Background:

The need for copyright expertise in academic libraries gained importance with greater reliance on digital resources and the use of electronic course management systems and e-learning platforms. Online course proliferation necessitated that librarians be able to educate faculty on copyright law. Legislative requirements that government funded research articles are deposited in OA repositories, and Universities implementing OA policies, caused librarians to develop knowledge needed to assist faculty with deposits, legislative compliance, and implementing and promoting campus OA policies.

Methods:

This workshop will provide an overview of copyright and OA in the academic environment. Content covered will include copyright basics, fair use and promoting fair use on an academic campus, and educating faculty on copyright and OA. Recent court cases, case studies, best practices, and curated resources will equip attendees to develop plans for rolling out copyright or OA initiatives on their campuses.

Results:

Those attending the session will learn:

 copyright basics, particularly as it impacts academic libraries

 how to conduct a fair use assessment

 how creators can license their work for use by others

 useful OA and OER for their campus

 how to develop a plan for promoting OA and copyright education.

Conclusions:

Developing expertise in copyright law and the OA/OER environment expands the librarians’ role when working with faculty, instructional designers, and course management/collaborative learning environment teams. This workshop allows attendees to develop greater knowledge of copyright, and provides tools for promoting best practices in copyright and OA education on their own campuses.