Mark Brazaitis worries that his university may sabotage the literary careers of his students. As director of the creative-writing program at West Virginia University, Mr. Brazaitis oversees the training of about 30 graduate students, who hope to become published authors. At the end of their three years in the program, they hand in their magnum…

When a jury convicted a Tennessee professor this month of illegally exporting information to foreign countries via his graduate students and a trip to China, it sent a message to colleges that they need to scrupulously monitor their faculty members' research and their compliance with the often confusing universe of export-control regulations. In…

For some, it seems that the dream of a perfect research machine is almost within reach. Google announced late last year that it would digitize millions of bound books, making available online the full text of public-domain books and excerpts from works still in copyright. Thrilling and dazzling as the potential for research and distribution…

Rising library costs and the expansion of computer networks have led administrators at major research universities to consider fundamental changes in scholarly publishing. Major issues include sharing of costly foreign materials, making scientific and technical material more accessible, and treatment of intellectual property in the electronic…