Google Books is Fair Use?

For your pleasure, here is an article about how Google Books has come out and declared their search function of scanned books is wholly within the realm of fair use.  The search function is just another step in the direction of a better library catalog, which I really agree with.  As library catalogs nowadays stand, they are not equal in their search function.  It is so hard to find exactly the book you are looking for because of when and who designed your library's catalog.  Google's search function will even the playing field, especially if it could be teamed up with something akin to Worldcat or even . . . dun dun dun . . . the DPLA.

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/copyright/article/53341-google-says-book-search-is-fair-use.html

The DPLA's Digital Stacks

To the minds behind the Digital Public Library of America, the future spectrum of DPLA users is key to defining the content and scope of the project.  Some involved in the development process have suggested users be viewed as either public or academic.  The majority, however, including Robert Darton, the director of Harvard University’s library system and a member of the Steering Committee, “imagine an enormously varied public” ranging from those in community college to people in retirement homes with a vast variety of information needs.  Meeting the needs of such a diverse group of users poses some distinct challenges.

The Digital Collection
Creating a collection with something for everyone will not be easy. Initially the collection will consist of over two million public domain documents.  DPLA board members also hope to include film, government documents, local history, manuscripts, music, newspapers, pamphlets, periodicals, video, webpages and blogs in the collection. However, in order not to infringe on bookstores and public library’s business, the collection will have a “moving wall” that prevents media that has been published within the last five to ten years from being included in the collection.

Accessibility
So as to be accessible to all, the content will be non-commercial ie. free to users, and will be available to anyone with Internet access.  The question still remains whether DPLA will act as a portal, directing users to the libraries that have the information they request, or if it will actually store the digital media within its own site.  Board members are leaning toward using DPLA as a portal, which would encourage smaller public libraries to create the best access and search tools for their user.

Board members hope to include orphan works, out of print writings, and copyrighted material in DPLA’s content.  In order to include these, there are many copyright and licensing issues with which to be dealt. 

Co-authored by Katie and Lisa

Sources

http://vvvclibrary.blogspot.com/2009/07/free-online-journals-for-all.html
http://dp.la/wiki/March_1_Workshop_Notes#A_DPLA_has_multiple_uses.2C_not_distinct_users
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2011/07/24/a_bookshelf_the_size_of_the_world/?page=full
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/apr/05/american-digital-public-library-promise
http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/05/nonprofit-digital-public-library-of-america-to-launch-in-april-2013/
http://www.teleread.com/copy-right/digital-public-library-of-america-faces-uncertainty-over-functions-copyright/
http://www.publicknowledge.org/blog/digital-public-library-america-how-would-you-

Photo Credit

http://vvvclibrary.blogspot.com/2009/07/free-online-journals-for-all.html

http://vvvclibrary.blogspot.com

So, how are we paying for this?

For a project as vast and ambitious as the Digital Public Library, a workable business model and funding plan is critical, in order to be sustainable in the long-term.

At this point in time, the DPLA is not developed enough in forming its identity, objectives, and scope. These aspects must be established in order to be able to put together a concrete budget or business plan; see the notes from a Business Workshop in March 2012. 

What we DO know:

• So far, the DPLA has received at least $16 million since 2008, in the form of grants, donations from foundations, and other private sources. Some of the foundations include the Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Soros Foundation.
• One of the current goals is to have a Board of Directors by September 2012, followed shortly thereafter by the creation of the DPLA as an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. At that point, the DPLA intents to set an initial budget, among other various goals.
• The DPLA expects and somewhat prefers to receive financial support from private funding sources, at least initially, as the DPLA will be entirely independent of the U.S. Government. However, the IMLS (Institute of Museum and Library Services) has also made grants to projects connected to the DPLA, and the DPLA suggests that when it is more established it might be in the interest of Congress to support "this public good."

Sources and For Further Reading:

http://dp.la/wiki/Financial/Business_Models
http://dp.la/workstreams/finance/
http://dp.la/files/2012/07/SCNominatingCommitteeCallNotes_7-23-12.pdf
http://www.technologyreview.com/featured-story/427628/the-library-of-utopia/
http://www.pro.europeana.eu/web/guest/about/funders-sponsors

Legal and Licensing

This image is a stock photo. Don't sue me.

Copyright presents one of the most significant roadblocks in making the DPLA a reality. The issues are numerous and complicated, particularly in light of the ongoing litigation with Google Books. Because the project is still in the early phases of planning, the specific details of legal/licensing model are still in discussion. DPLA has expressed a commitment to a model that is compliant with copyright law--however, even a transparent and legal approach to a digital public repository brings up a lot of issues and questions:

• Orphan works--does fair use allow for the digitization of books for the purposes of preservation?
• Doctrine of first sale--how does this apply (if at all) to digital formats?
• Third party permissions--some parts of books (for example, photographs or maps) are restricted by third party permissions. Can that material be used under the terms of the original license, or would a different agreement need to be crafted?
• Metadata--would the DPLA be able to use proprietary metadata (e.g. MARC records)?

Initially, the DPLA will be focusing exclusively on material that is available in the public domain--it is unclear whether or not newer materials will be purchased or if such a model is even possible. The potential problem with building a collection that exists entirely within the public domain is that DPLA will need to distinguish itself from other public digital repositories (such as Project Gutenberg) that already exist on the internet.

At this point, it's difficult to say what kind of licensing model would allow the DPLA to make copyrighted materials available. Current eBook lending models do not allow for unlimited use of copyrighted works--if a library buys three licenses for Harry Potter, a maximum of three people can read Harry Potter at any given time. Because DPLA would work on a national level, the number of copies that would need to be purchased would be enormous in order to avoid lengthy hold lists. Additionally, it's possible that eBook publishers would put severe restrictions on eBook materials in order to compensate for a perceived loss in revenue. They could go the route that HarperCollins took and impose arbitrary check out limits before the book needs to be repurchased, or they might raise the price of eBooks by 300% for libraries, as RandomHouse recently did. Or, they might not even make eBooks available for libraries to lend out.

DPLA might consider a model similar to My Media Mall. The collection could be available to the public, but public libraries could purchase additional copies of particular books for use by their patrons only. Such a model would certainly help build a national resource that is closely linked with the public library system--however, DPLA would need to organize on a national level with public libraries in order to make that happen.

The resolution of the Google Books lawsuit will also likely have serious affects on the legal framework that the DPLA ends up using. There is clearly a need for reform of copyright law in order to account for our increasingly digital world, but how that will play out remains to be seen.

Additional Sources

• The Library of Utopia from Technology Review. A great in-depth article about the project itself, as well as a discussion of the legal issues the steering committee is examining.
• The DPLA Development Wiki--Legal Issues--The questions for discussion section outlines some of the issues that the steering committee is exploring. Suggested Resources has some great links to scholarly articles about copyright law. There's also a great section that discusses models for orphan and copyrighted works that are currently used in other initiatives.
• DPLA Homepage--A brief description of the project's goals in regard to legal issues.

DLF/DCC: DPLA Beta Sprint

Beta Sprint was announced in May, 20011, as a way to solicit ideas about how the DPLA should index and gather content.

Nearly 40 submissions were received from government agencies, non-profit organizations, academic research teams, librarians, and individuals. The DPLA Steering Committee reviewed the contributions in September, 2011, and chose six to present their work at the first plenary meeting on October 21, 2011.

One of the groups selected to present at the October meeting was spearheaded by GSLIS Professor Carole Palmer, director of the Center for Informatics Research in Science and Scholarship (CIRSS).
Building on work begun in 2002 as part of the Institute of Museum and Library Services’ Digital Collections and Content (IMLS DCC), the prototype submitted to the committee is an expansion of the Digital Content and Collections Registry (DCC).
The project brings together collection contexts from nearly every state and features an item-level metadata repository which retains the characteristics of local metadata but is able to be integrated into a national platform. The researchers have built a search tool to access over one million digital items.

DLF/DCC: DPLA Beta Sprint: http://dp.la/entries/dlfdcc-dpla-beta-sprint/




Prototype: http://dpla.grainger.illinois.edu/

Suggestions for the Future of the DPLA

One of the main problems that librarians and other professionals working within the library system find with the way in which the DPLA is currently set up is the selection process. The DPLA is scanning in public domain books and open access works (mostly academic articles/books) before getting to the meat of what a public library is really about, the popular works.  Right now, when the DPLA comes online the collection will most closely resemble an online scholarly research database such as EBSCO Host or LexisNexis.  


Many feel that the DPLA should have a scholarly counterpart so that it can focus more on the public aspect of the library, as is warranted by the "P" in its acronym. The author of a list of friendly suggestions for the DPLA, writing for librarycity.org, says that "A well-stocked national digital public library system, intertwined with a mostly privately financed scholarly counterpart, might ultimately be the difference between public libraries failing and surviving."


The DPLA does not need to mean the end of the brick and morter public library, indeed it could enhance it.  While many books would be available online for public access, the physical library would be there for the more corporeal needs of its visitors.  Not everyone comes to the libraries only for the books.  The Digital Public Library of America might even be freeing in some ways to the existing libraries; no need to carry so many copies of "50 Shades of Grey".  More money and effort could be spent on programming and expanding the collection to be more diverse rather than redundant.

Going along with this idea of a scholarly counterpart, it seems like an opportune place for Google Books to step in. While they are currently wading through a legal battle with the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers, perhaps some sort of partnership with the DPLA would be a blessing to all.  As to how that may be worked out, I leave it to the legal minds.

Websites accessed for info:
http://dp.la/wiki/Main_Page
http://librarycity.org/?p=1112
http://go-to-hellman.blogspot.com/2011/10/dpla-muster.html
http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/dplaalpha/about/elements-of-the-dpla/

Objections to the Digital Public Library of America

• Will using the term “public” in the name induce local and state governments to reduce funding for public libraries across the nation?

• Will academic libraries (and Harvard in particular) have most of the influence? Response: Although academic libraries where heavily represented in the initial steering committee, membership has grown to include public librarians, including those serving rural communities.

• How will rural communities or others with limited access benefit? Emphasis will have to be placed on increasing bandwidths nationally, and reaching communities generally which otherwise lack service.

• What materials are excluded? How can copyrighted materials which are out of print be included? 

• How will the library circumvent the onerous legal issues which prevent a large volume copyrighted material from being included? How will the library distinguish itself when most of the material not under copyright is already available on the Web?

• Can one national library meet the multifarious needs of scholarly researchers and the public?

• How will the goal be realized given fundamental disagreements among steering committee members?