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Copyright and Online Courses
06/23/2020
profile-icon Roxanne Sutton
No Subjects

Copyright for online classes is unfortunately, not the same as it is for face-to-face classes. Instructors must be sure they have the right to post works by third parties. This post is a basic, practical guide to copyright for online classes.

Regardless of the work - image, text, audio or video- begin by determining the answers to the following:

  • Is the material under copyright and who owns the copyright? This could be a publisher, an author, perhaps the library has a license to the work, the work could be open access like Creative Commons or maybe the work is in the public domain. The copyright owner will determine if and how you use the work in Canvas.
  • What is your intended purpose? You must use the work in a transformative way by discussion, comment or critique directly in the course.
  • How much of the work do you need to display to make your point? You want to use the least amount possible.
  • Where and how are you posting this work? Posting in Canvas, accessible only to your students and removed at the end of the semester is the only acceptable answer here. Fair use does not cover instructors who post to personal websites.

There are a few sources of content that allow you to link, post, display or stream in Canvas under license or open license:

  1. Library Databases: The library subscribes to databases of content that are licensed for educational use. You may link to an article or eBook from EBSCO or a film from Kanopy. Many eBooks in EBSCO come with unrestricted or unlimited access meaning you can share the link with your students and they can all access the book. A few books are limited use but you could still save a section or chapter as a PDF and post it to Canvas. Kanopy allows you to embed streaming films into your course. Students will be asked for the database password when they click play.

  2. Public Domain: If a work was published in the United States before 1925 chances are the work is in the public domain and you are clear to post and share freely. The difficulty is that most of the work we want to share in Canvas was published long after 1925.

  3. Open access or Creative Commons License: Look to see if the work has a Creative Commons license. As long as you honor the requirements of the license, you can use the work in your online class. To read further on creative commons license see Open Content - A Practical Guide to Using Creative Commons Licenses/The Creative Commons licensing scheme.

  4. Open Education Resource (OER): OERs are free and openly licensed materials created for educational use. A more detailed explanation of OER and how to find them will be covered in an upcoming blog post. See our OER Guide.

  5. Get Permission: Lastly, you could reach out to the creator and ask permission. This can be time-consuming and there may be a cost so I put this last in the list. Be sure you receive that permission in writing, keep the documentation and adhere to the terms. Likewise, you could obtain a streaming or sharing license although you often must pay and it can get very costly.

In the event that the work you are considering is not available in any of the above licenses, consider an alternative work. You can also consider using short quotes or clips of the work which are often covered under fair use and do not usually require permission. 

You may be asking “what about fair use?” You may still be able to post copyrighted work under fair use but you must remember that fair use is a defense and not a rule. There is a four question assessment you must meet for fair use.

  1. The purpose and character of your use. Be sure that the item you are posting is relevant to the topic you are teaching and you use is in a transformative way.

  2. The nature of the copyrighted work. Be sure to use material that is factual/historical, non-fiction and important to your educational objectives. You may not use highly creative or fictional work under fair use.

  3. The amount and substantiality of the portion taken. Use the least amount possible to make your point. Additionally, the portion you use cannot be the portion that is central to the entire work.

  4. The potential effect on the market value - If you are sharing a work that is intended for the education market it is not likely to be fair use (unless it is an OER). You may need to recommend students purchase the work. You may need to obtain permission from the publisher and pay for a license. Your copy must be lawfully acquired.

When considering fair use, you may wish to use the ALA Fair Use Evaluator Tool. Fill in the form and the tool will help you think through your fair use analysis. Keep a copy of your evaluation should you be asked to defend your use.

Using motion pictures: To stream a full length motion picture in Canvas you will need to obtain the streaming rights which can be very costly. Instead, it is recommended that instructors link or embed films from Kanopy. If Kanopy does not have the content you need, you may use short clips of the motion pictures found online. Additionally, you may link to educational videos or historic films in the public domain. See our OER guide section on audio, image and video resources.

Using images: The image must be necessary to further instruction. You must comment on, discuss, critique or somehow use the image in a transformative way. It is advisable to use images with open access or creative commons licenses. See our OER guide for help finding such images.

Linking vs. Posting: With regard to the question of whether you may post the work or link to the work, it is generally better to link to a work rather than post the entire work in your Canvas site. In addition to that, be sure you are linking to the original, legally obtained copy of the work. If you are unsure about the origin of the link it is best to not use it.

A word about attribution and slide presentations: List any attribution on the slide, unless doing so would disrupt the flow of instruction. In such cases, list the attribution at the end of the slides.

References:

American Library Association, (2018, December 3) Copyright Tools. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/copyright-tools. DOI: a801947f-18c0-5454-e517-6bcb3033302b

Benson, S.R. (2020, March 20) ACRL Presents: Copyright for campus closures [Video File]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/zGPSbPHN824

EBSCO LibGuides (2020, April 23) EBSCO eBooks: For Faculty. Retrieved from https://ebsco.libguides.com/ebooks/faculty

Penn Libraries (2020, March 10) Copyright Resources to Support Publishing and Teaching. Retrieved from https://guides.library.upenn.edu/copyright/onlinecourses

University of California Irvine (2014, June 2) Copyright Issues In Online Teaching [Video File]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/nAmrp7S1P3Y

 

 

 

Roxanne Sutton

Reference and Special Collections Librarian

rsutton@harcum.edu

610-526-6022

Fact Checking the News
06/15/2020
profile-icon Bill Fanshel
No Subjects

During these turbulent times featuring a global pandemic and urban unrest, information is constantly coming at us from numerous sources -- in print, on the radio and television, and on the Internet. Not all of that information is accurate, and it is sometimes difficult to distinguish fact from fiction. Luckily, I have created some guides that will help you get to the truth.

To access some of these resources, click on Research Help on the Library’s home page -- either in the blue bar at the top or under Quicklinks. There you will find two tabs that will help: one on Website Evaluation and the other dealing with Information & Fake News.

Under Website Evaluation, you will learn the importance of looking at the domain suffix when determining the credibility of a site. Typically, you can assume that sites with the suffixes .gov (the U.S. government) and .edu (educational institutions) are credible. Sites with other suffixes, such as .org (a non-profit organization), .com (a business), and .net may or may not be credible. The reader would need to delve more deeply in order to determine whether those sites contain bias. Also under this tab, find two tests that will help you decide whether the information on a website is true and useful: CRAAP (currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, purpose) and STAAR (slant, topical & timely, accuracy, authority, relevance).

It is always important to fact check the news. A quality publication, either in print or online, will reference its information, letting you know where it originated. You should always trace any claims back to the primary source if possible. There are links to government websites and statistical sources available in my News, Politics & Current Events guide that will help. Also find fact checking sites such as PolitiFact, Snopes, and FactCheck under the Information & Fake News tab in the Research Help guide.

An excellent site to consult for a balanced view of the news is AllSides. A link to it can be found in our News, Politics & Current Events guide. When you search a topic in AllSides, you will be presented with three lists of articles, one each from the center, left and right. The site also contains tabs for Facts & Fact Checking, a Perspectives Blog, and a Story of the Week. An important feature of AllSides is the page on Media Bias Ratings, which will let you know where 600 news sources fall on the political spectrum in terms of their content and editorials.

Always be sure to use these sources and others to check for accuracy and bias in the news. And remember that you can email us at library@harcum.edu if you are unsure about the validity of any source or if you have any other questions related to research.

 

    

Bill Fanshel

Evening/Weekend Librarian

wfanshel@harcum.edu

610-229-9311 
An Anti-Racism Reading List
06/02/2020
profile-icon Roxanne Sutton
No Subjects

Recently, Michelle Obama said about racism “it’s up to all of us - Black, white, everyone - no matter how well meaning we think we might be, to do the honest, uncomfortable work of rooting it out. It starts with self-examination and listening to those whose lives are different from our own.” 

Below you will find a list of resources that are free or available through our subscriptions. The list is not exhaustive. It is for any who wish to listen, to better understand, and do the work.

Books (free and online)

Cover ArtI Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou; Oprah Winfrey (Foreword by)
ISBN: 9780812980028
Publication Date: 1969
On OpenLibrary.org
Cover ArtSister Outsider by Audre Lorde
ISBN: 0895941414
Publication Date: 1984
On OpenLibrary.org

Cover ArtThe Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
ISBN: 9780679744726
Publication Date: 1962
On OpenLibrary.org
Cover ArtThe New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander; Cornel West (Introduction by)
ISBN: 9781595586438
Publication Date: 2012
On OpenLibrary.org

Cover ArtThe Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
ISBN: 9780679444329
Publication Date: 2010
On OpenLibrary.org

Podcasts

  • 1619 Podcast - From The New York Times, The 1619 Project is a series of articles and a podcast that examines slavery and its impact on the formation of America past and present. 
  • Code Switch (NPR) - An radio program that explores race, ethnicity and culture in America. 

Videos and Films

Further reading - look for them on Overdrive or Libby apps through your public library

More anti-racism reading lists:

If you would like to add materials to this list, please email them to rsutton@harcum.edu and I will add them here.

 

 

 

Roxanne Sutton

Reference and Special Collections Librarian

rsutton@harcum.edu

610-526-6022

 

     

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