Category Archives: open access

Chances to stop and think about the future of library catalogs

Posted on January 14, 2009 by John Mark Ockerbloom

OCLC yesterday announced that it is putting its new catalog record usage policy on hold while its Members Council convenes a group to review the proposed policy and suggest changes.  I’m very happy to hear this, as the policy was … Continue reading →

Posted in libraries, metadata, open access, sharing | Comments Off on Chances to stop and think about the future of library catalogs

Public Domain Day 2009: Freeing the libraries

Posted on January 1, 2009 by John Mark Ockerbloom

In many countries, January 1 isn’t just the start of a new year: it’s the time when a new year’s worth of works are welcomed into the public domain.  As I noted in last year’s Public Domain Day post, countries … Continue reading →

Posted in copyright, discovery, open access | 3 Comments

Drawing a line in the sand, Part 3: How to respond?

Posted on November 24, 2008 by John Mark Ockerbloom

In my previous two posts, I discussed how open library metadata is becoming increasingly important for the future of library content, and how OCLC’s new catalog policy works against it. By asserting proprietary rights over the records in WorldCat, OCLC … Continue reading →

Posted in copyright, discovery, libraries, metadata, open access, sharing | 4 Comments

Drawing a line in the sand, Part 2: Problems with OCLC’s catalog policy

Posted on November 21, 2008 by John Mark Ockerbloom

As I mentioned in my last post, OCLC’s new policy for the use of catalog records from WorldCat (a policy now in at least its third revision) has generated substantial controversy, particularly among library bloggers. The controversy focuses on statements … Continue reading →

Posted in copyright, discovery, libraries, metadata, open access, sharing | 3 Comments

Drawing a line in the sand, Part 1: The importance of open library metadata

Posted on November 19, 2008 by John Mark Ockerbloom

(First of a series of 3 posts.  See also Part 2: Problems with OCLC’s catalog policy, and Part 3: How to respond?) A new bibliographic record distribution policy from OCLC threatens to split the library community from the increasingly large … Continue reading →

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Acknowledging the public domain

Posted on April 30, 2008 by John Mark Ockerbloom

Many online publishers, particularly those that have been around for a while, now have large quantities of material that is in the public domain. The reasons vary: Some material was produced by US government agencies, such as NASA. Some material … Continue reading →

Posted in copyright, open access, sharing | 1 Comment

Coursepack sharing: An idea whose time has come?

Posted on April 16, 2008 by John Mark Ockerbloom

For years, there’s been an uneasy truce between publishers and universities about the inclusion of copyrighted materials in universities’ online course web sites and “courseware” systems. Publishers and universities have been arguing for years over when posting such materials for … Continue reading →

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We call dibs! (or, the genius of the Harvard mandate)

Posted on February 22, 2008 by John Mark Ockerbloom

The Harvard Arts and Sciences faculty recently approved a resolution giving the University permission to make their scholarly articles available to the world at no charge. Here’s the official press release from Harvard, and here’s the text of the resolution, … Continue reading →

Posted in copyright, open access, publishing, sharing | 2 Comments

Improving the millions

Posted on February 20, 2008 by John Mark Ockerbloom

Michigan’s announcement earlier this month that they had over one million volumes from their collection digitized was widely hailed online. That million books includes both copyrighted and public domain content. According to Michigan’s John Wilkin, who I talked with shortly … Continue reading →

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Close readers

Posted on January 28, 2008 by John Mark Ockerbloom

There’s been a lot of public fretting lately over the state of reading. People don’t read as much as they once did, we’re told. When it’s pointed out that in fact lots of people are reading online, we’re sometimes told … Continue reading →

Posted in open access, reading, sharing | Comments Off on Close readers