support for faculty-curated course management systems such as Moodle and Blackboard. Interviewees described a wide range of strategies for mitigating fair use concerns around these practices, but three dominant strategies emerged: limiting the quantity of content that could be made available electronically (e.g., by following rigid quantitative guidelines such as “no more than 10% or one chapter”) limiting student access to electronic resources (e.g., by requiring a password for access to electronic materials, or limiting access to course materials to students currently enrolled in that course) and shifting to others the responsibility for selection and placement of materials in electronic format (e.g., by deferring to faculty choices or simply allowing information technology departments to operate these resources without library input). While many interviewees believed some combination of these strategies would help them employ fair use in good faith and avoid unwanted attention from rightsholders, some lacked a clear rationale for exactly how and why these strategies were employed at their institution. Consequently, these interviewees lacked clear answers for faculty and students who questioned their policies, and they were unable to make the case for progressive reforms that many faculty and students thought were needed. Questions about e-reserves and course management systems were sharpened where video was involved. High-profile controversies over video streaming had put the subject at the top of many interviewees’ minds this summer. Some felt confident that they had chosen a reasonable policy that supported library mission, but others were concerned that they might place their institutions at risk if they provided access to video materials that was on par with textual materials. As a result, some interviewees applied a double standard to video or avoided electronic access to video altogether. Also, some interviewees gave privileged status to video vendors, worrying that small, specialty filmmakers would suffer if libraries used fair use rather than paying for new licenses to use material already in library collections. These interviewees felt a duty to support some vendors, and weighed the possible economic losses of these vendors more heavily than those of other rightsholders. RLI 273 19 Challenges in Employing Fair Use in Academic and Research Libraries ( C O N T I N U E D ) DECEMBER 2010 RESEARCH LIBRARY ISSUES: A BIMONTHLY REPORT FROM ARL, CNI, AND SPARC
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