About this resource
This resource is the output of a JISC-funded project that was commissioned in 2009 to provide practical information to UK university libraries relating to transfer and use of catalogue records in Web applications.
This project was awarded after competitive tender to Curtis+Cartwright, in partnership with Naomi Korn Copyright Consultancy. The key project members were:
What is the purpose of this website?
This website is for librarians and those with responsibilities for bibliographic information.
It will help you to clarify and advance your understanding of what you are legally entitled to do with the bibliographic records which you hold within your institutional library catalogue. A clearer understanding of the landscape will help institutions take advantage of new possibilities for the transfer and aggregation of bibliographic records made possible by the digitally networked world, Web 2.0 and shared services.
Why is it needed?
There is much uncertainty about what institutions are entitled to do with the bibliographic records they receive. There is not an easy answer to this complex problem, as the major restrictions result from the contracts that libraries have with suppliers, rather than IPR, and there is no standard contract (even for an individual supplier). It is, therefore, good practice to track and record the permissions relating to each of your contracts, and to ensure this is consistent with your current and future requirements for using and transferring bibliographic records.
Where should I start?
The guidance in this website is based around 5 steps which will take you through the process of conducting a compliance audit. Conducting regular compliance audits is essentially a form of risk management - a systematic process of identifying, analysing and responding to risk to your institution.
Each of the steps build upon the previous one, so it is best to start at Step 1. Some useful background information is provided in the Basics section which you may prefer to start with, including:
- The legal constraints on transfer and use of bibliographic records.
- Libraries' and suppliers' current views.
- Use cases which illustrate some of the possible ways that bibliographic records are used and transferred, and some ideas about how they might be in future.
- A glossary of the terms used within the contexts of these web pages.
In addition, find out the Top 10 actions you can take to manage the risk to your institution.
The project team would like to thank the following people for their valuable contributions to this project:
- Neil Wilson, British Library
- Fred Guy, SUNCAT
- Joy Palmer and Shirley Cousins at Copac
- Mike Mertens, RLUK
- Janet Barratt and Sandra Bracegirdle, University of Manchester
- Adrian Hale and colleagues at the University of Sussex
- Richard Wallis, Talis
- Liam Earney, JISC Collections
- Susan Presley, Serials Solutions
- Heather Sherman, Dawson Books
- Greg Ince, University of West England
- Chris Fowler, Southampton University
- Karen Calhoun and George Buzash at OCLC
- Eileen Hiller, University of Huddersfield
- Stuart Hunt, University of Warwick
Please provide any feedback about this resource to JISC Legal, who will direct it to the most appropriate contact.