First small task

I work as a reference librarian in a large public library. Looking at the 5 definitions provided by Webster, my library is part of the information society because we:

1. use and/or provide information technology (computers, OPACs, scanners, dvds, computer games)
2. are part of the primary information sector of the economy
3. employ people engaged in information work
4. are part of a number of networks (interloan network, online databases, library consortium)
5. provide information which contributes to the 'media-saturated environment'

However I prefer a definition that reflects the quality of knowledge rather than just its quantity i.e. a knowledge society rather than an information society. Our library is part of this by selecting resources according to pre-determined criteria, by providing access to databases of selected material, by providing links to reputable websites and by teaching Internet searching and evaluation skills.

Google and copyright

A different aspect of copyright emerged when I read a posting from NZLibs listserv about Google and copyright. This posting lead me to an article from the New York Review of Books and a comment from Robert Darnton, the head librarian at Harvard. Google has been scanning books in American libraries with the aim of making them available on the Internet. Some of the works scanned were still under copyright and Google was sued by the copyright holders. Now people will have to pay for access to scanned, copyright works although Google says that public libraries will have one terminal for free access and that the cost will not put it out of the reach of schools. One terminal will not be enough for large libraries and there is also concern that, if the management of Google changes, costs to users may increase. Although Darnton believes in the principle of free information. Many comments made the point that his library is not freely available to all and others made the point that there is a cost to the scanning project and that people could always interloan the original book rather than pay Google for online access.
What surprised me was that many of the copyrighted books that were scanned were out-of-print so no-one could buy them even if they wanted to. Libraries pay a fee to the copyright holders of the books in the library. This is to compensate them for lost sales when a patron borrows a book rather than buying it. It doesn't seem quite fair that the copyright holders can receive money for an out-of-print book. I also think that the copyright period is far too long. People producing creative works should receive fair payment but I'm not so sure that their heirs should.

Reading 1.2

I found this reading very interesting and thought-provoking. Webster starts by looking at 5 ways to define 'information society' which lead to 5 different ways to measure whether or not a society is an 'information society' The 1st is technological and looks at the amount of ICT technology in a society. The 2nd is economic which measures the amount of GDP produced by both 'information industries' and "information sectors' within other industries. The 3rd way of defining the 'information society' is occupational which measures the number of jobs where people deal with information rather than material things. The 4th way is spatial which looks at information networks and the 5th is cultural which looks at the impact of information on culture - this, however, is very hard to measure.
The main problem with all these ways of defining an 'information society' is that all information is considered equal - the quantity is measured rather than the quality. What is really important about a piece of information is whether it is meaningful and valuable but this is not easily quantified. We can count the amount of information but that is not sufficient to convince us that society has radically changed.
Webster mentions another possibility for defining an 'information society' - one in which theoretical knowledge is more pre-eminent then formerly. This is hard to quantify but certainly theoretical knowledge is more important now. In the past, many advances were achieved by experimentation rather than application of theory.
I like Webster's reasoning - it does seem silly to count information without paying attention to its value. I'm still not sure that I believe the the 'information society' is something new and fundamentally different from previous societies but I guess that if you are in the middle of a transition to a new type of society it can be difficult to see. Distance gives perspective. Looking back we can see that both the agricultural and industrial revolutions made enormous differences in societies but maybe the people at the time didn't see that.

Copyright again

I discussed the copyright issue with one of the library managers yesterday. He had been talking to IT and discovered that currently there is no way to identify on which computer a breach of copyright occurred. This will change later in the year when we have our own server but, for the present, there is no point taking people's names. I also checked the wording of the Internet use agreement that patrons have to accept before accessing the Internet. Although breach of copyright was mentioned it came well down the list of unwanted behaviours, almost as an afterthought. The current wording is

Public Internet
Conditions of Use
The library does not allow inappropriate use of its Internet PCs, that is, uploading, downloading, viewing or printing offensive or illegal material. This includes material promoting:

• Racial hatred
• Obscenities
• Intimidation of or violence against others
• Under-age sex or pornography
• Illegal activities, including manufacture or use of illegal drugs, theft of copyright material.

Staff make random checks to ensure PCs are being used appropriately.

If parents require supervision of their children;s Internet use this remains the parents responsibility.

The good news last night was that implementation of the changes has been delayed till March 27.

At the staff meeting this morning the proposed new text of the Internet agreement was read out. It is:

Public Internet
Conditions of Use
The library does not allow inappropriate use of its Internet PCs, that is, uploading, downloading, viewing or printing offensive or illegal material. This includes material comprising or promoting:

• Racial hatred
• Obscenities
• Intimidation of or violence against others
• Under-age sex or pornography
• Illegal activities, including manufacture or use of illegal drugs, theft of copyright material.

Staff make random checks to ensure PCs are being used appropriately. The Libraries will withdraw Internet access from a user if staff consider these conditions are being breached.
With specific reference to Section 92A of the Copyright Act, 1994 (as amended by s.53 of 2008 no. 27) the libraries will withdraw Internet access if it has received a proper notice of infringement from a copyright holder, or their agent, that a user has been repeatedly infringing their copyright in a work.
If parents require supervision of their children's Internet use this remains the parents responsibility.

I made the suggestion that theft of copyright material be made a separate bullet point rather than being tagged onto the manufacture or use of illegal drugs. My point was that people probably didn't read these conditions carefully but would just scan down the list, thus missing the reference to copyright.

The nature of information

The first reading (Dearnley, J., & Feather, J. (2001). Theorizing the information society. In The wired world: An introductionto the theory and practice of the information society (pp. 1 - 24). London, England: Library Association.) talks about what 'information' is and its relationship to knowledge. I remember this issue came up in the first Open Polytech paper I did - The Information Industry. After reading and thinking about the issue I decided that information was something that was external (documents, objects) whereas knowledge was internal (in your brain) and arose from processing information. These are the mind maps I drew to try and clarify my thinking.


According to Dearnley and Feather, I was on the right track. They say "information is the basis of knowledge".

The article then goes on to mention that whilst some people see the information society as something new and different, others see it as the continuation of a process of change. I think I subscribe to the latter view. I'm sure that the advent of printed books (to name just one example) must have seemed as radical in its time as the various new information technologies that are being developed today. What is different is that the speed of change seems to have entered an exponential phase.

Let's start at the very beginning . . .

This post should really have come before the one I have already done - but here goes anyway. Last week my course material for Information Issues arrived and I discovered that I need to keep a journal starting on day 1 of my course. Yesterday I went to the online campus and listened to what is required from a learning journal. The course doesn't officially start till next week but I thought I might as well start now.
I have only been working in the library for a little over a year having started my studies prior to getting a job. I guess I am still "bright-eyed and bushy-tailed", I am certainly eager to learn as much about this job and this industry as I can. I have enjoyed all my papers so far and I expect this one will be no different although, as it is my first at the 300 level I am a little apprehensive about what will be expected.
As part of the course we are expected to subscribe to "at least 1 international and 1 NZ electronic mailing list, weblog or similar discussion group". This won't be a problem. I have been subscribed to the NZ-Libs listserv for at least 18 months and visit a number of blogs on a regular basis. I checked out the suggestions on the Online Campus page and was pleased to see that most of my favourites were listed. I added The Scholarly Electronic Publishing Weblog and signed up for the aliaNEWGRAD listserv. All the blogs I am following are on the blogroll on the right.

Copyright Issues

Yesterday I followed a link from the NZ-Libs listserv to some information from Tony Millet on the new section 92A of the Copyright Act. Some of the provisions of this Act have caused some concern in library circles, especially those that would seem to define libraries as ISPs (Internet Service Providers). It initially seemed as though breach of the provisions of the Copyright act could let to suspension of Internet services to the entire library, and perhaps the parent organisation. However, Clause 4.9 of the draft "Internet Service Provider Copyright Code of Practice" states that "Downstream ISPs (i.e.libraries) should not have their Internet access terminated" by telecommunications ISPs. The bad news is that, if a copyright breach by a library user is noted, the library must terminate the user's Internet access. This will pose some problems for most libraries as most don't keep records of who was using the computer at a particular time. At Tauranga City Library we have a suite of 13 computers in a learning centre and the learning centre tutor is present most of the time to log people off and on. A spreadsheet is maintained that details the number of the computer, the deposit paid and the time log-on occurred. When someone finishes the log-off time is recorded along with the number of pages printed and the total cost. At the end of each day the spreadsheet is printed off and filed. I guess that another column could be added to record the customer's name and then, if breach of copyright was reported, the relevant name could be added to a blacklist. I wonder if it is possible to identify which computer the breach ocurred on. If not, it would be impossible to identify the culprit as sometimes all 13 computers are being used at the same time. And how long do you ban someone for? Does one breach of copyright mean they can never again use the library's computers?