Jane
Here at Coventry we have just got scanning and brailling equipment
together with Kurzweil software. My advice has been that I can only let
students with physical visual disability use the kit, as for anyone else
digitisation in any form without permission of the copyright holder is
illegal. (So for example we exclude the large number of dyslexic
students we have.)
The copyright licensing agency (it is my understanding) has in the past
used anonymous visitors to check that libraries are complying with their
understanding of the law - which means for now the policy outlined above
will be followed by the Lanchester Library.
Gives me operational problems, as apart from the disability issue there
is a huge demand for scanning from our art & design students.
The situation (from a purely personal perspective) seems crackers - if
anyone can demonstrate that our interpretation of the law is wrong I
would be delighted.
Jane Tomlinson wrote:
> Hi,
> Could anyone offer me some advice on the use of scanners in the library
> for disabled users. I know the recent copyright legislation allows
> visually impaired students to use a scanner in the library but what
> about other students such as dyslexic students and students with
> physical impairments that need to use a scanner with text read & write
> software. How are other Higher Education Libraries getting around the
> copyright restrictions? Can it be argued that the DDA part 4 states we
> need to make reasonable adjustments and therefore all disabled students
> should have access to a scanner.
>
> Thanks for your help
> Jane
>
>
> --
> Jane Tomlinson
> Media Librarian / LLR Disability Rep
> London College of Fashion
> 20 John Princes Street
> London
> W1M 0BJ
> 02075147545
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