On Wed, Mar 4, 2009 at 5:44 PM, geni <geni...@gmail.com> wrote: > 2009/3/4 David Gerard <dger...@gmail.com>: >> 2009/3/4 geni <geni...@gmail.com>: >> >>> Getting access to existing collections and permission to make copies >>> of them (county archives will generaly photocopy stuff for you but >>> they won't let you point a camera at the stuff) is a more significant >>> issue at this point. >> >> >> http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Sun-Glasses-Camera-with-2GB-Flash-Memory-+Micro-SD-Slot_W0QQitemZ150327823289QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20090220?IMSfp=TL090220122003r5179 >> >> Now to work out how to make it a tax deduction! >> >> >> - d. > > Sneaking in a camera would not be a problem if I felt like doing that > but I have standards. What bugs me is the restriction is so > irrational. > > It's not a matter of protecting the documents. I was allowed to > handle them without wearing gloves, they were fairly robust (19th > century1:500 OS maps. large enough scale that would identify > individual rooms in buildings) and in any case photographing even with > flash (not that I would need to use a flash) would have done less > damage than photocopying. > > It's not a matter of disruption since modern camera can be pretty much > silent where as the microfilm machines people were useing were rather > noisy. > > It may be a matter of control since there are conditions on what you > can do with the photocopies and when a few years back I asked them > about CC release I wasn't able to get a straight answer. > > Annoying. >
I think a big part of why so many libraries do this is fear of copyright liability, if they permit patrons to copy materials that are copyrighted. With photocopies that they make or explicitly authorize, the copying can be okayed by their trained people to ensure that it's something where copying is allowed. They probably wouldn't be liable anyway, and the rules they train people with often go well beyond what the law requires, but it's an approach that has been entrenched pretty deeply. Libraries and archives have a lot of practices that have not been updated to account for the realities of the post-Internet world and the growing level of copyright awareness and activism on the part of patrons. -Sage (User:Ragesoss) _______________________________________________ WikiEN-l mailing list WikiEN-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l
