Georgia Libraries Conference Update Part II

Submitted by Jeff Fisher

The week of Staff Day, several FCPL staff were able to attend the Georgia Libraries Conference, held in Macon. Over the course of several blog posts, the staff who were at the conference will provide information related to the sessions they were able to attend. This blog series continues with summaries of the sessions attended by Jeff Fisher, FCPL Materials Services Manager.

Copyright Laws are Changing
Presented by Laura Burtle - Georgia State University
Attended by Jeff Fisher

Summary:

2018 Music Modernization Act:

• Blanket license system for Digital Music Providers
• Allows more producers, mixers, and sound engineers to receive royalties
• Brings pre-1972 sound recordings partially into the federal copyright system and provides remedies for unauthorized use
• These recordings were covered by a patchwork of state laws
• Music recordings before 1923 are in the public domain
• 1923 - 1946 music recordings will enter the public domain 100 years after their publication date
• 1947 - 1956 music recordings will enter the public domain 110 years after their publication date
• 1956 - 1972 music recordings will start to enter the public domain in 2067

CASE Act:

• Small claims court aimed at those who cannot afford pursue copyright infringement claims related to music recordings in federal court
• Proceedings are conducted by a copyright claims board that is part of the copyright office; procedures are conducted virtually with no option to appeal; this is a voluntary process, allows claimant to file in federal court
• Some libraries/archives have preemptively opted out of the copyright claims board and process
• Potential of library patrons ignoring CCB claims and not opting out thinking that it is a junk mail or spam solicitation which would result in a default decision
• Printed works from 1926 entered the public domain in 2022

Planning for a Collections Diversity Audit
Presented by Clayton County Public Library staff
Attended by Jeff Fisher
Summary:

• Library serves primarily children and young families
• Staff took diversity audit classes from Library Journal online
• Inspired by work of Rudine Sims Bishop - concept of patrons seeing mirrors and windows in the works available to them
• Considered using Collection HQ; did not pursue due to cost
• Determined that looking at books individually was the best approach; believe that the experience of looking at individual titles was good training for staff
• Use a checklist spreadsheet for which data can be entered through a Google Forms survey; created many, many categories on the spreadsheet to mark information about the works and their authors
• Took 1 month to review and enter 200 titles; determined that this would be a long term project
• Focusing on children’s materials
• Did not review nonfiction or audiovisual materials
• Challenge with getting information on authors who use pen names
• Measuring diversity of new titles as they arrive
• Results:
• Believed that the Teen Collection would prove to be the most diverse and the results bore this out
• Found that the youth Spanish collection was primarily translations of work original to the English language

Managing Accessibility Assessment for Online Resources
Presented by John Stephens - GALILEO
Attended by Jeff Fisher
Summary:

• Tied in accessibility to concept of universal design and the 7 principles of universal design
• Ways of web testing accessibility evaluation
• W3C Easy Checks - can check for flashing, blinking, moving content
• WAVE web accessibility evaluation tool
• Licensing and Purchasing:
• Make sure vendors are committed to accessibility; licensing language - commitment in writing by the vendor to accessibility
• VPATS - voluntary product accessibility template
• Independent evaluations:
• Library Accessibility Alliance testing
• University of Washington accessibility testing
• Check for accessibility statements in vendor contracts

The Community Cookbook Collection
Presented by Ashley Shull and Valerie J. Frey - Athens Regional Library
Attended by Jeff Fisher
Summary:

• Why Save Community Cookbooks? - record of old businesses and restaurants no longer in existence; captures the foodways of a time and place; communal approach to history; documentation of women’s history
• Community cookbooks are often not durable
• Community cookbooks tend to become popular/sought after 75 - 100 years after publication
• Athens Regional is currently is web documenting the websites of local restaurants
• Getting started:
• Create a small, niche collection
• Contact local historical societies for holdings
• Go through Friends donations
• Athens Regional only accepted material from the library’s service area
• Some items circulate and some remain in the Heritage room; challenges with existing and new food stains on some items
• Use the CKBK cutter above the call number on spine label; limited cataloging staff within the library system who also have to order all materials for all branches; challenges of compatibility of records within PINES; original cataloging frequently called for
• Storage challenges - have a collection of loose leaf recipes placed in archival boxes
• Display cookbooks with local history items
• Featured collection on library’s public blog