This document summarizes findings from a phenomenographic study on copyright literacy. The study identified four categories of understanding about copyright among librarians: 1) copyright is a problem, 2) copyright is complicated, 3) copyright requires coherent messages, and 4) copyright enables negotiation and collaboration. It also described six dimensions that influenced participants' understanding, such as their knowledge and beliefs about copyright. The document advocates developing communities of practice and educational resources like games to help bridge gaps in understanding and promote copyright literacy.

1. COPYRIGHT LITERACY:
FINDINGS FROM A
PHENOMENOGRAPHIC STUDY
@UKCopyrightLit https://copyrightliteracy.org
@cbowiemorrison
c.morrison@kent.ac.uk
LILAC Conference 2017
Jane Secker,
LSE / City University
of London
Chris Morrison,
University of Kent
@jsecker

2. HOW DOES COPYRIGHT
MAKE YOU FEEL?

3. PREVIOUSLY
AT LILAC…

4. OUR SURVEY SAID….
UK compared
favourably to other
countries in terms of
copyright literacy
57% of UK librarians
moderately or
extremely confident
about copyright
matters
76% thought having
a copyright policy is
important and 63%
have one
64% of institutions
had a copyright
officer (higher in HE)
Copyright was a
source of anxiety
and professional
development
needed

5. PHENOMENOGRAPHY
©
©

6. PHENOMENOGRAPHY
• A qualitative research method from education
used increasingly in information literacy
research
• Based on Marton’s Variation theory as a way of
underpinning learning
• Asks open questions designed to ask what
people do not why
• Presents categories of description in an
outcome space
©
©

7. OUTCOME SPACE
Category 4:
Copyright is an
opportunity for
negotiation,
collaboration and
co-construction of
understanding
Category 1:
Copyright is a problem
Bridging the gap
Category 2:
Copyright is complicated and shifting
Category 3:
Copyright is a known entity
requiring coherent messages

8. CATEGORY 1 & 2
Category 1: Copyright is seen as a
problem and avoided
Category 2: Copyright is seen as
complicated and passed on to
specialists

9. CATEGORY 3 & 4
Category 3: Copyright is seen as a
knowable entity requiring coherent
messages
Category 4: Copyright is an opportunity
for negotiation, collaboration and co-
construction of understanding

10. DIMENSIONS OF VARIATION
• The individual’s level of knowledge
• Status / grade of librarian
• Beliefs about the higher purpose of
libraries / librarians
• Their ideology towards the value and
purpose of copyright
• The audience
• The context of the interaction

11. SO WHAT ARE WE
GOING TO DO?
¯_(ツ)_/¯

12. RULES VS RISK

13. RULES VS RISK
Everyone stand up – sit down if you’ve never done the following:
• Copy and pasted images off the internet for use in a
conference presentation
• Copy and pasted images off the internet for use in a
conference presentation which is being recorded and going
online
• Used a YouTube clip in teaching that was from a questionable
source (and therefore might be infringing)
• Shared an article with a colleague on Dropbox for research
purposes
• Used SciHub or similar ‘unofficial’ academic filesharing site

14. RETHINKING COPYRIGHT
EDUCATION FOR LIBRARIANS
• Bridging the gap between a one day course and a PG
Diploma in copyright law
• Focusing on what librarians need to know about copyright
• Focusing on their role a copyright educators

15. COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE

16. Copyright the Card game
downloaded over 2,500
times, international versions
in development
PLAYING WITH COPYRIGHT
https://copyrightliteracy.org/abo
ut-2/copyright-the-card-game/
The Publishing TrapUS version of copyright card game
Copyright the Card Game NAG 2017

17. INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT
LITERACY
August 2017 – IFLA Models for
Copyright Education in
Information Literacy Programs

18. FURTHER READING
Morrison, C and Secker J. (2015) Copyright Literacy in the UK: a survey of
librarians and other cultural heritage sector professionals. Library and Information
Research. 39 (121)
http://www.lirgjournal.org.uk/lir/ojs/index.php/lir/article/view/675
Morrison, C and Secker, J (2016) Exceptions for libraries. Copyrightuser.org.
Available online.
Morrison, C and Secker, J. (2016) A Guide to Copyright. Association of University
Administrators.
Rios-Amaya, Juliana, Secker, Jane and Morrison, Chris (2016) Lecture recording in
higher education: risky business or evolving open practice. LSE / University of
Kent, London, UK. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/68275/
Secker, J and Morrison, C. (2016) Copyright and E-learning: a guide for
practitioners. Facet publishing: London. Chapter 6: Copyright education and
training available online.
Todorova, T., Trencheva, T., Kurbanoğlu, S., Dogan G., & Horvat, A. (2014) A
Multinational Study on Copyright Literacy Competencies of LIS Professionals.
Presentation given at 2nd European Conference on Information Literacy (ECIL) held
in Dubrovnik. October 2014. Retrieved March 13, 2015 from
http://ecil2014.ilconf.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Todorova.pdf
https://copyrightliteracy.org @UKCopyrightLit

19. CREDITS
Slide 2, 5, 6, 8, 9: Open Clipart (Openclipart.com)
Slide 3: Photo by Claire McAvinia taken at LILAC 2016
Slide 13: Logos from CILIP and Information Literacy Group
Slide 14, 5, 16 & 18 by Jane Secker / Chris Morrison licensed
under CC-BY. Logos copyright of IFLA, ECIL and LILAC