Panel: Just In Case or Just In Time? Live Blogging

Joyce Valenza: Library as kitchen, not a grocery store. A place not to "get" stuff, but to "do" stuff. A place to remix, taste, entertain, create share. It's also a dining room--the place to share and present. Inspire, season, taste, serve, display.

(by the way, this in on UstreamTV, too)

Terry... Library as cafeteria (I sense a food theme here...). Food chosen by teachers, but students with choice of menu items. Different tastes/needs.


Chris Harris: Library as Pampered Chef Party (I love it...and you see I was right about the developing theme). Membership driven--introducing new tools and teaching you how to use them in a real world environment, so you can go him and use them in your own kitchen.

Jay...(Publisher from Gale) Library is shifting from Hunter/Gatherer to Farmer. No longer just going out to find material. Farming, grown your own, everyone can do it, nourishes community. Emphasis moves from feast/famine to sustainable.

Jim (from ProQuest) All farms--aggro, artisinal, private.


WHAT KEEPS YOU UP AT NIGHT?

Joyce: What do you buy? What should we buy?--We can't have it all, but we want it all. Print vs. electronic.

Audience Member: What about when you can't buy because you don't have the money?

General Discussion: Curriculum support vs. serendipity. Do we have something just to have it? When we only support curriculum do we lose the serendipitous find? The joy of browsing shelves vs. online experience.

Gale Rep: Librarians as lest defense against going back to the stone age. (went over well, as you can imagine!)

Collection Development based on participation: Whatever teachers/students are involved in library, that's what you buy. (Applause for that). Joyce's question: What's missing in collection with that approach?

Audience Comment: Ask about leftover, end of year budget as source of funding.

Comment: Our bread and butter is instruction--can't just buy what kids want. Anybody can order books--we need to help students advance.

Vendor Question: Is there a Maslow's library of hierarchy needs? (good question)

Joyce's Idea: Build a wish list on Amazon that parents can access.


HOW TO BUY?

Different models of purchase: consortiums, packages, timed buys (i.e. I only need this for 3 months).

New models of pricing for mass purchasing.
Gale Rep: We hear you need predictability in pricing. Based on last year's use?

My battery's dying....I'll post anything of interest later!

Doug Johnson's Call to Arms

I have a confession to make. I spent the last year acting like the copyright police. Oh my intentions were good. As a teacher, I spent years grabbing whatever I needed, copyright-be-damned. Once in library school, where copyright laws and our need to enforce them were pounded into our head, I emerged with the fiery passion of the newly converted.

But it was an uneasy fit, and I was never really comfortable telling teachers what they could and couldn't do. Moreover, as I taught my new film studies class, with students eager to create video mash-ups, I struggled between my desire to encourage their creativity and my role as policeman.

Yesterday, Doug Johnson set me free.

I've read his copyright views before, but he gave an eloquent and convincing presentation yesterday attacking one of library's "sacred cows," copyright enforcement. In his words, "Our job is to counsel, not enforce laws."

I have slowly been coming to this conclusion myself, to a belief that we must push the boundaries of fair use, not cower timidly within the safety of its borders. (I'm really mixing my metaphors here, aren't I?) As Johnson stated, we must focus not on what's forbidden, but on what's permitted, and always with the needs of our students and faculty foremost. After all, the school pays my salary, not Disney.

So I think I've finally hit a comfortable middle of the road position. I no longer practice my copyright version of eminent domain, grabbing whatever I think I need, but I'm not the copyright Gestapo, either.

Doug's simple rule of thumb? If it's transformative, if it uses the work for purposes other than those originally intended, it's fair use.

Sounds good to me.