Archive for January 2006
Digitization Movement Excludes Librarians
“What would you do if you had a personal home library numbering in the thousands or even hundreds of thousands of books? Hire a librarian, right?!
“The open access movement has put masses of scholarly content, similar to what one would expect to find in an academic library’s periodical collection, into the line of sight of Yahoo! Search, Google Scholar, Scirus, and other free Web search engines. How is a user to tell the wheat from the chaff, the plums from the prunes, the true from the false? Hire an information professional, right?!
“Well, we know they need us, but do they?”
Barbara Quint. The Home Guard. Searcher. January 2006.
Updates:
Chris Alden. Libraries Begin Uncertain New Chapter. The Guardian. Feb. 22, 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Libraries Failing In Nation’s Capital
“More than $450 million is needed to properly fix the District’s public library system, a task force said yesterday, because the buildings suffer from years of neglect and should be almost entirely rebuilt.
“The draft report released yesterday marks the launch of the public phase of an effort by Mayor Anthony A. Williams to change the face of the frayed library system.
“It calls for adding at least 400 computers in the city’s 27 libraries, replacing half of the books in the next three years and expanding and reorganizing staff. The decision to release the report hours before the first of a series of public-comment meetings drew fire from critics.”
Debbi Wilgoren. Overhaul Urged For D.C. Libraries. WashingtonPost.com. Jan. 18, 2006.
See also:
District of Columbia Public Library. Community “Listening Sessions” on Mayor’s Task Force Recommendations to be Held at D.C. Public Libraries. (Press Release). Jan. 10, 2006.
District of Columbia Public Library. The District of Columbia Public Library: A Blueprint for Change. (.pdf, 695 kb) November 2005.
District of Columbia Public Library. Draft Technical Report of the Mayor’s Task Force on the Future of the District of Columbia Public Library System. (.pdf, 3.7 MB) November, 2005.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Dames & Hurst Workshops on Digitization Project Management
K. Matthew Dames of Seso Group LLC and Jill Hurst-Wahl of Hurst Associates, Ltd. are teaming to provide training workshops on Digitization Project Management throughout 2006. Listed below is a confirmed training schedule as of January 15, 2006. This schedule will be updated as we new events are added to our schedule.
If your organization is interested in hiring Ms. Hurst-Wahl and Mr. Dames to guide your digitization efforts, please contact us at sesodigital at g mail dot com.
Digitization Project Management Essentials
Computers in Libraries conference, Washington, DC
Saturday, March 25, 2006 1:30 PM to 4:30 PM
Digitization is much more than converting a physical or analog object into its digital equivalent: It is about efficiently repurposing crucial information resources to improve an organization’s retention and use of information. Yet most digitization projects are doomed from the start because the focus is on the conversion process instead of other, critical pre-scanning issues such as selection criteria, preservation of original documents, metadata creation, software and hardware concerns; integration into existing systems; and legal issues.
This workshop introduces the critical issues every organization must consider when approaching a digitization project, including the copyright issues inherent in any digitization project, and how copyright can govern whether or not a digitization project is even viable. It provides an update on the status of the world’s most famous digitization project: Google’s proposed digitization of the holdings of five of the world’s leading research libraries.
Participants will leave with a conceptual understanding of the life cycle of a digitization project, allowing them both to investigate their own projects more critically, and move from working on a single project to creating an ongoing digitization program.
Register for Digitization Project Management Essentials (Code W16) at Computers in Libraries.
Digitization Project Management in a Nutshell (featuring Jill Hurst-Wahl)
SLA Virtual Learning Series
Wednesday, April 12, 2006 (2:00 PM to 3:30 PM EST)
This session introduces participants to the core project management tools involved in creating, managing, and preserving digital assets, including:
- When should you digitize, and why;
- Overall project management considerations;
- How to decide what materials to select for a digitization project;
- Storing and accessing digital materials; and
- Best practices
Register for Digital Project Management in a Nutshell at SLA’s Click U! Live.
Managing Intellectual Property Issues Within the Digitization Project
SLA Virtual Learning Series
Wednesday, April 26, 2006 (2:00 PM to 3:30 PM EST)
This second session builds on the basics learned in the first session and analyzes how different areas of intellectual property will affect different phases of the project plan, including:
- What “intellectual property” really means (including an introduction to the IP landscape);
- Identifying the copyright issues inherent in digitization projects (including the public domain, the library and archival limitations, and fair use);
- Why licensing agreements and subscriptions may curb your digitization project;
- Why confidential and proprietary information must be handled differently; and
- An update on the IP issues in Google Book Search project.
Digitization Essentials Workshop
SLA Annual Conference, Baltimore, MD
Saturday and Sunday, June 10-11, 2006
Participants in this pre-conference workshop will be introduced to some of the critical issues every organization must consider when they approach a digitization project, and will be engaged with on exercises and simulations that discuss and analyze real-world situations. In particular, these two, half-day morning sessions will provide participants with a firm conceptual understanding of the life cycle of a digitization project, which will allow them both to investigate their own projects more critically, and move from working on a single project to creating an ongoing digitization program. The lecturers also will provide an update on the status of the world’s most famous digitization project: Google Book Search.
Register for Digitization Essentials Workshop
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Dames & Hurst Workshops on Digitization Project Management
K. Matthew Dames of Seso Group LLC and Jill Hurst-Wahl of Hurst Associates, Ltd. are teaming to provide training workshops on Digitization Project Management throughout 2006. Listed below is a confirmed training schedule as of January 15, 2006. This schedule will be updated as we new events are added to our schedule.
If your organization is interested in hiring Ms. Hurst-Wahl and Mr. Dames to guide your digitization efforts, please contact us at sesodigital at g mail dot com.
Digitization Project Management Essentials
Computers in Libraries conference, Washington, DC
Saturday, March 25, 2006 1:30 PM to 4:30 PM
Digitization is much more than converting a physical or analog object into its digital equivalent: It is about efficiently repurposing crucial information resources to improve an organization’s retention and use of information. Yet most digitization projects are doomed from the start because the focus is on the conversion process instead of other, critical pre-scanning issues such as selection criteria, preservation of original documents, metadata creation, software and hardware concerns; integration into existing systems; and legal issues.
This workshop introduces the critical issues every organization must consider when approaching a digitization project, including the copyright issues inherent in any digitization project, and how copyright can govern whether or not a digitization project is even viable. It provides an update on the status of the world’s most famous digitization project: Google’s proposed digitization of the holdings of five of the world’s leading research libraries.
Participants will leave with a conceptual understanding of the life cycle of a digitization project, allowing them both to investigate their own projects more critically, and move from working on a single project to creating an ongoing digitization program.
Register for Digitization Project Management Essentials (Code W16) at Computers in Libraries.
Digitization Project Management in a Nutshell (featuring Jill Hurst-Wahl)
SLA Virtual Learning Series
Wednesday, April 12, 2006 (2:00 PM to 3:30 PM EST)
This session introduces participants to the core project management tools involved in creating, managing, and preserving digital assets, including:
- When should you digitize, and why;
- Overall project management considerations;
- How to decide what materials to select for a digitization project;
- Storing and accessing digital materials; and
- Best practices
Register for Digital Project Management in a Nutshell at SLA’s Click U! Live.
Managing Intellectual Property Issues Within the Digitization Project
SLA Virtual Learning Series
Wednesday, April 26, 2006 (2:00 PM to 3:30 PM EST)
This second session builds on the basics learned in the first session and analyzes how different areas of intellectual property will affect different phases of the project plan, including:
- What “intellectual property” really means (including an introduction to the IP landscape);
- Identifying the copyright issues inherent in digitization projects (including the public domain, the library and archival limitations, and fair use);
- Why licensing agreements and subscriptions may curb your digitization project;
- Why confidential and proprietary information must be handled differently; and
- An update on the IP issues in Google Book Search project.
Digitization Essentials Workshop
SLA Annual Conference, Baltimore, MD
Saturday and Sunday, June 10-11, 2006
Participants in this pre-conference workshop will be introduced to some of the critical issues every organization must consider when they approach a digitization project, and will be engaged with on exercises and simulations that discuss and analyze real-world situations. In particular, these two, half-day morning sessions will provide participants with a firm conceptual understanding of the life cycle of a digitization project, which will allow them both to investigate their own projects more critically, and move from working on a single project to creating an ongoing digitization program. The lecturers also will provide an update on the status of the world’s most famous digitization project: Google Book Search.
Register for Digitization Essentials Workshop
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Don’t Burn Music Onto CD, Warns IBM Expert
“Opinions vary on how to preserve data on digital storage media, such as optical CDs and DVDs. Kurt Gerecke, a physicist and storage expert at IBM Deutschland, has his own view: If you want to avoid having to burn new CDs every few years, use magnetic tapes to store all your pictures, videos and songs for a lifetime.
“The problem is material degradation. Optical discs commonly used for burning, such as CD-R and CD-RW, have a recording surface consisting of a layer of dye that can be modified by heat to store data. The degradation process can result in the data ‘shifting’ on the surface and thus becoming unreadable to the laser beam.”
John Blau. IBM Expert Warns of Short Life Span for Burned CDs. InfoWorld. Jan. 10, 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Big Music Wants Bigger Cut of Satellite Pie
“The entry of satellite and digital radio into the technological mainstream is increasing tension with the record industry, which wants new rules governing how consumers can make digital copies of songs from the airwaves.
“At issue are new devices that can record and save high-quality digital copies of tunes as they’re being broadcast by these new networks. Recording executives are worried that consumers might increasingly opt to make such copies instead of purchasing the music on a commercial CD or from a download store like Apple Computer’s iTunes.”
John Borland. Tension Grows Between Labels and Digital Radio. News.com. Jan. 13, 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
DJs Unknowingly Flout British Music Tax
“Many DJs are still unwittingly breaking the law by playing unlicensed digital copies of tracks months after a new permit scheme began, the BBC has found. The annual licences, costing £200 plus VAT, were introduced by royalty collection agency PPL in September.
“DJs who copy tracks onto computers or MP3 players without one are breaking copyright law, the organisation says. The licences are needed by any DJ who wants to store digital copies of sound recordings to use when playing in public.”
BBC News. Digital DJs “Unaware of Copy Law.” Jan. 13, 2005.
See also:
PPL. Digital DJ License FAQs (v. 1). (.pdf, 36 KB) September 2005.
PPL. Digital DJ License Terms & Conditions (v. 1). (.pdf, 60 KB) September 2005.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
COPYCENSE 