Competency C
Recognize the social, cultural and economic dimensions of information use
As information workers and librarians our main goal is to serve our patrons, customers, community and society to the best of our abilities while weighing the different complexities that involves. Information use and access at a library consists of many things and librarians and information institutions must provide a balance of providing the information that their patrons request and abiding by copyright and other limitations.
As everyday citizens in an increasingly digitized world we must be aware of where we lie in the information landscape. As librarians in particular we must be comfortable with informing our patrons and clients in the rights that they have and materials they may utilize. The concept of intellectual property and rights are essential for understanding how information can be used in social, cultural and economic manners. The mission of libraries is to follow these regulations and provide the public with free fair-use access to a multitude of different services.
As librarians we must consider many different ideas when assisting the community in finding and accessing information. Many libraries grapple with community needs and face placing distinctions on censorship. Some communities believe that Internet access should be censored when given at public institutions. Others believe specific books need to be censored as well. While librarians are against censorship in many of its forms librarians must work within the community and serve to the best ability preserving the fine line between cultural mores and social and cultural access. Another type of controversy is defending the privacy of patrons from increasingly invasive governmental legislation such as the PATRIOT act.
Another consideration is intellectual property rights. As librarians we must be able to inform our patrons about the different options they have in publishing material as well as the rights afforded to them based on that material. For instance most items are under copyright and librarians inform patrons that there is an amount of fair use that is possible such as photocopying from a book a section for educational or other protected reasons. Commercial reasons are expressly forbidden and requests must go through a copyright clearance center so that the rights holders are fairly compensated for their work. Some items are in the public domain and there are no limitations set on the public for interacting with this type of media. Anyone may take a work that is in the public domain and alter or sell it for any purpose. Librarians must inform patrons and clients the benefits of other rights protection schemes known as copyleft. While the subject is complex, knowledge of the many different potential avenues for providing content to be used with the authors consent for publishing, manipulation, and profit exist such as creative commons.
With the advent of Internet culture there has been great emphasis placed on remix culture. With remix culture comprehending how one might create new works from others is one important task for librarians. However, the digital divide is a constant problem and will continue to be a problem as the divide between the rich and poor widens in the United States. Currently the conception of the widely digital future is moving towards a mobile handset computer dominated world. The current digital outlook appears to be moving from the current model of expensive desktops with content creation platforms to a mobile framework that is more tightly controlled and with fewer features for content creation. As librarians it is our duty to navigate these difficult issues and make it clear for our patrons what forms are best to create their work and inform them of the rights they have. As librarians we should be working to enable our patrons in creating new forms of content in a legal manner. As librarians we must push for copyright reform and better understanding within the populace in how copyright is beneficial to creators but limiting to those seeking to improve on a work. New technologies are being created constantly and librarians must evaluate how they can serve their communities while staying up to date but not forfeiting rights. One example is the development of e-book readers and the different types of digital rights management that those devices prescribe on books. Some libraries are experimenting with providing these to patrons with varying success. Libraries must consider with trepidation that while providing new technologies may conflict with fundamental concerns for the right of the first-sale doctrine. Due to specific legal language written into the terms of use readers are merely renting a license for the book.
Librarians must choose what materials their libraries will hold, which databases and research journals to subscribe to and respond to the communities’ needs and consider the financial implications for providing material. While librarians want their community to have the best that the world offers there are financial limits. One area in particular is the advancing costs of subscriptions to different journal databases. In one way the academic world is adjusting to the increasing costs of journal subscriptions by advocating open access initiatives. OAI involves creating repositories for journals that would normally be difficult for the public to access or require expensive subscriptions.
I believe that as librarians we are extremely sensitive to the host of concerns that will affect the public. I have consistently worked within my classes and assignments to advance positions that will benefit libraries and the general populace. Librarians would benefit from adopting many of the aspects of open source movements and in classes such as LIBR-285-05 The Open Movement and Libraries I have written on a variety of topics in which libraries could adopt the energy and results of open movements like open access, open education, and better understanding of different licensing schemes. Librarians are in an excellent position to reach a broad audience of people that would not normally consider these ideas and help them transition to a complex digital world. Another task is informing other librarians and one excellent resource is the Harvard Berkman Center for Internet and Society’s wiki on copyright for global librarians.
As information workers in today’s society we must be knowledgable to some degree of these concepts. I have been successful in implementing them in my personal and professional life. I realize that there are limitations on what I can do with content that is not mine legally. With every action we must consider how within a library or any other type of organization how actions affect different market segmentations that we serve. Legislation, copyright, financial limitations, and other items affect us everyone. We must strive to maintain the balance with providing as much access as possible, crediting creators for their work, encouraging creativity, and lowering the barriers of cost of consumption and creation of new works.