New initiative may help profs access material

Getting copyright clearance for materials posted on Blackboard just became easier.

The Internet course-resource site, which many Penn classes use, will feature a system developed by the Copyright Clearance Center. The nonprofit organization manages licensing for published text and helps faculty obtain permission to use copyrighted material more quickly.

Students may start to see more articles on the Blackboard site than in hefty bulk-packs.

"There's a lot of confusion out there," said Tim Bowen, product marketing manager for the copyright center. "Professors are telling us they don't know when to get permission for what."

The free online system will allow faculty to invoke the copyright-permissions building block on their Blackboard course site, which will then return search results detailing the availability of material listed for that course. An order can then be placed. The system database will calculate the licensing fee for the materials based on the number of students in the class and the pages used.

The entire process only takes "a few mouse clicks," Bowen said.

However, ease of use alone may not dispel all concerns surrounding the system.

Sandra Kerbel serves as director for public services for the Penn library system, which runs the site.

Although Penn has just begun evaluating the system, Kerbel is already looking at the larger picture.

Saying that the Penn library system feels strongly about the fair-use clause in copyright law, she added that the University will "proceed cautiously and talk to many constituents on campus" before making a final decision.

"We don't want to pay for rights that we already have," Kerbel added.

The system evaluation is further complicated by the fact that any decision Penn makes regarding the Blackboard system will affect the University's interpretation of fair use in the future.

"We wouldn't want to set a precedent for the future [without discussing the] implications of the package," Kerbel said, citing the complexity of copyright law, especially in the digital environment.

The copyright center started talks with Blackboard about half a year ago, while system development started in May. Several colleges tested the system over the summer.

Temple University was one of them.

Peter Hanley, a senior tech-support specialist at Temple, said that the system is still being tested and that it has not yet been released for use by the university community.

"It's a very exciting development," Hanley said.

He added, however, that Temple is "extremely conservative" as to what can be released to its enormous user base.

"We have tens of thousands of people using our system everyday," he said. "We can't be too quick to add new features."

Temple has been testing the beta edition for about a month now -- not enough time, Hanley said, given the complexity of the product.

Calling the system "a massive undertaking," he said that it would require a university to either designate a single person to perform all of the copyright clearance or that each faculty member would sign up for an account individually.

Still, Temple is looking forward to eventually using the new feature.

"The process of getting copyright is a very arduous process for faculty, and anything we can do to make it easier for them is a step in the right direction," Hanley said.

Blackboard also announced Wednesday that it would merge with WebCT, which provides a similar e-learning environment for schools.

The acquisition of WebCT, based in Lynnfield, Mass., is valued at about $154 million, net of WebCT's Aug. 31 cash balance of $26 million.

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