Sea Change for Illinois Library Systems

It’s difficult for me to write this, but in response to the budget deficit in Illinois, the Alliance Library System will be eliminating all services with the exception of delivery and resource sharing. In addition, MITBC services will be suspended until funding is re-established. The consultants are wrapping up projects for the next 2 weeks and notifying our members. Overall, 22 ALS and MITBC staff members will be laid off as of Friday, May 28th, and there will no longer be a consulting and continuing education department.

This is a sea change for libraries throughout Illinois—North Suburban Library System made the first announcement about service reductions on May 11th. Unfortunately, the other systems will be making similar reductions as their reserves become exhausted. Kitty Pope, ALS Executive Director, wrote in her announcement RE: Change in ALS Core Services,

“Thank you for participating in our campaigns, contacting legislators and supporting our cooperative efforts. Unfortunately, we have run out of options; the storm is upon us, and we are in survival mode. Other Illinois library systems are on different time lines as to when they will run out of money, but they are all in trouble. There is no safe harbor from this storm.”

My time at ALS has been short, but I’ve loved every minute of it (well, except for this last part.) I’ve enjoyed learning about all our library types. From publics, I’ve learned that I can understand the budget cycle, read a budget and appropriate ordinance, and calculate a levy. From schools, I’ve learned that information literacy is a high priority, and that school librarians are working to stay relevant and indispensable in these tough economic times. From specials, I’ve learned that we have a diverse community of medical, historical, prison, and corporate libraries with needs that are as diverse as they are. And from academics, I’ve learned the value of tailoring networking and CE opportunities.

It’s been all libraries, all of the time—for that I am truly grateful.

Postscript: There's been an updated memo on May 20th detailing the most recent developments.

CARLI’s Copyright Workshop

I attended CARLI’s copyright workshop presented by Dwayne K. Buttler last week. Professor Buttler serves as the first Evelyn J. Schneider Endowed Chair for Scholarly Communications at the University of Louisville and holds a faculty appointment as a Professor in University Libraries. His program on Copyright and Digital Libraries, focused mostly on copyright basics with a little about the TEACH ACT and streaming media thrown in.

Even though he focused on many of the basics, this copyright workshop was different than any I’ve attended before. My first hint was his list of what “copyright probably oughta” be. With the proliferation of electronic resources, the importance and value of “cumulative development of enduring knowledge” should not be discounted, and without a sea change, copyright law creates “a nation of scofflaws, law breakers, ne’er-do-wells, and pirates”. This backs up Buttler’s stated goal “to teach good faith and reasonable practices” in regard to fair use.

Whoa—this deviated from every other single day copyright sessions I’ve attended. (Maybe I haven’t been attending the right ones!) Most of them reviewed copyright but made me feel like the complexity of copyright law necessitated that I steer faculty toward copyright free materials. Buttler discussed the ambiguity of copyright law and urged the use of risk analysis. He also talked a lot about transformative vs. derivative when considering Fair Use. Of course, the four factors are still relevant and every instant needs to be analyzed on a case-by-case basis, but transformative vs. derivative is a key element. I think this article, Fair use and transformativeness: It may shake your world, by Joyce Valenza in School Library Journal covers a lot of the same issues Buttler discussed.

Buttler also cited the recent YouTube controversy regarding a series of parodies using film clips from the movie, Downfall. Constantin Film, the movie’s copyright holder, sent takedown notices to YouTube regarding the parodies. YouTube removed the videos and only reinstated them after the video makers filed claim disputes. The controversy is very well addressed on the Center for Social Media’s Hitler Hates Fair Use – Downfall Meme Comes Full Circle. In the meantime, Brad Templeton made a video using a Downfall clip to chide Constantin Film and YouTube over this incident. If you haven’t seen Hitler, as “Downfall producer” orders a DMCA takedown, I would recommend it.

Information Literacy Summit - Problem Solving in our Communities

I attended the Information Literacy Summit at Illinois State University on April 20th. This year’s theme was “Problem Solving in our Communities: Everyday Information Experiences.” It was my 6th summit (there have been 9), and I my perception is that information literacy is evolving in Illinois. The earlier summits focused on IL basics—definitions, developing plans, locating resources and then morphed into best practices/applications. Now the direction seems to be shifting again—this time toward integrating IL into Gen Ed requirements and developing an awareness of IL as lifelong critical thinking skills.

There were two questions in the first session I attended on Critical Inquiry that really clicked for me. How can librarians help students create an identity as a researcher, and secondly, how do we become part of students learning communities? I’ve been thinking a lot about the second question lately, but had never fully articulated the first. (Thanks Jennifer and Joyce, presenters of the session, for solidifying it for me!) I think these are two of the core questions that all librarians will be considering as the profession continues to be influenced by technology trends.

More information about the summits and presentation is available through their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/infolitsummit.