In 2020 the tenth edition of the "Intellectual Freedom Manual" will be published by American Library Association (ALA) Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF). As with each new edition, this one includes guidance on the latest issues, the newest policy statements related to intellectual freedom (IF), and the core documents that outline the…

Copyright concerns continue to bedevil K-12 librarians, who are often called upon to act as the copyright officers in public schools. This article describes recent copyright developments of concern to these librarians in three areas: a recent court case involving a university library, pending legislation supported by ALA, and a regulatory update.…

School librarians work with a variety of individuals; the largest groups are usually made up of students (most often K-12, but perhaps also preschoolers), teachers, and administrators. However, it is also possible that school staff, students' parents and guardians, and even the community at large might participate in school library functions and…

In this article, the author states that school librarians can contribute to an atmosphere that supports intellectual freedom by drawing attention to the subtle messages about community values--messages that are communicated by virtue of what is included or excluded from curricular and co-curricular offerings. The author address issues with…

Building a personal learning network (PLN) for intellectual freedom has long been an important role of a school librarian; however, in the steadily increasing onslaught of digital information that librarians face today, and in the future, the task has become mission-critical. Personal learning, it stands to reason, requires an appropriate dialogue…

School librarians are often the only educators in the school with copyright training and, by default, are perceived of as the copyright experts. Likewise, the buck stops with the head administrator; ultimately that person is accountable for the school's compliance with policies and laws, including copyright laws and fair use. Along with this, more…

Collaboration and coteaching with classroom teachers and campus specialists are the cornerstones of a successful school library program. Whereas collaboration is the process of planning a lesson or unit of instruction, coteaching suggests a much deeper level of collaboration--one in which both the teacher and campus specialist (be it school…

Humorist Josh Billings quipped, "About the most originality that any writer can hope to achieve honestly is to steal with good judgment." Billings was harsh in his view of originality, but his critique reveals a tension faced by students every time they write a history paper. Research is the essence of any history paper. Especially in high school,…

Discusses copyright and fair use on the Internet and describes how to investigate library Web sites that have been copied without permission. Highlights include the importance of using META tags to help prove authorship; the need to document with printed copies; how to register a Web site; and image watermarks. (LRW)

Explains how to obtain official copyright registration for an original work. Describes how to contact the Copyright Office at the Library of Congress; what can be registered; what forms are needed; when the work receives copyright registration; and notification of registration. (LRW)

Whereas using copyright-protected materials in a self-contained classroom may be within fair use, posting the same materials on a Web page with potential worldwide distribution or using them in distance learning exceeds the fair-use guidelines. This article discusses different classes of public-domain materials: U.S. Government documents; old…

If school library media specialists are unable to find the owner of a work, how do they contact them for permission to use or copy their work? They can go to the publisher of the work for contact information. They can also go to an organization, such as an agency or royalty house, company, or clearinghouse that specializes in helping users obtain…

Copyright compliance can be divided into two phases: things and people. Suggestions are provided for managing things (print, video, audio, computer software, hardware, local area network resources, and Internet) and people (students, teachers, and staff). Responsibilities of the copyright manager are briefly noted. (AEF)

Most school librarians do not think of copyright compliance and facilities planning in the same breath. Yet the design of space--physical and virtual--can discourage or promote compliance, or even help police it. Placement of and access to equipment, traffic patterns, signage, and student workspace all may influence copyright-compliance behavior…

Describes several projects aimed at building the Information Commons, including: Knowledge Conservancy plans to create a database of all freely available digitized content; the Universal Library, a project with the long-term goal of providing free, online access to all books; and several projects of the Creative Commons intended to build a robust…