We missed the NYT’s soft feature from early August with hard news for people in creative industries and beyond: The New York Public Library has come to the misguided conclusion that they will restrict public access to this extraordinary resource by early next year. “The collection will be archived, available to visitors only by specific request,” the NYT reported. Director of the research libraries William P. Kelly decided that it is more important to preserve the archive than have people use it. “Either it is ephemera and doesn’t belong in a research library, or else it is an archive that […]
Libraries
Copyright Office Concurs that Maryland’s Library Lending Law Is “Likely…Preempted” By the Copyright Act
Register of Copyrights and director of the US Copyright Office Shira Perlmutter formally responded to US Senate ranking member on the subcommittee on intellectual property Thom Tillis’s request for an analysis of Maryland’s recently-enacted law regulating library lending of ebooks and similar efforts pending on other states. Tillis was clearly looking for confirmation of his inference “that these state legislative efforts would appear to directly conflict with the Copyright Act’s clear language” and “preemption rules that situate copyright law exclusively at the federal level.” Perlmutter concurs, noting, “We conclude that under current precedent, the state laws at issue are likely […]
Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden On Access to Tech
During the opening keynote of OverDrive’s Digipalooza librarian and educator conference, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden emphasized the importance of having access to technology in all libraries and all communities, rural and urban, as the pandemic brought digital inequities into stark relief. Digital access, she said, is “an equalizer in culture.” “Part of my role now is to talk about how important it is to have those institutions and places for people to go, and the Library of Congress is going to be a partner in digitizing as much as we can,” she said. Hayden said that the pandemic “accelerated […]
Maryland Libraries Propose New Digital Licensing Terms Under Potentially Unconstitutional Law
Maryland’s new vague Digital Content Law, compelling publishers to license digital books and audiobooks “on reasonable terms that would enable public libraries to provide library users with access to the electronic literary product,” is considered by publishers to be blatantly unconstitutional. But it has yet to be challenged in court, so the Maryland Library Association is moving forward in advance of implementation at the beginning of 2022 to explain what they believe comprises “reasonable terms.” While the law does not define the terms any further, the MLA believes existing terms “often may not have been defined as ‘reasonable’ by library […]
Initiatives: B&T Adds Diversity Tool
Baker & Taylor will release a Diversity Analysis tool to help libraries “discover, manage, and report on diversity-related topics.” According to the release, the tool will allow libraries to analyze physical and digital collections and identify gaps. EVP and general manager of Baker & Taylor Amandeep Kochar said, “Creating and managing a collection that encompasses the wealth of human experiences can be complex and time consuming, which was our inspiration behind creating Diversity Analysis.” The service will be available this month for B&T customers. In May, Ingram Library Services launched a similar assessment service to help public libraries “diversify their […]
Corporate: OverDrive to Acquire Kanopy
Building on their initiative to provide a broader catalog of digital content to libraries, OverDrive announced that it is acquiring video streaming service Kanopy from private equity investor L Squared Capital Partners. The streamer provides 2,300 academic institutions and public libraries with a catalog of over 30,000 films. Kanopy is used by millions of students and library patrons and is available on all major web, mobile and TV platforms. OverDrive CEO Steve Potash says in the announcement, “The Kanopy apps and streaming viewing experience are excellent services to further benefit our network of public libraries and academic partners.” The release […]