Updates from November, 2011 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

  • Anne Behler 1:54 pm on November 22, 2011 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Gladwell,   

    Noteworthy News for the Lector Group 

    So Bank of America hired Malcolm Gladwell….

     

    Thoughts?

     
  • Anne Behler 10:40 am on November 21, 2011 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:   

    A word on copyright… 

     

    I had the great fortune to attend a talk by Dan Cahoy, Associate Professor of Business Law at Smeal, last week. It was a great talk – Cahoy somehow made the dry subjects of copyright, plagiarism, and fair use engaging and, dare I say, fun?!

    This lecture came at a very useful time for me. Just a week prior, I was in the thick of instruction for several classes on how to approach multimedia projects. At the heart of these classes is always a discussion of copyright, fair use, and creative commons, topics that I always attempt to do justice and later often feel that I’ve left several students’ heads spinning. Points I stressed were these:

    1. Multimedia projects can and should display the same scholarly characteristics and follow the same research process as traditional research papers do.
    2. You do not need to file with the copyright office to have copyright on something. If you create it, you have rights over it. (several of the students I met with did not believe me on this one) This, of course, limits our ability to cut/paste any old object or artifact into our own projects without first following due process.
    3. Citation is extremely important. It does not prevent you from plagiarizing (you still cannot take an entire work of someone else’s and hand it in), however it does enable you to use portions of others’ works within your own. See points #2-4 below for a clearer version of this.
    4. Fair Use is something that generally protects us in the educational setting, but what you’re using must meet the four factors test (purpose/character; nature; amount; effect on market for original). See point #4 below
    5. Creative Commons licensed materials offer more flexibility in how you use them.

    At first glance, many of you might be thinking, “Well done, Biblio-tech!”  No doubt, the above made the instructors for whom I taught extremely happy – they were much less comfortable than I approaching these topics – and I was mostly correct in what I said.

    However, there are a few points that Professor Cahoy made in his presentation that really helped me to crystallize what is important when it comes to copyright and class projects. I will do my best to articulate them here for you**:

    1. Copyright applies to all original expressions. That is, any idea that is expressed in any lasting form (photograph, video, drawing, written words, music, etc.) is copyrighted to the creator. (Hey, I was right about that!!)
    2. Copyright violation and plagiarism are NOT the same, nor are they governed by the same law.
    3. With #2 in mind, citation of quoted works, used clips, etc., is not enough to prevent someone other than the creator from violating copyright. (it may, however, avoid plagiarism)
    4. Before using any copyrighted work in your own creative works, use the four factors test – if your use fails any of the four factors, you are NOT protected. As a reminder, the four factors are:
    • purpose/character of use (Educational/Research? Parody? for News Reporting?)
    • nature of the copyrighted work (published or unpublished? factual/nonfiction or creative?)
    • amount used (how much of the work are you relying on to create your own work?)
    • effect on the market (are you potentially depriving the content creator of revenue?)

    5. Use only what you need. (This piece was critical to my understanding of copyright and fair use.)  It is important that  any media you are using in your project actually contribute to its meaning, including the music in the background. If all you need is a nice track to accompany your images, definitely go for something that’s licensed for that type of use as opposed to, say, Gaga’s latest hit. Unless you want to draw legal attention to your newly created Gaga video, from which anyone (with the right software) can strip the perfectly good music track. On the other hand, if you’re doing a project on the way the concept of beauty is created in the media, “Born this Way” might make the perfect backdrop, as long as you’re meeting all other of the four factors for fair use.

    And there you have it. A clearer (I hope) idea of the best practices when it comes to media creation in any environment.

    Thanks, Professor Cahoy!

     

    *I am not a lawyer nor am I attempting to be one. This blog post presents my own interpretation and understanding of the information presented and does not in any way act as legal advice.

     

     
  • Anne Behler 2:09 pm on November 10, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

    WE ARE…Researching! 

    Hey Everyone!  Here’s the powerpoint from today’s class, complete with links to the resources. Please let me know if you have any questions!

     
  • Anne Behler 11:53 am on November 3, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

    A Day in the Life 

    So what exactly does a “biblio-tech” do every day? I was honored to be profiled recently in a Penn State Live photo journal story that answers that very question. I’ll tell you one thing – the answer to the question is a far cry from shushing people and shelving books!

    Anything that surprises you?

     
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