AUTOMATION OF COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT

Date01 March 1986
Pages22-26
Published date01 March 1986
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/eb040359
AuthorChris Wild
Subject MatterInformation & knowledge management
AUTOMATION OF COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT, by Chris Wild*
22
Introduction
Two computer systems, using similar hardware and software, have been
installed at the Copyright Receipt Office of the British Library and
at the Copyright Agency to handle receipting and claiming of legal
deposit material. The systems are intended to increase the efficiency
of both offices and, for the British Library, improve the control of
material acquired for the reference collections.
Under the Copyright Act 1911 as amended by the British Library Act
1972 and the Irish Copyright Act 1963, publishers are required to
deposit one copy of each of their publications with the British
library. The Copyright Receipt Office receives, and where necessary
claims,
these copies. There are five other copyright libraries
entitled to claim one copy of each new publication: they are the
Bodleian Library, Oxford; the University Library, Cambridge; the
National Library of Scotland; the Library of Trinity College, Dublin;
and the National Library of Wales. The jointly funded Copyright
Agency claims and receives these copies on their behalf.
To support their work both offices aim to maintain information on all
printed publications currently published within the United Kingdom and
the Republic of Ireland, plus details, particularly contact names and
addresses,
of the publishers of this material. In September 1983 the
offices decided to automate some of their work; to reduce the costs
and benefit from shared information a joint project, using similar
systems at both offices, was decided upon; both offices wished to keep
control of their own work, so a single site was ruled out. The
computer systems were to automate all the record keeping associated
with monographs, printed music, maps and their publishers.
Specification of the system
Beginning in September 1983 members of the British Library's Systems
Development and Maintenance Department, the Copyright Receipt Office
and the Copyright Agency began working together to draw up a
specification of processing and information storage requirements for
use when inviting suppliers to tender for the system. This process
took 9 months but resulted in a comprehensive specification that
defined all the record types, the data fields which the users needed
in them, the functions which could be applied to them, the response
times required, and the volumes of transactions and data storage.
* Chris Wild is a member of the EL Bibliographic Services systems
staff,
supporting the project in both the Copyright Agency and the
Copyright Receipt Office.

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