Navigating 21st Century Digital Scholarship: Open Educational Resources (OERs), Creative Commons, Copyright and Library Vendor License

Abstract

Digital scholarship issues are increasingly prevalent in today’s environment. We are faced with questions of how to protect our own works as well as others’ with responsible attribution and usage, sometimes involving a formal agreement. These may come in the form of Creative Commons Licensing, provisions of US Copyright, or terms of use outlined by contractual agreements with library vendors. Librarians at Eastern Carolina University and Kansas State University are among several university libraries now providing services to assist navigating these sometimes legalistic frameworks. East Carolina University Libraries are taking initiatives to familiarize faculty, researchers, and students with Open Educational Resources. Librarians identified a need to have pertinent understanding of the Creative Commons license and how it is used to protect created works that can be shared, modified and reused. At Kansas State, librarians identified the overlap of their subject matters through their correspondence regarding users’ copyright and licensing questions; a partnership formed, and they implemented a proactive and public-facing approach to better meet user needs and liability concerns at a research university.

NASIG audience members will learn how to:

Find and identify Creative Commons licensed materials Modify and cite Creative Commons works Obtain a Creative Commons license Provide copyright literacy education to their campus communities through outreach and online copyright learning resources Present vendor license terms and best practices for the everyday user’s understanding and search process