A lightning talk given at the ACRL conference in Baltimore in March 2017.

1. LIBRARIANS' EXPERIENCES OF
COPYRIGHT IN THEIR
PROFESSIONAL LIVES
JANE SECKER AND CHRIS MORRISON
LSE & University of Kent
https://copyrightliteracy.org @UKCopyrightLit
ACRL Conference, Baltimore 22-25 March 2017

2. COPYRIGHT !? GET ME OUT
OF HERE

3. HOW DID IT ALL BEGIN?

4. COPYRIGHT
LITERACY IS….
“the range of knowledge, skills and behaviours that
individuals require when working with copyright content in
the digital age”.
(Morrison and Secker, 2015)
They recognise the dual nature of copyright literacy where
librarians develop their own copyright knowledge but are
also able to teach and support others.

5. THE MULTI-NATIONAL
SURVEY
Bulgaria Croatia France Turkey
• Surveys undertaken in 2013 of the copyright literacy of librarians
and those working in the cultural heritage sector
• Based on perceptions of levels of knowledge of different aspects of
copyright
• Examined copyright education in professional qualification and
continuing professional development

6. THE UK COPYRIGHT
LITERACY SURVEY
Survey was undertaken in 10
additional countries (around
world)
Undertaken in December 2014
Responses from over 600
professionals

7. THE KEY FINDINGS
UK compared
favourably to other
countries in terms of
copyright literacy
57% of UK librarians
moderately or
extremely confident
about copyright
matters
76% thought having
a copyright policy is
important and 63%
have one
64% of institutions
had a copyright
officer (higher in HE)
Copyright was a
source of anxiety
and professional
development
needed

8. UNDERSTANDING COPYRIGHT
EXPERIENCES
• Wanted to gather additional qualitative data
• Undertook 3 group interviews with academic
librarians
• Sought to understand variations in the way
copyright is experienced
• The findings should help enhance copyright
education and embed copyright into institutional
strategies

9. PHENOMENOGRAPHY IS….
• A qualitative research method from education
used increasingly in information literacy
research
• Based on Marton’s Variation theory as a way of
underpinning learning
• Asks open questions designed to ask what
people do not why
• Presents categories of description in an
outcome space

10. ©
©
COPYRIGHT AND
PHENOMENOGRAPHY

11. COPYRIGHT AS AN
EXPERIENCE
Category 1:
Copyright is seen
as a problem and
avoided
Category 2:
Copyright is seen
as complicated
and passed on to
specialists
Category 3:
Copyright is seen
as a knowable
entity requiring
coherent
messages
Category 4:
Copyright is an
opportunity for
negotiation,
collaboration and
co-construction of
understanding
©
©

12. CATEGORY 1 & 2
Category 1: Copyright is seen as a
problem and avoided
Category 2: Copyright is seen as
complicated and passed on to
specialists

13. CATEGORY 3 & 4
Category 3: Copyright is seen as a
knowable entity requiring coherent
messages
Category 4: Copyright is an opportunity
for negotiation, collaboration and co-
construction of understanding

14. DIMENSIONS OF VARIATION
• The individual’s level of knowledge
• Status / grade of librarian
• Beliefs about the higher purpose of
libraries / librarians
• Their ideology towards the value and
purpose of copyright
• The audience
• The context of the interaction

15. RETHINKING COPYRIGHT
EDUCATION FOR LIBRARIANS
• Bridging the gap between a one day course and a
PGDiploma in copyright law
• Focusing on what librarians need to know about copyright
• Focusing on their role a copyright educators

16. Designed to teach librarians
about copyright works,
usages, licences and
exceptions
Making copyright interactive
and engaging
Some of the value of games
are: risk taking, permission to
fail, competition, narrative
Downloaded over 2,500 times
and consistently positive
feedback
Creative Commons Licensed
COPYRIGHT THE CARD GAME
https://copyrightliteracy.org/about-2/copyright-the-card-game/

17. Currently working with US
librarians / educators to adapt
the game for US copyright law
Needs to accommodate fair use
and other differences in the law
Set up a Slack group for those
who might be interested in
helping to develop this
Irish and Canadian version
might be on the cards
COPYRIGHT THE CARD GAME
STATESIDE
https://copyrightliteracy.org/about-2/copyright-the-card-game/

18. A scholarly communications
game about the relationship
between knowledge, impact
and money
Aimed at researchers and
academics
Played in teams as different
characters who journey
through an academic career
A prototype version of this
game was a runner up at
LILAC 2016 in the games
competition
THE PUBLISHING TRAP
https://copyrightliteracy.org/2016/09/27/
case-study-published-on-the-publishing-trap/

19. FURTHER READING
Morrison, C and Secker J. (2015) Copyright Literacy in the UK: a survey of
librarians and other cultural heritage sector professionals. Library and Information
Research. 39 (121)
http://www.lirgjournal.org.uk/lir/ojs/index.php/lir/article/view/675
Morrison, C and Secker, J (2016) Exceptions for libraries. Copyrightuser.org.
Available online.
Morrison, C and Secker, J. (2016) A Guide to Copyright. Association of University
Administrators.
Rios-Amaya, Juliana, Secker, Jane and Morrison, Chris (2016) Lecture recording in
higher education: risky business or evolving open practice. LSE / University of
Kent, London, UK. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/68275/
Secker, J and Morrison, C. (2016) Copyright and E-learning: a guide for
practitioners. Facet publishing: London. Chapter 6: Copyright education and
training available online.
Todorova, T., Trencheva, T., Kurbanoğlu, S., Dogan G., & Horvat, A. (2014) A
Multinational Study on Copyright Literacy Competencies of LIS Professionals.
Presentation given at 2nd European Conference on Information Literacy (ECIL) held
in Dubrovnik. October 2014. Retrieved March 13, 2015 from
http://ecil2014.ilconf.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Todorova.pdf
https://copyrightliteracy.org @UKCopyrightLit

20. IMAGE CREDITS
Slide 2: Startled cat: https://flic.kr/p/5XpzSf CC-BY
Slide 3: © Secker family album & © Morrison family album
Slide 4: Unsplash.com
Slide 6 & 7, 10, 11, 12 & 13: Openclipart.com
Slide 16, 17 & 18 by Jane Secker / Chris Morrison licensed under
CC-BY-SA