Deadline

.
.

March 1999

Jonathan Leith-Hunt explains the role of the Copyright Licensing Agency


As practising librarians and highly qualified information specialists, AUKML members should be more aware than most of copyright law, and the Copyright Licensing Agency's (CLA) role as a licence provider. The trial of persuading senior management to take copyright issues seriously probably strikes a familiar cord with many AUKML members, as does the possibility of being held personally liable for breaking the law. Under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 multiple copying of literary and text works is not permitted unless permission is obtained from each individual copyright holder. Alternatively a licence can be taken out with CLA.

The CLA, a non-profit organisation,was formed in 1982 by the Publishers Licensing Society (PLS) and the Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS), and issues licences on behalf of rightsholders permitting the photocopying of extracts from books, journals and periodicals to business, education and government. A licence from CLA will permit multiple copying from an extensive list of UK publications, and from publications in seventeen other countries where CLA has reciprocal agreements, such as Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and the United States of America. The licence fee is then used to compensate owners of intellectual property for the use of their work and all monies recouped are forwarded directly on to authors and publishers on the basis of sound statistical surveys and transactional usage. Fee distribution approached £17 million for the year April 1997 - March 1998.

The arrival of the digital era has not only rewritten the traditional notions of copyright and extended the parameters, but also will have far reaching effects on the management and accessing of information. Not surprisingly therefore, CLA has made this its biggest priority. In response to demand from its licensees, CLA is currently developing a licence for the digitisation and electrocopying of existing print material. Licensees will be able to scan, store and electronically send extracts from copyright material.

The signing of an inter agency agreement by CLA and the Design and Artists' Copyright Society (DACS) was also an historic event, being a major step towards the possibility of clearing the rights of different owners all through one agency. For the first time, under the agreement, the photocopying of artistic works within textual works will be permitted. Peter Shepherd, CLA's Chief Executive said: "This is an example of our commitment to providing both new and existing licensees with what they have been asking for. We see the addition of artistic works to CLA's licences as completing the circle of rights that can be offered to users."

As well as developing new products in response to the needs of its licensees, CLA takes an active international role through its membership of the International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations (IFRRO), including lobbying on behalf of rightsholders and users with regards to copyright legislation. In particular CLA has been monitoring the progress of the European Commission's Draft Directive on Copyright through the European Parliament. As well as providing firmer protection for rightsholders and strengthening the position of knowledge-based industries, the Directive should clarify copyright law across the European Union, and thus make it substantially easier for business to trade intellectual property, particularly as the potential of e-commerce is realised.

So CLA is in the position of being able to offer a range of licences that both serve the needs of information users, whilst ensuring owners of intellectual property are fairly rewarded. CLA is confident that AUKML members, as information professionals, will have no hesitation in reminding their colleagues and managers about the implications of copyright compliance. CLA has always preferred voluntary agreements and believes AUKML members will need little persuading of the necessity of taking a licence.

Jonathan Leigh-Hunt
PR/Marketing Executive

For further information on the CLA licence, or any other aspect of copyright, please contact Claire Blake, Business Development Executive, The Copyright Licensing Agency Limited, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 0LP. Tel: 0171 631 5513. Fax: 0171 631 5500. email: claire@cla.co.uk website: http://www.cla.co.uk

Charles Oppenheim, Professor of Information Science at Loughborough University, offers some supplementary advice and comment:


Jonathan Leigh-Hunt's article, whilst correct in most regards, is misleading in two places. In particular, the statement that "Under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 multiple copying of literary and text works is not permitted unless permission is obtained from each individual copyright holder" is untrue. It is a defence to make copies under fair dealing (and this can include multiple copies) for the purposes of research, private study, criticism, review or reporting current events.

Whilst each case would be considered on its merits, the more copies that are made the less likely it is that that fair dealing applies. But the presence of book reviews which appear in newspapers and which include reproduction of some original texts shows that making millions of copies of some texts is possible under fair dealing. The statement that CLA helps lobby "on behalf of rightsholders and users" is also misleading, as its primary focus is to support rightsholders, and not users.

I am a supporter of CLA and I warmly welcome its work in developing a licence for electronic copying. However, there is no need for it to mislead users to promote its work.

Professor Charles Oppenheim
Dept of Information Science
Loughborough University
Loughborough
Leics LE11 3TU

Tel 01509-223065
Fax 01509-223053

Let your browser do the talking


In December's Deadline, Annabel Colley explained the value of email for finding and communicating with people with expertise that you need. In this edition she looks at another of the internet's great inventions: Newsgroups or UseNet to give it its proper name.

Way back in the dawn of time, yes before even the World Wide Web in its current form existed the Internet was used primarily as a communications tool. Academics used it to exchange information and some would argue that this is still in fact it's best use.

Newsgroups bring together people with common and sometimes esoteric interests. In the early day of the internet they provided a simple means through which those setting up the network could discuss problems and suggest solutions. The idea spread and there are now thousands of groups on everything from nuclear physics to pet ownership to music for all tastes. The really great thing about a newsgroups is that you can be reasonably sure that the people reading it are passionately interested in the subject. You are quite likely to find expert opinion, although I tend to find that you are more likely to find serious research and discussion on mailing lists than in newsgroups.

Unlike email, which arrives in you mail box, newsgroups are passive: you read them when you want and participate if you want. Newsgroups are public discussions that anyone with newsreader software can subscribe to and participate in.. You read what other members have written and can post a reply if you choose. You can jot down an email address from a newsgroup discussion and contact someone privately - I do this for potential Panorama contributors.

If I want to find impassioned opinion, potential programme contributors interviewees, grass roots discussions on a disease or a new drug, I will search newsgroups. However, if I want to monitor long term, legislation, (the Department of Trade and Industry have a mailing list on the progress of the Competition Bill for example) tap into groups of professionals; scientists, barristers or journalists, I will join a mailing list. I monitored the emergence of antibiotic resistant diseases by subscribing to PROMED - a list run for just that topic by the World Health Organisation. I keep up to date on new web sites via the UKOLUG list. A good place to find out what groups exist is www.dejanews.com on the Web. The best advice is to start using email, mailing lists, newsgroups. See back page for details on how to use the AUKML list. Use it to experiment!

Membership Secretary Sara Margetts reports on the findings of the post conference survey.


Did you find the overall theme of the conference relevant?
Reading through the conference questionnaires was heart warming. It seems that all the hard work paid off. Most of the comments were very positive, with everyone saying that they felt the conference was a great success. Overwhelmingly people thought the conference was relevant..."the best one ever"..."Refreshing change". A few people were concerned that the conference title and programme had not encouraged senior management to pay for staff to attend.

Your views on the speakers:

Margaret Wallis received the highest marks for being both an excellent speaker and of most relevance. Sue Hill got good positive comments but a number of people felt that, although the presentation was fun and highly polished, it was low on content and went on too long. Virtually everyone's comment about Carol Harris' talk was..."very interesting"...."good", "useful"...."but needed more time!". Poor Phil Bradley - almost everyone who filled in the questionnaire did not attend the Sunday morning session, those who did found it "comprehensive and informative".

Was the salary survey useful?

Almost 100% said they found the salary survey useful. Sue Hill's report back on the survey was also very good but people found the links with surveyors and other professions distracting. A couple of people thought the report back would have been better if it had been done by the person who compiled the survey. There were a number of remarks about making this a regular feature, perhaps repeating it every two or three years. It was suggested that London and regional salaries should be compared separately.

Was the workshop useful?

Views on the workshop centred on the organisation of the groups. Many found the groups disproportionate and some people ended up in the same group as people they worked with. Everyone enjoyed the interaction and particularly listening to the report backs at the end of the session. Only the smallest group did not find the exercise stimulating and fun. A note for further reference, some people lost their conference notes because they did not know the chairs were going to be moved around and would have liked some prior notice.

Were the hotel facilities satisfactory?

Being fun loving types we enjoyed staying at the hotel and particularly liked the hotel bar but once again would have enjoyed a chance to swim (presumably not in the sea!). We didn't like the small beds or for the unlucky few with rooms at the front the noise. Alcohol seems to be essential for us - even in our rooms with the lack of a minibar being keenly felt. I'm sure this has nothing to do with the amount we drink but Š"water, water and more water" was also requested by a large number!

Thoughts on the food:

Food being the next most important item on our agenda, I approached your comments with interest. The hotel breakfast seems to have been the big success. Otherwise most people felt the food was good or ok apart from the veggies who thought the choice uninspiring. China Garden and Royal Pavilion Food and wine at the both the China Garden and the Royal Pavilion were much enjoyed. The veggies did have a long wait at the China Garden with their food arriving later than the rest.

General Points

Some very good points were made under the general criticism section of the questionnaire. "Too many speakers in the morning"......"need to review the Sunday morning session"......"could we have a different time slot for the exhibition, say Sunday morning......"We need to end on a more upbeat note with the Sunday morning session". There were some that thought of starting the conference on the Friday evening and leaving the Sunday for a visit or travelling home. One person found the after dinner speaker irrelevant. Other concerns where the high cost of the conference for small libraries.

General plaudits included "very well organised" "new conference format worked very well"."the layout of the chairs was very effective" and a number of "well done and thanks to the team for all their hard work".

Suggestions for next year include a session on CAR (computer assisted research), electronic picture archiving ­ tips, guidelines and developments, multi - skilling, law, can we manage without paper? ­ are electronic press sources sufficient? can libraries make serious money?

Recommendations for possible venues were Manchester, Jersey, Leicester, Newcastle and Glasgow. Other ideas raised were for the conference to be held somewhere central, that doesn't change every year, so that travel costs can be planned. London also got a couple of votes with visits to main news libraries for example: BBC, News International and the Guardian. The following comment on the speakers, sums up how many of you felt "please can we have speakers of the same quality. The lectures were pitched at the right level neither confusing or insulting the audience

ELVIS in NEON


Susan Pryce reports on last January's AUKML visit to BBC Broadcasting House 12.1.99

Some of our snowbound colleagues up north couldn't make it but there was still a good turnout for the AUKML visit to BBC Information and Archives at Broadcasting House on January 12th. The winter chill was soon dispelled by the lashings of wine and refreshments provided by our hosts led by Jenny Martin, Research Services Manager at the BH Research Centre. We were very lucky in having so many people from Information & Archives and the Dialog Corporation on hand to tell us about their work and give demos.

Everyone was intrigued to see NEON (News Information Online) the new 'electronic cuttings service' custom designed by Dialog for the BBC. The NEON service (in its final development stages) will give desktop access to the full electronic text (rather than images of actual cuttings) of articles from over 80 UK and international titles by April 1999. And what titles: although some of the sources are available to other users via Dialog, many have been specially requested by the BBC for NEON and therefore they will have exclusive text feeds from publications such as Hello and the Express. In some cases, where a direct electronic feed is not possible due to the method of production, Dialog converts the original document to electronic format using optical character recognition. Some of these publications are happy for the BBC to have their material but don't want to give public access via commercial hosts. In many cases, also, the information will be available to NEON users before it is loaded on Dialog's commercially available services.

Information and Archives decided on this customised route because they wanted to be able to have subject access using the same controlled terms across all their resources. So the NEON thesaurus is closely allied to the headings for the paper cuttings collection. Articles are automatically subject indexed by firing them against a profile of words and phrases commonly associated with a topic: if enough are present in the article in the right patterns, then that article will be retrieved when the topic is requested by the searcher. 'Navigator' buttons guide the user through the thesaurus of subject headings. So far there are about 17,000 thesaurus terms compared with 10,000 terms used in the manual cuttings system. Searching can also be by free text or a combination of search tools e.g. subject headings and free text. Another useful feature is the scope search which will apply generic terms to a search e.g. a subject search on police can then be scoped for 'comment and criticism' or 'accidents' or 'youth'. A navigator button brings up the full list of generic terms available for searching.

NEON will be made available to BBC users via the corporation's Intranet on a commercial basis using designated passwords. Obviously a lot of work has gone in to setting up NEON but everyone was staying mum about the cost! There were so many other resources on show it's hard to do them all justice. ELVIS attracted a lot of attention - the Electronic Visual Image Store gives access to 83 thousand electronic news stills (no doubt a few of them are of the late great Mr P). Access via theIntranet is free - a charge is made when an image is downloaded - delivery is by ISDN or hardcopy. A traffic light colour coding system alerts the user to the copyright status of the image. Images can be linked thematically so that a search for pictures on Clinton's impeachment brings up stills of all the people involved.

Also available via the Intranet, the Anniversaries database is added to daily and covers births, deaths, and every other kind of significant event. Information can be extracted in many different ways: so for example, the system calculates when it will be 5, 10, 25 years after Princess Diana's death and can list significant milestones in Tony Blair'scareer. The Forthcoming Events database will soon be combined with the anniversaries giving a very powerful tool for programme makers always on the look out for inspiration.

A tour of the Sound Archives (covering BBC output) and the Gram library bought-in music and sound) revealed some fascinating facts: it's only since 1984 that BBC news and current affairs radio broadcasts have been comprehensively recorded. (The BBC radio series of 'On this day' came to swift end as a result!). The criterion for selection for detailed indexing to enable retrieval by anything other than the bare basics such as programme name and date is: what might programme makers want to use in the future? So the Sound Archives librarians need to be expert in anticipating their users' demands. One way they do this is by producing compilation CD's - for example, there are 24 CDs covering sound from the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the Gulf war starting with the first urgent pleas for help going out on Kuwait radio. These CDs are for BBC users only as a lot of the material is not BBC copyright (CNN commentaries for instance) and producers are aware of this.

There is also an ongoing project to convert old vinyl LP recordings of BBC material to CD format. About 20 vinyl copies were originally made and in many cases, especially for much requested items, the Archives are down to their last few. Since radio news journalists moved to Television Centre in west London, the Sound Archives have the facility to play recordings over to TC: they are downloaded onto minidisk at the other end. There is a similar link to Brentford where drama and entertainment recordings are stored. Recordings date back to Florence Nightingale but the most requested tend to be Margaret Thatcher, Kennedy and Churchill. Recently, Peter Mandelson's resignation led to a request for a sound package covering his career 'Things can only get better' sung at the election victory party and so on. All in all, a very interesting and enjoyable evening was had by all leaving us with plenty to think about not least how making resources available via the Intranet is seeing a growing trend towards 'generic' librarians able to index and retrieve any type of material. And the takeaway info./stationery packs were much appreciated by all!

Librarians on the box


Librarians don't often get the leading roles. But in Stephen Poliakoff's Shooting the Past , four librarians found themselves very much centre-stage. Sue McTeer of the Guardian Research and Information Unit cast her critical eye over it.

If you've ever wanted to kill someone you've worked with, those memories may well have come flooding back to you if you've been watching Stephen Poliakoff's Shooting the Past. For Oswald Bates is the most infuriating librarian you're ever likely to come across although sadly, not the only irritating thing about the programme. Both plot and situation are highly improbable and it is difficult to watch, particularly as a Librarian, without shouting at least one sneering comment at the television.

The whole story hinges on Picture Librarian Marilyn Truman who is given one week to find a home for 10 million photographs in order to make way for an American Business School. Although it is clear that the collection is both unique and valuable, she is unable to find a buyer. Instead of considering obvious solutions, such as offering it for auction or splitting it up to sell to picture agencies, she resorts to increasingly desperate and devious means. The supporting characters which make up Marilyn's team of misfits, sorry staff, are irritating not only because each one represents the usual variations on the familiar librarian stereotype but also because it is hard to imagine any of them actually functioning in a work situation.

Both Nick (Young, Quiet Librarian) and Veronica (Tweedy, Spinster Librarian) suffer from memory loss while the special skills of Spig (Young, Wacky Librarian) consist of stalking around in leather pants pouting and being able to find a picture when you're stoned. You can only feel sympathy for Christopher Anderson, the American setting up the business school, when he tries in vain to find a useful skill between them which would make them reemployable at the school. Marilyn herself appears cool and competent yet runs the library in a most unbusiness like manner. None of the staff appear to have proper jobs but hang around drinking tea, smoking and going all dreamy when anyone produces a photograph. Usually at the same time the music starts.

There is no sense of urgency or work pressure with everyone clearing off at lunch time for a three course meal, supplied by full catering staff, and they don't receive a customer until half way through the last episode. This obviously takes them by surprise with Veronica practically dropping the telephone in shock. Oswald, (Loose Cannon Librarian) seems to have his own special job which involves spending all day `making connections` out of the pictures. Does he have time to answer the phone, you wonder. And despite the size of the collection, it is not even online. Heaven forbid.

Having said all of this, if not taken too literally, Shooting The Past is compulsive viewing. Although unrealistic, it does serve as an effective metaphor for passing time and changing values. It is also interesting how the central characters, Marilyn, Oswald and Mr Anderson interact and develop with Mr Anderson being reunited with his past while Marilyn is allowed to progress into the future. Both Lindsay Duncan as Marilyn Truman and Timothy Spall as Oswald Bates are very impressive in their performances and there is plenty in the script to keep you on the edge of your seat. On top of this, the many sequences of photographs are fascinating and along with the music, add an extra originality and moving quality to the drama.

Sue McTeer Guardian Research@Information Dept

Computers and Cuttings...and Cheesy Wotsits


A week in the life of Mick Brunton, Information Manager and advocate of 'Library Assisted Reporting' at Time Inc.

Monday
Cycle to work? Brettenham House at Waterloo Bridge. The place is a mess, clips, folders,newspapers and books litter the reference desk that sits in the centre of Time Magazines' library in London. Gone thankfully are the Cheesy Wotsits bags, Hobnob crumbs and other incriminating evidence of unhealthy Friday night cravings.

Friday is our deadline, and this wasw a bad one with late-night breaking stories that kept the two late-shifters there till 2 in the morning. There have been better closes and worse ones, but ever since TIME began publishing its Atlantic edition out of London, our junk snack intake has rocketed. And every Monday, towering proud of the debris are the papers for Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Resolve yet again to tackle the question: do we really need to clip any more? Tidy up and dig in.

Tuesday
Cycle to work. Mark some papers, answer mail and email, catch up on some news so I can nod sagely at the 11am story conference. This is the week's first gathering of editors, writers, reporters, researchers, plus the pix, art and production departments, where we decide what's going into this week's issue: who's writing, who's reporting, who's researching and what the cover options are. (This list is honed and refined as the week goes on, then typically thrown out of the window by events or by editor's whim on Friday.)

Mayhem it may be, but it's terribly important, I think, for the library to be involved in every aspect of the mayhem.

2pm. Cycle home? my afternoon for picking up daughters from school.

Wednesday
The eye of the storm. While TIME's correspondents around the globe are busy writing and interviewing to meet their Thursday deadline, we wait breathlessly. A good day for updating the library's intranet pages that form the core of our key objective? to reshape and revitalise the company through the implementation of information management strategies and technologies that will collate, channel and disseminate mission critical information into the darkest corners of the company. (Note: must find out what Knowledge Management is. Is it even cooler than Information Management? Does it pay better?)

The library pages dribbled into existence almost a year ago but it was only after the company's assorted netheads got together to form an intranet project team that they began to acquire a measure of legitimacy. Then the Man from Del Monte (aka the Publisher) said 'yes' and lo! we now have a full-time intranet co-ordinator (aka Robert).Thanks to Robert we no longer have to make do with my primitive grasp of HTML, for while we may not understand Robert, Robert understands scripting in many tongues and can make our pages do wondrous things.

Thursday
Writers' first drafts of stories are beginning to accumulate in the system and the researchers assigned to each one can begin the TIME-honoured process of checking and rechecking. (the terms 'red check' ,'black check' and 'greening' have their origin in the different coloured pencils used to make TIME stories fit to print.)

And whatever damage the television age has inflicted upon news magazines, TIME still cherishes and relies upon its reputation for accuracy. This in spite of the erosion over the years of the laborious interplay between top editor, senior editor, writer, correspondent, reporter and researcher that earned that reputation (and not a little ridicule).

Gone too, in London at least, is the distinction between librarian and researcher: fellow librarians Kate Noble and Mairi Ben Brahim both steer stories through the checking process, trimming stories to fit and adding headlines, subheds and captions. Each week they also have responsibility for assembling statistics for the 'Numbers' section, writing copy to accompany the Image of the week and putting dots in just the right place on the World Watch map. The buzzword in media libraries these days is of 'computer-assisted reporting'. We prefer to think in terms of 'library-assisted reporting'.

Friday
Printing presses around the world stand ready to roll off TIME through Saturday and delays can be hideously expensive. That's why Friday is a tightrope walk between updating or late-starting stories and putting them to bed. We huff and moan about it of course, but as any news junkie will tell you, there's no denying the buzz of a deadline. Call home to say goodnight to the children. My 6 year-old wants to come to the office during half-term. Katherine's been here a few times and has decided she wants my job when she grows up. Why? "Because you do cutting-out and sticking and stamping, and you write stories and play on a computer." She's right of course but she can't have it, because it's mine!

by Michael Brunton Information Manager Time Magazine