given that my new gig at mcgill revolves around scholarly communication, copyright is something i deal with on a daily basis.
for the record, i believe:
copyright is important and artists should have their works protected so they can make a living
[speaking as a scholarly communication chica] university presses help authors make the best of their work, through peer-review, copy-editing, and layout (check out MQUP‘s books – attractive scholarly texts? NOT kookytalk!)
copyright law in canada (and the u.s. since i hear about that regularly as well) is in need of a kick-inna-pants because it is no longer protecting culture but inhibiting it
a lot of scholarly presses are burrowing their heads in the sand in lieu of evaluating their business models
larry lessig (he of creative commons) gave a talk at educause this year, and not only is it one of his best talks, but it looks at the issue of copyright in an academic milieu – something which (i agree) needs re-evaluation.
i love dares. doing scary things (hello battledecks…) is fun.
University of Toronto library students seem to like dares as well – and have taken it to the next level by publicly documenting their dare in order to raise money to fight AIDS in Africa.
the dare? take photos of strangers holding a honkin’ huge “i <3 librarians” sign. the flickr stream is filled with great pix.
guerilla marketing for a good cause.
the past few weeks have been, cover your ears kids cuz i’m about to cuss, batshit crazy in libraryland.
i’m done with it.
all of it.
if you don’t have something constructive to say, something that is looking to FIX problems out there, get out tha way.
personal attacks, anonymous attacks, and, well, attacks in general, just create some serious infighting in a profession with WAY MORE IMPORTANT things to worry about.
to the folks in libraryland who have had a rough coupla weeks, THANK YOU.
haters will always have blogs. drama llamas will always figure out a way to snark.
but please know that many of us think you rock.
(and remember, there’s always PS22 goodness available 24/7 thanks to the intertubes.)
