Although scholarship has addressed issues around serving international students in U.S. and Canadian libraries, reports on how Chinese graduate students use information in Chinese universities, especially for a particular discipline, are rare. In this study, the author interviewed 15 graduate students and researchers in a top-ranked chemistry…

Recent changes in Canadian copyright law have prompted Canada's educational institutions to reexamine their need for a blanket copying license. Users' rights under the amended Copyright Act now include fair dealing for purposes of education, and the Supreme Court has established that copying short excerpts for classroom use can qualify as fair…

The aim of this study is to reveal an insight into the awareness and experiences of IT specialists about fair use in Turkey. A phenomenological design was employed and the criterion sampling method was used in this study. A total of nine specialists volunteered to participate. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Information…

Provides an overview of the Canadian business environment and online sources of business information. The databases described cover the following areas: directories, financial information, stock quotes, investment reports, industrial and economic information, magazines, newspapers, wire services, biographical information, and government…

Purpose: This paper aims to provide information about various digital initiatives in libraries in Thailand and especially use of Dublin Core metadata in cataloguing digitized objects in academic and government digital databases. Design/methodology/approach: The author began researching metadata use in Thailand in 2003 and 2004 while on sabbatical…

Since the mid 1990s an increasing number of higher education institutions and organisations have been encouraging the production and submission of theses and dissertations in electronic format. Where access to electronic theses and dissertations is available via the Internet, usage figures indicate that this is a much consulted resource. However,…

Outlines the current legal structure of the European geographic information system (GIS) database industry, particularly in the area of copyright protection; critiques the impending Commission of the European Communities directive; and emphasizes the need for global consensus on the legal structure's ability to protect and regulate the flow of…

Briefly describes a project that created an archive of electronic versions of published text. The procedures used to access the archives are described and the policies of the archive for proper use of electronically delivered documents by scholars and libraries are discussed. (5 references) (CLB)

Examines the Commission of the European Communities' draft directive on database copyright. Components of the directive are discussed, including a definition of a database, databases protected as literary works under copyright law, piracy protection, fair use, and licensing requirements; and problems with the directive are described. (four…

This comprehensive review of databanks and CD-ROMs worldwide dealing with patents, trademarks, trade names, copyrights, and related legal opinions includes comments on database coverage and search features. Comparison tables of vendors' products are provided. (22 references) (EA)

Because of data ownership questions raised by the interchange and sharing of machine readable bibliographic data, this paper was prepared for the Bibliographic and Communications Network Committee of the National Library Advisory Board. Background information and definitions are followed by a review of the legal aspects relating to property and…

Describes the methods used to create secondary publications, and discusses the respective roles of and relationships between primary and secondary publications, emphasizing the symbiotic nature of the two. Related copyright legislation and cases in both the United States and other countries are reviewed. (CLB)

Considers the future of copyright in an electronic environment due to the ease with which materials can be copied. Discusses relevant legal cases; reproductive rights organizations; the role of contracts; databases; European Union initiatives; and conflict of laws. Concludes that increased owner-user cooperation is needed if copyright is to…

This paper presents European perspectives on the future of copyright management. The first section is an overview of intellectual property rights in Europe, including differences between copyright countries and "droit d'auteur" countries. The second section addresses European Community legal policy, including examples related to the…

The first half of the proceedings consists of three papers presented during the program session of a Library of Congress Network Advisory Committee (NAC) meeting. The first, a background paper by Robert L. Oakley, identifies some of the problems that modern information technology has created for the intellectual property system in the United…