Against-the-Grain.com

The Implications of “Good Enough” and the Future of Libraries

by Tony Horava (Collection and Information Resources Coordinator, University of Ottawa, 65 University, Ottawa, ON K1N 6H5; Phone: (613) 562-5800 ext3645 <thorava@uottawa.ca>

 “The perfect is the enemy of the good.” Voltaire’s words from The Philosophical Dictionary have a particular resonance for libraries today.

Reports of Meetings – 28th Annual Charleston Conference (pdf)
Issues in Book and Serial Acquisition, “The Best of Times … The Worst of Times,” Francis Marion Hotel, Embassy Suites Historic District, and College of Charleston (Addlestone Library), Charleston, SC, November 5-8, 2008

Charleston Conference Reports compiled by: Ramune K. Kubilius (Collection Development / Special Projects Librarian, Northwestern [...]

Is “Functional” Use “Transformative” and Hence “Fair”? A Copyright Conundrum (pdf)

Column Editor: Sanford G. Thatcher (Director, Penn State Press, USB 1, Suite C, 820 N. University Drive, University Park, PA 16802-1003; Phone: 814-865-1327; Fax: 814-863-1408) <sgt3@psu.edu> www.psupress.org

Moving Libraries to a Web Services Environment – Issues To Consider
by Todd Carpenter (Managing Director, NISO, One North Charles Street, Suite 1905, Baltimore, MD 21201; Phone: 301-654-2512; Fax: 410-685-5278)  <tcarpenter@niso.org> www.niso.org

 In April, OCLC released the first iteration of a Web-based service for library management systems. This is the first salvo in what will likely become [...]

We’re All Me-ists Now
by Mark Y. Herring (Dean of Library Services, Dacus Library, Winthrop University) herringm@winthrop.edu

In a widely and rightly reviled movie, Wall Street, Michael Douglas plays a sinister character by the name of Gordon Gekko. The movie is hardly subtle (get it? Gecko, evil, lizard-like? This was before the Geico commercials made them lovable) [...]

Copyright Column
Column Editor: Laura N. Gasaway (Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Law, Chapel Hill, NC 27599; Phone: 919-962-2295; Fax: 919-962-1193) <laura_gasaway@unc.edu> www.unc.edu/~unclng/gasaway.htm

QUESTION: An academic library has a scanner that is available to students. Not surprisingly, students often want to use it to digitize parts of library books which [...]

When a Bare Possibility of Access Is Not Enough
Column Editor: Bruce Strauch (The Citadel) <strauchb@citadel.edu>

Leonard Jones & James White v. Mary J. Blige; Universal-MCA Music Publishing et al, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 4451.

In the year 2000, Rap artist-wannabe Tim Acker a/k/a Benevolence wrote the lyrics to [...]