Projects Underway

Both getting and accessing scholarly materials deal with elements of intellectual property concerns, licensing and copyright. Awareness is necessary for faculty, librarians, IT personnel, and administrators who regularly create, provide, and distribute scholarly materials in research and teaching. This is especially important given the increasing pace of digitization of content and an increasing focus on licensing, copyright, and intellectual property in the context of open access. The need for collaboration among many constituencies on campuses to successfully and ethically provide scholarly materials is a growing concern.

The one-day conference proposed seeks to explore issues behind the concept of researchers as authors and their rights, and researchers as consumers as well as producers of information. This conference will stimulate scholarly exchange among all disciplines and organizations in research and teaching.

The May 2012 federal court decision in the closely-watched case involving Georgia State University’s copyright and fair use policies and use of scholarly materials on e-reserve is a major development that affects faculty and academic libraries. The proposed program will update both instructors and librarians about the decision, copyright and licensing environment in general following the decision, and alternatives to current business models including the open access movement.

Faculty and researchers face complex questions as they consider their scholarly research, peer interaction, teaching, and publication in an open access environment. The need for access to scholarly material is the lifeblood of research and higher education generally but the way scholarly communication works is changing as we move into the 21st century.

Issues to be addressed include, but are not limited to “How does the Creative Commons model affect me and my work?” “What is the SUNY Learning Commons”? “How do new alternatives affect my scholarship, instructional design, and teaching?”

Questions that are routinely posed by faculty to librarians and IT support show confusion and the need to raise awareness of legal issues as well as of best practices in the use of scholarly and instructional materials. A FACT2 sponsored SUNYwide survey of SUNY Scholarly Communication, Open Access and Copyright conducted Spring 2012 reinforce the need for clear communication and greater understanding of how to work with evolving guidelines among all SUNY college sectors. The now-common implementation of learning management systems, distance education courses and use of media for instructional purposes create an urgent need for conversation regarding what practices are acceptable, financially viable and sustainable. What are the implications/risks involved in choices we make as we develop courses?

Format
Speakers will cover the above topics and raise awareness of issues from faculty perspective. Sessions will be as interactive as possible with questions posed to stimulate discussion. Conference registration opens 8am – 9am on the chosen date (October 2012 timeframe). Schedules permitting, the proposed opening speakers include the College at Brockport President John Halstead and SUNY’s Provost Lavallee. There will be morning and afternoon sessions featuring invited speakers and panel discussions. Seesions begin at 9 am, break at 10:15, have a one-hour lunch at noon, and afternoon sessions from 1-4 pm. The final afternoon session will be a panel to provide additional interaction between the speakers and attendees. Panelists will be the speakers from throughout the day who will discuss issues raised and take questions and comments. A half-hour networking opportunity is scheduled from 4-4:30 pm to draw the conference to a close and encourage additional interaction. A dinner reception will be offered, for an additional charge, the evening of the conference for those staying overnight.

Preliminary arrangements
We will invite Carey Hatch, SUNY Assistant Provost, and David Lavallee, SUNY Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost. Other proposed presenters include engaging speakers who are experts in their field:
Kenneth Crews, Copyright Advisory Office, Columbia University, and
Peter Hirtle, senior policy advisor, Cornell University,
Robert Clarida, partner in charge of copyright practice at the New York firm of Cowan, Liebowitz & Latham, P.C.,
Eugene Krentsel, Assistant Vice President Entrepreneurship & Innovation Partnerships, and
Roy Tennant, Senior Program Officer for OCLC Research

Related activities
The Drake Memorial Library and James M. Milne Library will also host exhibit/displays highlighting intellectual property, open access and other issues addressed in this conference as part of Open Access Week (October 8-12, 2012).

Participants
We anticipate the total participants to be 100 including 4-5 presenters. Using Elluminate or other webcast software may also be used if available for other SUNY campuses.

Benefits
The issues of copyright, licensing, and open access are not unique to SUNY – every academic institution is acutely aware of these, but not all are well equipped to deal with them. This conference will be of interest to not only our local constituency, but also to other academic institutions. The facilitation of scholarly exchange between SUNY attendees and non-SUNY attendees is an additional benefit. The conference allows SUNY to play a leadership role in ensuring faculty, staff and students have current, up-to-date understanding of best practices related to scholarly publishing, open access and is particularly timely in light of recent Georgia State University case related to fair use. The conference can help participants support The Power of SUNY plan especially as related to the education pipeline, vibrant community and goals of increasing the national profile of SUNY faculty and students.

Workshop speakers focused on shared resources, copyright, open scholarship and copyright clearance. The workshop outcomes are available.

Project Outcome Report