc

Subject
Re: E-Reserves question






Interesting that you should mention CONFU's e-reserve guidelines. 
Yours is not the only library whose policy has been influenced by 
them. In fact, in a survey I helped conduct some ten years ago, it 
became clear that the CONFU standard, though never officially 
endorsed by CONFU itself, has become a de facto standard throughout 
the country.

The CONFU guidelines were drafted by Kenny Crews (who was an expert 
witness in the GSU case). I was the primary representative for the 
AAUP in negotiating language that would allow the AAUP to endorse the 
guidelines, and the language of point 4 you quote was something that 
I recommended as key to making it possible for the AAUP to support 
the guidelines. The guidelines were endorsed not only by the AAUP but 
by a number of other groups including the ACLS and several smaller 
library associations, but not the ARL or ALA. They, like the AAP, 
felt they could succeed in lobbying Congress to pass legislation more 
favorable to their interests. That, of course, did not happen. A 
major opportunity was lost, in my opinion, but I was pleased that 
many libraries endorsed the guidelines in de facto fashion anyway.

Sandy Thatcher



At 11:43 AM -0400 9/2/11, ESperr@xxxxxxx wrote:
>Perhaps the CONFU "Fair use guidelines for electronic reserves systems"
>(http://copyright.lib.utexas.edu/rsrvguid.html) might be of some 
assistance? I
>certainly hope so, as our own campus policy has been informed by them. 
All the
>caveats noted for CONTU, etc. about this not being "the law" still apply 
of
>course.
>
>Under "scope", we see point 3: "Electronic reserve systems should
>not include any material unless the instructor, the library, or another 
unit
>of the educational institution possesses a lawfully obtained copy." This 
would
>seem to indicate that ILL is a-ok.
>
>However, I *might* be a little worried about point 4: "The total amount 
of
>material included in electronic reserve systems for a specific course as 
a
>matter of fair use should be a small proportion of the total assigned 
reading
>for a particular course." Depending on the total reading assigned, eleven
>articles seems to shade close to coursepack territory -- a place where 
factor
>four might loom larger...
>
>
>    >Faculty member wants to put 11 articles obtained from ILL on 
E-Reserves.
>    >What are your thoughts on this?  Fair use or not?
>    >--
>    >David A. Scott
>    >Access Services Librarian
>    >Ferris Library for Information Technology&  Education
>
>
>Ed Sperr, M.L.I.S.
>Copyright and Electronic Resources Officer
>St. George's University
>esperr@xxxxxxx
>
>______________________________________________________________________
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-- 
Sanford G. Thatcher
8201 Edgewater Drive
Frisco, TX  75034-5514
e-mail: sandy.thatcher@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Phone: (214) 705-1939
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"If a book is worth reading, it is worth buying."-John Ruskin (1865)

"The reason why so few good books are written is that so few people 
who can write know anything."-Walter Bagehot (1853)


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