Changes in Copyright Law 4th June 2014

This month's report is by Marion Harris

This month’s speakers were Emily Stannard and Ross Connell from the University of Reading. They gave us an update on changes in Copyright and Licensing law following the 2011 Hargreaves Review, and the potential implications for library and information services. The event was well-attended as this is clearly a topic of considerable concern and interest for professionals at the moment.

Copyright exceptions

Emily Stannard (Risk Management and Business Continuity Officer @copyrightgirl) began the session by outlining the copyright statutory instruments which came into force in June 2014 as a result of the Hargreaves Review. The main points of interest for library and information services were as follows:

Library privilege

There are now far more extensive guidelines about the copyright exceptions which are allowed for libraries and archives.

• Librarians can now copy all kinds of works for non-commercial research or private study, subject to fair dealing.
• It is now permissible to copy works such as monographs for inter-library loan purposes, providing that the receiving library is non-profit and that the copyright holder has been consulted if they can be reasonably found.
• It is permissible to make resources such as digitised works available via dedicated PC terminals (provided users cannot print or save the work to USB)

Preservation copying

Legislation changes in this area provide very welcome news for archivists and special collections librarians.

• The preservation copying exception now applies to all copyrighted material, not just literary and dramatic works.
• It is now permissible to create multiple preservation copies, provided that a replacement cannot be reasonably be purchased and that the copies become part of the library/archive’s permanent collection (e.g. non-loanable).
• This change will be especially useful for film archives, as it will now be possible to convert older footage into more modern formats.

Disability

Greater flexibility has now been added to the copyright exceptions for people with disabilities.

• Following the Marrakesh Treaty, a wider range of disabilities are now covered, such as hearing impairments and dyslexia.
• Accessibly copies can now be made of any material regardless of contract, providing that an alternative is not reasonably available for purchase and the user is not charged more than the cost of production.
• Libraries nonetheless are required to notify the copyright holder or collective rights organisation that they have created an accessible copy.

Illustration for instruction

Legislation in this area has been clarified, and essentially can be seen as a legalisation of what many teachers were already doing.

• Copyrighted material can be used in instruction, subject to fair dealing, providing that it is for non-commercial purposes and that the copyright holder is acknowledged ©
• An interesting section is Exception 35, which allows for broadcasts to be put in Virtual Learning Environments (unless subject to an ERA license).

Other legislative changes which may occur in future

At present there are no copyright exceptions for personal use (e.g. ripping CDs to an iPod), or for quotation and parody purposes, due to pressure from copyright holders. It is hoped that legislation for these issues may come into force in October 2014.

Licensing

Ross Connell (Copyright licensing co-ordinator) then gave an update on the current situation regarding licensing. In contrast to copyright exceptions, licensing allows institution such as libraries to obtain affirmative legal permission to copy materials by paying for a license.

The Hargreaves Review was very favourable toward the concept of licensing, and made several recommendations. Extended legislation about Collective Licensing schemes and the use of Orphan Works is currently in draft. If accepted, the likely changes will be:

• Collecting societies will apply to the Secretary of State for the right to grant licenses for a particular type of work (e.g. dramatic works), providing they represent a significant number of affected rights holders.
• Collective licensing schemes could become opt-out, rather than opt-in as at present.
• For orphan works, providing a diligent search for the rights holder has been carried out, libraries will apply to the Intellectual Property Office for an orphan licence.
• Orphan licenses will be issues for a fixed term of up to 7 years, subject to the payment of a fee which will be held on trust for the rights holder if they are later located.

Report of CILIPTV AGM / Professional Registration Event 2 April 2014

On the evening of 2nd April 2014, the good folks of Library-land (Thames Valley side) gathered to find out more about the changes to CILIP's Professional Registration Event, and also to experience the wonders of our Annual General Meeting. Mainly involving cake.

AGM report

The first order of business was the AGM, the key points of which are outlined below. The minutes of the last year's meeting were approved. The Chair reported the financial status of the committee, which is fairly healthy. One of the events coordinators reported the various events organised by the committee. These events were well attended. The number of attendees was stable throughout the year with on average 15-20 attendees. Crucially, the event coordinator indicated that the committee is always welcome to receive members’ suggestions and input for future events: so please send in your suggestions!

The social media coordinator reported that the committee’s social media platforms continue to grow steadily. The social media coordinator aims to develop the blog in the following year and encourages any guest posts on future events. A great idea that came out of the AGM was to host guest writers contributing posts on a day in the life of their library. Always keen to bolster contribution, please do contact me if you'd like to do this- or any other guest post: remember you can use this in your portfolio as proof of professional engagement!

The Chair presented the new CILIP TV Committee for 2014, a list of which can be found on the CILIP website. It should be noted that we are a friendly lot, and always happy to accept new recruits!

The Chair spoke about the New Regional Network, the new name for CILIP Branches.  As for 1^st April, the Regional Network will be a merger of the regional branches with the CDG groups. The Chair invited everyone to check the CILIP website for more information. The Chair also stated that two roles (candidate support office and communications coordinator) need to be filed in the South East region and invite anyone interested to join to get in touch.

Elizabeth Schlackman, our outgoing Chair was then presented with a lovely bouquet of flowers (see picture) by the new Chair as a thank you for all of her hard work over the time she has served on the committee. It has been a real pleasure to work with Elizabeth- I have had the privilege of working with her on committee and professionally and have seen first-hand her commitment and passion for the profession. I am sure that we all wish her the best of luck as she returns to America.

We then had a brief break to allow everyone to refuel with tea, coffee, and the all-important cake. 

A word on the Governance Review

We then welcomed the President of CILIP, Barbara Band, who was quick to stress that CILIP had learnt lessons from the failed re-branding exercise, and feel that they must make the effort to become more transparent and effective- at one point 70 people sat on the Council, which seems slightly unwieldy.

Phil Bradley has led a review board for two years, and the results are now the hope is that the structure of CILIP will be more streamlined and efficient, whilst still maintaining the legal framework required by CILIP's status as a charity.

More details of the Governance Review can be found on the CILIP website, and I would recommend all CILIP members should spend the time reviewing this- especially as your views are currently being sought on the proposals. Consultation is ongoing until July 2014, then there will be a vote on the proposals at the AGM in September.

The main aim seems to be to produce streamlined committees. The Policy Committee is to be given higher priority, and there will be an increased chance to progress to higher level within CILIP from the grassroot's activism which is so valuable. CILIP should become a more open organisation, which is member-driven: which is what people have been calling for, and it seems like CILIP have listened to it's members- so this seems positive.

Professional Registration

We then welcomed Lesley Kumiega to discuss the changes to the professional qualifications. In theory, you will not now need to be a graduate under the new framework of professional qualifications. Clearer assessment criteria (a relief for all those who remember previous guidance!) was also announced.

The new Professional Knowledge and Skills Base will be crucial to success: it can be used as a tool to help identify gaps and used as the PDPP.

Members will be expected to revalidate every year, which has been a concern for me, but I was reassured that this will be simpler- consisting of only 20 hours of CPD, 250 words with no supporting evidence, logged on the new CILIP VLE and that it would be free: so now I am completely convinced (given I do well over 20 hours of CPD and already have a log of sorts...). Check back next year to see if I've got around to it...

I was also comforted that those who have Chartered and Revalidated under the new system so far have done OK. The whole aim now seems to have moved toward supporting people in their continual development. Although, it was stressed that the standards of Chartership- the gold standard- is already set and will not be relaxed.

More information on the changes is on the CILIP website, so again, I would strongly recommend that you check this out.

The meeting closed with offerings of yet more cake! A lot of important changes are in process at present, so this has been a huge post- hopefully it has covered the main issues and given you some idea of what is going on.

Advocacy: Let’s shout about Libraries!

For November’s Cilip in the Thames Valley event, we had Barbara Band, CILIP Vice-President, to talk to us about advocacy in the library profession.

To start off the talk, Barbara updated us all with changes going on in CILIP. To start off with, CILIP are keeping with their original name, despite the big re-branding project that saw us vote for a range of new names for the organisation. A new website has been made, and new changes made to the chartership and certification processes. Barbara was keen to note that chartership does differ from an academic qualification in Librarianship – the idea being that through certification and chartership, everyone can be at a certain level, regardless of whether they have degrees of postgraduate qualifications.  The revalidation process has also been updated – it’s free, and involves 20hrs of recorded CPD, and a 250 word statement. Finally, Barbara emphasised the need for members of CILIP to vote in presidential teams and councils, and to take an active role in organisation.

Next is on to the main topic of the evening – advocacy. Barbara spoke about the different interpretations as to what this mean, and its relative terms – petitioning, arguing, promoting, and defending. This can mean speaking out on behalf or someone or something, but also to argue for a cause, policy or idea. It should not always be a one-off thing, but a continual process. Barbara noted that library professionals are not always good at self-advocacy, but it is important for us to speak out about our jobs, and support the profession as a whole.

But why is this so important? Well, Barbara noted that the image we present affects how other people view us (we all know the stereotype of the woman in a twin-set shushing people). It is important for us to inform and educate people about libraries and the benefits of having good library services, and broaden our profile as a profession.

So, what is the best way to advocate the library profession?

An important and obvious way is through social media, particularly Twitter. Barbara spoke about the best times to tweet to get particular messages out (send the message out 4 times in a day – in the morning, lunchtime, after work, and late at night before bed).  We all know how quickly messages can spread through Twitter, and you never know where your Tweet will end up! Although not everyone on your followers list will be a librarian, sending library-related messages out will be advocating to people who aren’t in the profession. Also – the simplest message is often the most powerful!

Barbara also noted that it is important to think about target audience when advocating – for example, your approach to speaking to students will be often be very different when speaking and advocating to governors.

It is equally important to advocate yourself in the workplace as well, especially if you are part of a larger organisation, e.g. a school or college. It is important to keep others in the workplace updated as to what the library staff have achieved, targets that have been met, new projects introduced etc.  Don’t let the library be overlooked!

Finally, Barbara spoke about how advocacy is a two way process – CILIP can advocate for all sectors and need to do their bit – likewise, librarians and information professionals need to get involved in CILIP, through branches and groups, and play an active role.

At the end of Barbara’s talk, we had a brief chat from Sarah, from the Federation of Children’s Books Group – a national charity that holds a book prize every year, in which children are the only judges! They aim to support and encourage reading for children of all ages, through local reading groups, author visits to school, the Red House book award, and local events. Sarah brought some of the winning books from this year’s awards event, all of which engrossed the group! To find out more about the FCBG, visit http://www.fcbg.org.uk/.

Overall, a good event was had by all, with inspiring talks by Barbara and Sarah. Thanks to both speakers for a great evening!

CILIP Chartership event

Our CILIP event this month was focused around Chartership. We had five speakers, talking about all different areas of the process. First up was Franko Kowlaczuk, who is the candidate support officer for the South East. Franko spoke about the role of the CSO and how they can help anyone undertaking Chartership; whether it’s advice on what to include in your portfolio, or more general information about the qualification itself. From 1 November, there‘ll be some changes to professional registration. For one, the new VLE will offer online submission and assessment, and new assessment criteria have been written up for certification, Chartership, and revalidation. 

Next up was Natalie Guest, who is fully chartered and also works as a mentor for others. Natalie mentioned that it may seem hard to collate evidence needed for your portfolio, but chances are you have plenty of material to use in your everyday working life. Perhaps you tweet regularly (about libraries and library work, not so much cat videos on YouTube), have improved an aspect of the library service at work, or attended a local CILIP branch meeting. All of these can be used in your portfolio! In regards to choosing a mentor, both Franko and Natalie agreed that it was ideal to pick a mentor who wasn’t closely linked to you. A line manager as a mentor could be offended if you’ve been critical of particular practises at work, and it can really help having someone from a different library sector to work with– that way are you are given a certain level of objectivity when the mentor is looking through your work.

Last up was Anna Richards, Ruth Jenkins and Erika Delbecque, who are doing their Chartership as a group! They noted that undertaking the Chartership process alongside other people can really help motivation, plus their place of work allows them time to study together. They encouraged anyone going through professional registration to speak to people who are doing it too – whether it’s at work, on Twitter, or local groups. 

To get more information on the new changes to Chartership, there are details up on the CILIP website: http://www.cilip.org.uk/cilip/jobs-and-careers/qualifications-and-professional-development/cilip-qualifications

Thanks to all our speakers for a fun and informative evening!

Anne Welsh : RDA

I must apologise for the tardiness of this post, I have been suffering from Critical Technology Failure. Better late than never…

Anne Welsh came to CILIP in the Thames Valley at the beginning of June to discuss RDA and what it will mean for cataloguing in the near future.

Anne started by asking if anyone had yet implemented RDA and I was a little surprised that at least two people said they had. Anne explained that RDA should provide for making the connection between things in a more flexible way, and that its aim is to be better for modern users, because it starts with the ‘work’ as an ideal, of which there many more expressions, resulting in many various items. She told us we should look at Variations FRBR. For further information, here is a helpful presentation by Dr Barbara B. Tillet.

We went on to compare RDA to AACR2 in MARC. Anne explained that AACR2 is geared towards an old, flattened structure, a necessity due to the machine readable tape MARC was developed for. There is not enough room in a MARC record for the modern encoding which we need for the stepped format of FRBR. The next cataloguing systems are likely to be XML structure, as that too is more flexible. Archivists and publishers were later in implementing electronic cataloguing so did not need to conform to MARC records, now libraries do not need to either, and we are increasingly trying to catalogue things other than books, now we may have to account for DVDs, MP3s, webpages, as well as many places making a more to be more cross-collections, i.e. archives and libraries, possibly with galleries in the mix too, it will make data-sharing easier. After all, libraries are the only ones operating in MARC.

Anne herself has been busy writing a follow-up to Welsh and Batley’s Practical cataloguing. Although only published in 2012, we have since seen further drafts of RDA and the roll out of implementation. Cataloguing and decision making in a hybrid environment will be published in December to help guide us through this time of flux. For those that didn’t see it, Facet Publishing recently sent around this list by email, suggesting some further reading on the topic.

A varied career

A sunny start to June saw Jacky Mathewson come and talk to CILIP in the Thames Valley about her varied career and, more specifically, about her work in prison libraries. She started with an inspirational quote from an ex-colleague and Young Librarian of the Future 06/07, Simon Smith, which she felt summed up how she felt about working in public libraries, and probably struck a chord with every librarian in the room:

“I love being part of a public space and organisation which people can use in so many ways – for help, relaxation and enjoyment.  Libraries are important because no one else offers access, help, inspiration and education to everyone without asking for anything in return.”

Jacky started her career working for The Economist Intelligence Unit, then moved onto the Arts Council of Great Britain, then as a freelance researcher’s assistant.

She finally found herself in Holloway Prison library for eight hours a week. Initially the prisoners were not able to benefit fully from the prison library; her job there was to try and help the women find books they would like, but with timetable restrictions she found herself with five minutes to help 20 inmates find a book. Needless to say, this had to change. They managed to make the library part of the ‘free-flow’ schedule, meaning that ladies who wanted to, could stay in the library for the entire two-hour period. This meant she could work with them on reader development. She also ran a course for the inmate library assistants so that they could show they had been doing something of worth while they were inside. She was dealing with women from wide ranging backgrounds, including non-English speaking women who had been caught drug smuggling to support their families, so many were in shock once they had landed inside. Understandably this was problematic in trying to find books they could connect with.

After a move to Reading, Jacky then found herself working part-time on the reference desk of Reading Central Library, a job which she enjoyed for its variety, with enquires ranging from wedding speeches to spider identification, and everything in between! This then merged with other reader services and she was put in control of acquiring the library’s stock of large print and spoken word, and she started a reading group for visually impaired people.

After seeking out more hours she was given shared care of the library within what used to be Reading Gaol, of Oscar Wilde fame, and which is now an institution for male young offenders. If the history of the institution interests you, Anthony Stokes, an ex-officer of the prison, has written a book, entitled Pit of shame (Winchester:Waterside Press, 2007). However, in the present day, what used to be the old chapel is now the recreation area, and the library is housed there. With no computer, a thorough knowledge of their stock is required, so they can keep track of the boys’ favourite titles.

They are dealing with some low levels of literacy so they have started a number of initiatives to encourage these boys to use the service; they regularly put together games packs, with word searches, spot the difference, and other puzzles. They also run the SixBooks Challenge every year, in which participants try to read six books, and write a small piece about them. At the end they receive a reward and a certificate which means a lot to boys who find reading a struggle.

They also run the Storybook Dads scheme, where a recording is made of an inmate reading a children’s story, which is then edited together with sound effects and sent to their child. However, in the prison service, inmates can be moved with little notice so organising future individual activities can be a struggle.

In segregation there are no televisions, so they always ensure these boys have access to games and books and, unsurprisingly, they are always welcomed! One of the great successes was a talk Jacky organised by Andy McNab, an author the boys like - no mean feat, as for obvious reasons, the security protocols in a young offenders’ institution are rather stringent.

There is a prison librarian’s network which offers valuable training and support;  all prisons have libraries though they vary greatly.

Many thanks to Jacky for such an interesting insight into this unusual branch of librarianship.

CILIP Presentation by Julia Hordle of TFPL

Our AGM event saw Julia Hordle of TFPL give an interesting insight into recruitment in the information profession. Even those of us that have participated in the recruitment process recently, from one perspective or another, learnt a thing or two. It has been kindly reported for the blog by one of our committee members:

Julia began by introducing the audience to her own varied career and how varied roles can be in the information sector. Although there are few generic proscribed roles for a librarian, there are common skill sets, for example: Communication, methodology, organisational skills, an enquiring mind.

Librarians have hard skills (cataloguing, literature searching etc) and soft skills (which can make you more competitive in the job market (problem solving, preparation and approach to discussions and meetings, developing empathy (active listening, keeping in touch, showing interest, consistency), an analytical mind, ability to inform/influence stakeholders etc. To identify these Julia suggested reviewing your own value to your peers, taking lessons & feedback from appraisal, using your wider network (other non-library peers) and considering what recipients value in your work. Look at your competencies & examples, think about evidence of communication excellence.

We then moved onto CVs and reviewed the many roles a CV can have, from obtaining a job, identifying your skills gap, promoting your role to management, career mapping and many more (see list below). Find and harness your USP (unique selling proposition), use your CV for this, even if you have no immediate plans to leave your current role.

Purpose of a CV:

• Obtain an interview
• Gain promotion
• Professional biography
• Assessment tool (for HR & self)
• Record of achievement
• Measure of progression
• Self analysis
• Matching requirements
• Compliance (company record)
• To show desirable/essential requirements
• Meets organisational requirements
• Value matching
• Where personal meets professional

Your CV has the value of being a reminder and a representation of you. It is a way to find opportunities both within and external to your organisation, a way to differentiate yourself from other candidates, showing where you bring value and acting as a showcase of your talent

CV Tips

• Develop a CV profile
• Use case study examples
• Select referees that reflect/support your assertions about achievement
• Try mind mapping to avoid over-simplification
• AVOID function, dwell on your achievement
• Include keywords for your CV that will ensure you are “found” for jobs you are targeting
• Use a framework for self-assessment
• Plan themes e.g. outputs, results, functional domain, contextual knowledge (industry or sector), methods & frameworks-research & analysis, IL retrieval analysis, technology, sources and tools, leadership, strategy. 
• Advancement-personal development
• Learning
• Partnering arrangements and working
• Find a balance between the personal and the professional
• ALWAYS tailor your CV to the application.

It’s worth considering when you submit your CV for a new job whether  it is targeted to an automated recipient i.e. online form or to HR department for an initial shortlisting. You need to identify essential requirements and make sure you answer these.  The applicant needs to be self analytical, aware and purposeful.  Applicants should overcome self consciousness and tackle an application with direction, a sense of adventure and good planning (time, resources, focus).  Remember that covering letters are often stored separately and may not be viewed by the assessors. Prepare for & “harness” interviews, noting that interviews are often EVIDENCE based these days

Determining your market value

Finding the appropriate value of your role can be a challenge. Look for precedence in the information sector or business sector. Review how pertinent are your skills, performance & contextual knowledge to the role. Supply & demand will also have an impact, but remember it is the price of the role rather than the person

We finished with a look at the extensive range of job titles and roles that encompass jobs in the information sector – always something to remember when doing an online  job search. It was a thought provoking session and we would like to thank Julia sharing her expertise.