Research Log 1
1. Discuss how the author, the publisher, the faculty member, the library, and the students can be accommodated.
One way that they could increase profits would be to increase the price of the textbook and the course readers. The faculty members should be try to find the books for their students and themselves at a reasonable price, The students should be be allowed to access the material online for a small fee or something along those lines. Something cheaper than buying the entire book.
2. How can a fair arrangement be achieved?
If the author and publisher were to decide to only make it available online, as an E-Book, then they would not have to worry about losing money from the printing of x many copies. I believe that this would be a good way to go at the beginning, until they see if the book is something that would make them money.
3. What are the challenges in creating a fair arrangement for everyone?
Books are much more accessible to everyone than lets say the internet, so even though it may be more convenient for the author and publisher, it could cause problems for students trying to access the material with no internet access.
Research Log 2:
1. How can a balance be achieved between protecting privacy and meeting the needs of national security?
I do not know how this can be accomplished, however, I would like some way that the national government could identify individuals who were actually threats and only monitor them. However, seeing as this is some what problematic, I believe that it is alright how they monitor what we do online, but I personally believe that they have better things to do then worry about individuals lets say downloading a movie online.
2. How did you react to the list of challenged books (were you surprised, for example)? Do you think some books should be banned or should all books be freely available? Why?
I found the list of challenged books was interesting because I personally have read a few of them in my past years. And I do not know how you can ban a book from reading. Are we not in America with the freedom of speech promised to each and every one of us? How can we ban a book, because we have a problem with it? The author is making his or her voice heard, which is completely legal. And personally, whenever something like this comes up, it makes me curious, and more likely to read the material because I want to find out what is so bad about them. I find that a lot of people are like this, so challenging these books only make them more likely to be read.
3. How have your overall ideas about information ethics changed or not changed after completing this unit?
I cant say anything has really changed with me, I kind of knew a lot of this information going into this unit because about a year or so ago I did a lot of research on copyright things like this for a paper that I was writing.
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When it comes to textbooks, I think you will see more in e-format than ever before. The challenge, however, is that as the copyright costs increase, even as printing costs are spared, the cost of the textbooks and course readers may not be all that low.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that you consider books more accessible than the Internet. I agree with your point about the lack of Internet access for some people, but the Internet and e-books should be more accessible generally. Certainly libraries such as ours are being pressured to provide online access in light of the increasing demand for online courses and programs. It's a difficult issue.
Privacy:
Yes, I think that there are more important issues than whether someone is downloading a movie illegally, but money has always talked and if someone thinks his revenue has been affected, a lawsuit will inevitably ensue.
Monitoring people is another challenge, especially if they have done nothing. If I was being monitored under those circumstances, I wouldn't find it acceptable. Internet tracking is certainly more common, but there are still some protections. As a point of interest, there's a library law that keeps patron records private. We never let anyone know what books a patron borrows unless it's a law enforcement agency that has secured a search warrant. So what you borrow is as private as it can be.
Banning books has always been practiced and will likely always be tried. As a librarian, I am deeply opposed to this practice, but I know I am at one end of the opinion poll!