136 · Representative Documents: Collection/Selection Policies
UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA
Selection Policies and Procedures
http://www.lib.ua.edu/wiki/digcoll/index.php/Selection_Policies_and_Procedures
Selection Policies and Procedures -UA Libraries Digital Services Planning and Documentation
http://www.lib.ua.edu/wiki/digcoll/index.php/Selection_Policies_and_Procedures[8/7/13 7:00:28 PM]
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Selection Policies and Procedures
Our primary purpose is to serve the needs of the University of Alabama faculty. Secondarily, we seek to
serve the needs of the UA students, and thirdly, we seek to serve the community at large.
In order to sustain our progress, we must also seek funding, and digitize material which will facilitate in
obtaining the support needed to deliver content and services to our target audiences.
Selection Factors
Copyright Status
The first question that must be addressed when a collection or portion of a collection is considered for
digitization is: what is the copyright status of the materials? In a large collection, the copyright status
might vary from item to item. This may require that different parts of a collection are more accessible
than others. Most material considered for digitization and access on the open Web falls into one of the
following three categories:
1. Public domain: works that never were, or are no longer covered by copyright. Works in the public
domain may be used without permission. What's in the public domain?
1. All works published before January 1, 1923.
2. Works published between 1923 and 1964 and not renewed in the 28th year.
3. Works published without copyright notice before 1989.
4. Unpublished works whose author died before 1932 otherwise, the term is life plus 70
years.
2. Works for which the copyright is held by The University of Alabama
3. Works for which we have secured permission to digitize
We may also digitize works for which the copyright status is unknown and which would require research
to determine their copyright status. This category also includes Orphan Works, which are works for
which the copyright holder has gone out of business (in the case of publishers) or cannot be located.
For works in this category, we may choose to provide limited access under the doctrine of Fair Use.
It may also be possible to provide access to digital surrogates for copyright-protected materials, using
Fair Use or other provisions in the law. In addition to Fair Use, the Copyright Law provides specific
exemptions established for archives and libraries. These provisions in the Copyright Law allow libraries
to provide access to copyright protected materials without permission under certain conditions.
Even though the owner may have donated the physical item, the right to digitize the object (see the
Digital_Services_Permission_Agreement) and make it freely available on the web (see our
Copyright_Guidelines) are separate issues, and the owner of the current physical item may not own the
copyright. Much content must be turned aside because we are unable to obtain legal permission to
digitize and provide open access.
Significance of the Collection
The significance of the collection is the next consideration. Significance depends on a number of
indicators, but it is always the subjective judgment of a librarian, archivist, curator, or faculty member.
The following questions may be used to establish the significance of a collection:
1. Will experts attest to the importance of the collection?
2. How does it fit into current or potential research activities?
3. How is the collection currently being used? How might digitization increase use of the
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