Yes, I know this is a deliberately provocative title, and I am not implying that Prof Murray-Rust needs teaching more than most, nor that he is particularly difficult to teach.
But, as his blog posts show (start here and read on), here is a prominent academic, who is well-known in the library world, who doesn’t understand why – or indeed how or when – the BL have DRM (digital rights management) on their electronic inter-library loans. (please note: I’m not going to discuss here whether they should have or not – merely that they do).
I understand why, although I couldn’t tell you when I learned. I’ve never worked ILL – is it some kind of librarianly osmosis? I’m sure you, as librarians and info profs, understand too (and if you don’t, go read Steph Taylor’s (@CriticalSteph) response on PMR’s blog).
So here is an issue which librarians understand, and which fundamentally affects the relationship of our users – arguably of our most sophisticated users – to the library. As PMR’s blog (and comments) show, it’s an issue which very negatively effects that relationship. It’s seen as a barrier to scholarship – PMR says ‘I believe that these represent a serious reduction in academic freedom‘.
If this is issue is so vital, why don’t they know why we are doing it? Prof Murray-Rust says ‘The BL’s responses are often masterly Sir Humphreydoms that say nothing‘, and he asks for professional advice from librarians about how to interpret the restrictions.
Why does he need this? I appreciate the need to have the legal disclaimers in place, but our primary role, as information professionals, is to get information to our users. We have obviously failed here. Why is there not a simple, accessible guide to DRM on ILL articles – in fact, to the role of copyright in ILLs as a whole?
The Cambridge University Library website inter-library loans page makes no mention of DRM – but that may be because it makes no mention of the fact that you can obtain journal articles electronically, through SED (secure electronic delivery). Surely Cambridge provides this service? Indeed, why else would PMR be questioning it? Yet no mention – that I could find. I’d be very happy to be proved wrong!
I’m not singling out Cambridge for condemnation here – it merely happens to be Prof Murray-Rust’s institution. Let’s look at some others, shall we? Manchester? No mention. Oxford and Sheffield? Some mention – they at least acknowledge the existence of SED. Edinburgh? Getting better – advice about the service, and a mention of why you can only print one copy. ‘Copyright restrictions’ is a pretty bare-bones explanation, but at least it’s a start.
So there is some information out there – but surely you’re not suggesting that this is providing an acceptable service to users? That to find information on a service you provide they have to find information on that service as provided by other libraries, and extrapolate from there?
(This is just a whirlwind tour of a few libraries that sprung to mind – if you know of a particularly good example of how libraries are communicating these restrictions, please let me know!)
So, on to the BL. After a bit of digging, I found the SED FAQ – it’s certainly not in a prominent or easily accessible place. And yes, it answers the technical questions. But nowhere is there a mention of the ‘why’. And without the ‘why’, it appears that we are restricting access to information for our own fun and amusement.
DRM on articles may or may not be deliberate barrier to scholarship, but not providing easy access to (in effect, withholding) all of the information users need to make the best choice about how to access those article, and how to make best use of them once they have obtained them, is. If we have to live with DRM, we have to learn how to make sure users get the most out of it – and that they understand why it is there. If we don’t, we’re failing in one of our fundamental trusts: to make the information our users need available to them – even if they don’t know they need it.
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May 25, 2010 at 12:49 am
Unilever Centre for Molecular Informatics, Cambridge - Why can’t we teach Peter Murray-Rust about DRM? « petermr’s blog
[…] John Rylands Library later this year…] Anyway she has written a balanced and thoughtful piece https://bethaninfoprof.wordpress.com/2010/05/11/why-cant-we-teach-peter-murray-rust-about-drm/ [The post doesn't seem to carry a licence so I'll assume she would like having it republished […]
May 25, 2010 at 7:55 am
Peter Murray-Rust
I have reposted and briefly commented at
http://wwmm.ch.cam.ac.uk/blogs/murrayrust/?p=2434.
Thank you for this post – you are effectively the only librarian who seems to think this issue is worth even thinking about in public. It is, and unless challenged will destroy large parts of academic libraries
May 25, 2010 at 9:06 am
Henry Rzepa
I have replied to Peter’s quoting of your post on Peter’s blog.
The real question is whether DRM introduced when the British Library delivers a document from a publisher is the harbinger of DRM to be introduced when a university library delivers the document to the same recipient. I seek reassurance that this is not going to happen!
When I expressed these fears locally, one answer that came was that a move to open journals was the solution, and that some grand initiative was in the air in this regard. That of course does not address the issue that access to the immense heritage of 350 years of scientific publishing also needs protection.
May 26, 2010 at 5:02 pm
bethan
Hi Henry,
I’ve also replied to you on Peter’s blog – it gets rather confusing when these discussions are spread out! As my comment is currently awaiting moderation, I will repeat it here:
‘Henry – as far as I am aware, Richard is correct. It is a specific issue of inter-library loans – ie providing the material to someone who is not an owner/licensor of it – that requires these restrictions.’
To that I would add that this issue of publisher-controlled access is not one which librarians can face alone – we would need the support of academics & administrators to make any significant changes in the way in which academic libraries purchase journals and journal articles.
May 28, 2010 at 7:05 am
Bibliothekarisch.de » Blog Archive » links for 2010-05-27
[…] Why can’t we teach Peter Murray-Rust about DRM? « Bethan's information professional blog DRM on articles may or may not be deliberate barrier to scholarship, but not providing easy access to (in effect, withholding) all of the information users need to make the best choice about how to access those article, and how to make best use of them once they have obtained them, is. If we have to live with DRM, we have to learn how to make sure users get the most out of it – and that they understand why it is there. If we don’t, we’re failing in one of our fundamental trusts: to make the information our users need available to them – even if they don’t know they need it. (tags: DRM digital_rights_management british_library ill interlibraryloan dokumentlieferserviece 05/2010 2010) […]
June 27, 2010 at 10:12 am
Glyn Wintle pub talk: Copyright, privacy & SEO tips « (the) health informaticist
[…] more of a poke around finds us an interesting blog post, quoted by Murray-Rust, by an information professional named Bethan. She observes that library users are not given a rationale for DRM at most universities (from a […]
June 27, 2010 at 10:16 am
Danielle
Hi Bethan,
I went to a pub talk by someone in the Open Rights group (http://www.openrightsgroup.org/index) a couple days ago and he mentioned that the only people from the library world that he ever sees lobbying parliament are the British library… Anyway, I’ve borrowed from your fab post above in a sum up of the evening on our blog.
I suppose I didn’t know what DRM was before all this- just seemed strange to have to download a special version of Adobe that crashed my pc to have to view electronic articles from the BL. A bit unnecessary in my opinion!
cheers,
Danielle
July 1, 2010 at 5:37 pm
bethan
Hi Danielle,
Thanks for the link and the comment. That talk sounds really interesting, and I’ll definitely have a look at the Open Rights Group. It’s so important for us all to get involved!
btw, I know your fellow blogger Hanna – and Alan Fricker through twitter. Small info prof world, eh? 🙂