Susan Osborne wrote:
>
> Some of our scientists have started to download and store articles
> from electronic journals. As their collection of stored PDF files
> increases they have commented upon the large amount of disk space
> required. They also wonder if there is any way of indexing the data
> that they have stored.
>
> Do you, or do you know of anybody, that stores and indexes the PDF
> files of e-journals ? If so, how do they do this ? And, are there
> any implications of which we should be aware e.g. copyright ?
I won't comment on the technical or economic aspects of what you have
asked. However, it is clear that there are implications in copyright which
you should be aware of. The concept of fair dealing in electronic
publications is somewhat disputed, but a working party of the JISC and the
Publishers' Association (PA) has considered the questions and has come up
with a report
(http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/services/elib/papers/pa/fair/intro.html) which
shows a fair amount of consensus.
In relation to storing part of a publication permanently on disk, the
report makes the following recommendations (transient storage for the
purposes of viewing being dealt with elsewhere):
"It should be considered fair dealing for an individual to copy onto disk
part of an electronic publication for permanent local electronic storage,
where the disk is either a portable medium[2], or a fixed medium[3]
accessible to only one user at a time[4].
"It should be considered fair dealing for a librarian to copy onto disk
part of an electronic publication for an individual at their request for
permanent local electronic storage by the individual, where the disk is a
portable medium[5]."
In relation to storing all of a publication on disk, the report makes the
following recommendations:
"It should not be considered fair dealing for an individual to copy onto
disk all of an electronic publication for permanent local electronic
storage.
"It should not be considered fair dealing for a librarian to copy onto
disk all of an electronic publication for an individual at their request
for permanent local electronic storage by the individual."
It is important to note however that the report represents the views of
the authors and not necessarily of the bodies who commissioned it.
--
Chris Rusbridge
Programme Director, Electronic Libraries Programme
The Library, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK
Phone 01203 524979 Fax 01203 524981
Email [log in to unmask]
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