And They Were There — Reports of Meetings 2021 Charleston Conference Column Editor: Ramune K. Kubilius (Galter Health Sciences Library & Learning Center, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine) <r-kubilius@northwestern.edu> Column Editor’s Note: Thanks to the Charleston Conference attendees, both those who attended on-site and virtually, who agreed to write brief reports highlighting and spotlighting their 2021 Charleston Conference experience. The conference moved to a hybrid format in 2021 and that presented both opportunities as well as challenges for registered attendees. All registrants had the opportunity to view recordings, to re-visit sessions they saw “live,” or to visit sessions they missed. Without a doubt, there are more Charleston Conference sessions than there were volunteer reporters for Against the Grain, so the coverage is just a snapshot. In 2021, reporters were invited to either provide general impressions on what caught their attention, or to select sessions on which they would report.
participation will increase in the future, particularly as the COVID-19 pandemic wanes and faculty gain more bandwidth for professional development.
There are many ways to learn more about the 2021 conference. Some presenters posted their slides and handouts in the online conference schedule. Please visit the conference site, https:// www.charleston-hub.com/the-charleston-conference/, and link to selected videos, interviews, as well as to blog reports written by Charleston Conference blogger, Donald Hawkins, https:// www.charleston-hub.com/category/blogs/chsconfnotes/. The 2021 Charleston Conference Proceedings will be published in 2022, in partnership with University of Michigan Press. — RKK
Presented by Lila Bailey (Internet Archive), Ann Okerson (CRL, Moderator) and Kevin L. Smith (University of Kansas) — https://2021charlestonconference.pathable.co/meetings/ virtual/HgkFLcoCQENQLp4po
CONCURRENT SESSION REPORTS FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2021 Our Work Impacts Your Work: Outreach Strategies to Promote “Invisible” Library Operations Reported by Sara F. Hess (Pennsylvania State University) <sfh5542@psu.edu> Presented by Hannah McKelvey (Montana State University) and Rachelle McLain (Montana State University) — https://2021charlestonconference.pathable.co/meetings/ virtual/Z8Q2SnmeBDH3A9j7k McLain and McKelvey discussed the development and presentation of a series of faculty-focused workshops on topics related to collection development. Consisting of six workshops, the goals of this series include increasing transparency around the acquisitions process; understanding how faculty use library resources; and increasing faculty support for the library’s collections decisions. The presenters have partnered with Montana State University’s Center for Faculty Excellence and use the CFE’s and library’s communication channels to promote the workshop series to faculty. The workshop series began in Fall 2021 and is scheduled to continue through the end of the 2021-2022 academic year. While the presenters found a high degree of support and enthusiasm for the workshop series from the CFE, faculty, and their library coworkers, participation has not been as high as they had anticipated based on that support. They are optimistic that participants will take what they learn back to their departments and colleagues and that
36 Against the Grain / June 2022
LONG ARM OF THE LAW REPORT FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2021 The Long Arm of the Law Reported by Natalie Henri-Bennett (Auburn University) <neb0021@auburn.edu>
Smith, Dean of Libraries and Professor of Law, discussed the legality of legislation proposed and passed in New York and Maryland, respectively, that requires affordable electronic book licensing options for public libraries. These laws address the iniquity of some publishers licensing only to academic libraries but not public libraries. Smith discussed the challenges to these laws brought by The Association of American Publishers (AAP) and Senator Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, both of which argued that §301 of the Copyright Law takes legal precedence. Smith concludes by saying that their overall argument may backfire: placing publishers in the sights of antitrust legislation. Bailey, Policy Council for the Internet Archive, discussed the issues surrounding the copyright infringement case filed against them by four publishers. Bailey explained that the Archive temporarily suspended the 1:1 lending protocol for the Digital Lending Library in order to serve teachers whose classroom books were left in schools following lockdown. Bailey referenced established library practices and international human rights laws in defense of the Internet Archive. She then described the small scale of materials in dispute. The publishers list only 127 books in the lawsuit, but ask that 1.4 million Internet Archive books in physical and digital form be destroyed. She said that libraries have the right to buy, own, and preserve their materials, but that licensing agreements do not allow for such freedoms. “That’s what the lawsuit against the Internet Archive is really about,” Bailey says. “It’s about the right for libraries to own our collections [and] to perform our traditional functions like preservation and lending regardless of media type.” (Recording time 45:33). She closes by proposing that publishers support digital ownership. This session is available for viewing in the conference YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/90YaKo4dbhg Charleston Conference blogger, Donald Hawkins, wrote a blog post about this session: The Long Arm of the Law Charleston Hub (charleston-hub.com)
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