« Librarians, Vendors and AALL: Is anyone really asking (or expecting) AALL to do their jobs for them when conducting business with vendors? | Main | Copyright Office Identifies Libraries, Mass Digitization as Priority In Copyright Policy »
October 31, 2011
Who's Up For Some Dumpster Diving at the Library of Congress?
Did you know that the Library of Congress gets at least two copies of everything copyrighted in the United States? And that includes law journals? And that they don't keep everything that they get deposted through this program so they have to throw it away? I sure didn't.
As Megan Lulofs, a librarian at the Library of Congress writes:
Yay, recycling! But wait, you say: isn’t that terribly wasteful? Aren’t librarians fighting a war against high prices from unreasonable vendors? I mean, yeah. I hear they are. But none of them have approached me, or the Library lately to ask about cooperating, getting the knowledge out there. Plus the fight doesn’t directly apply to me; I lack standing.
There’s nothing more free law than dumpster diving, people. Gift and exchange doesn’t cover this, and neither does the surplus program. Who wants to figure out a way to make a new program?
I don't know if anything can be done with these trashed books/journals, but I figure the more people know about them, the better the chance that someone might come up with a use besides trashing them. So put on your thinking caps, gang, and contact Megan if you come up with anything. [SG]
October 31, 2011 | Permalink
Comments
I used to work at LC many years ago. One section would be tossing excess copyright submissions, and another would be buying titles that they needed for the collection. Apparently, they would sometimes be buying submissions that had been thrown out, and also buying titles that publishers had failed to submit as legally required with their copyright application. Recently, I saw a job posting for a supervisory librarian for the Copyright section that puts the publishers' feet to the fire to submit the required depository copies. One thing you get to do is refer the recalcitrant to the Justice Department! Read all about it: http://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/301784000
Posted by: Captain Kirk | Nov 4, 2011 7:56:29 AM
