Understanding librarians’ experiences of copyright. Findings from a phenomenographic study of UK information professionals
| Pages | 354-368 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/LM-01-2017-0011 |
| Date | 15 August 2017 |
| Published date | 15 August 2017 |
| Author | Chris Morrison,Jane Secker |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Librarianship/library management,HR in libraries,Library strategy,Library promotion |
Understanding librarians’
experiences of copyright
Findings from a phenomenographic study of
UK information professionals
Chris Morrison
Department of Information Services, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK, and
Jane Secker
Department of Learning Technology and Innovation,
London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK
Abstract
Purpose –Librarians and information professionals increasingly need to deal with copyright issues in their
work, however evidence suggests that they can lack confidence and often refer queries to a dedicated
copyright specialist. The purpose of this paper is to explore the professional experiences of copyright of a
group of academic librarians in the UK, with a view to devising appropriate copyright education strategies.
Design/methodology/approach –The research was conducted using phenomenography, which is a
qualitative approach from education. Data were collected though group interviews to explore the variation of
experience. Four categories of description were devised which are placed in an outcome space.
Findings –There were four qualitatively distinct ways that librarians experience copyright in their
professional lives, including viewing it as a problem, as complicated, as a known entityand as an opportunity.
The variations in experience relate to a variety of factors such as the librarians’role, ideology, level of
experience, context and with whom they might be dealing.
Originality/value –This is the first study of this nature, building on quantitative findings from a
multinational survey. It concludes that librarians need to be taught about copyright in a way that
acknowledges and addresses the challenges so that they can view it as empowering and as part of wider
information literacy initiatives.
Keywords Information, University, Phenomenography, Education, Copyright, Literacy
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Since the first copyright laws emerged from the British censorship regulations of the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, copyright has long reflected the tension between
the desire to control the creation and distribution of literary and artistic works and the
central mission of libraries in providing free access to information. Specific exceptions for
librarians (referred to as Library Privilege) were first enacted in the UK in the 1956
Copyright Act, yet it was largely the adoption of photocopying in the 1970s and digital
copying in the 1990s that fuelled the need for librarians to understand copyright.
Crews (2015) carried out a study of copyright exceptions in 184 countries for the
World Intellectual Property Office highlighting specific privileges for librarians, allowing
the copying of works for purposes such as research and private study, preservation and
replacement of materials, and document supply and interlibrary lending. As librarians
preserve and provide access through digitisation of their print collections, or manage their
digital resources, there are few aspects of the work where copyright is not relevant
(Morrison and Secker, 2016).
Library Management
Vol. 38 No. 6/7, 2017
pp. 354-368
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0143-5124
DOI 10.1108/LM-01-2017-0011
Received 31 January 2017
Revised 9 May 2017
Accepted 10 May 2017
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0143-5124.htm
The authors would like to thanks for all the librarians who took part in the interviews. To Hannah Boroudjou
who helped analyse the interview data and develop the categories and to Emma Coonan and Lauren Smith
for their helpful advice.
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LM
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