“It became apparent to me that as our decisions about copyright were inexorably linked to choice of a reserves system, and that the Copyright Committee ought to play an active role in helping me to select a system.” Judith Wild, Associate Librarian for Technical Services
In the spring and fall 2001 Associate Librarian for Technical Services Judith Wild conducted a thorough evaluation of our choices for an e-reserve system. Early on, she and a group of interested colleagues visited the libraries at Baruch and Fordham to examine the tools in use there. Presentations at Brooklyn College of Docutek’s ERes http://www.docutek.com/onCampus/reserves.html and Aleph’s E-Reserve module http://www.aleph.co.il/aleph/prod_pac.asp followed, and the Copyright Committee also examined the potential of Blackboard’s Course Documents feature as an e-reserves vehicle.
In the end, the Library decided to postpone the implementation of any e-reserves system. Our thinking:
The initial purchase price of the system deemed most suitable, ERes, is between nine and ten thousand dollars. Annual licensing and server fees are around $6,000, rising as more materials are placed on e-reserve. The cost of purchasing copyright compliances (at the rate we anticipate) would begin at $5,000-$6,000 for year one, rising to ca. $11,000 in year two, and continuing to increase as the service is promoted and more documents are placed on e-reserve. Under the best of circumstances, it would be very difficult to carve from the Library’s flat budget even the purchase price and ongoing fees for the use of the system: the added cost of the compliances would be far beyond our means. While we could tell faculty, “Choose something else, or place this material on print reserve; we can’t pay for the compliance,” this would surely have a chilling effect on the implementation of the system and discourage its use. Following September 11th, and the economic downturn that began in March 2001, upcoming budget years for CUNY are predicted to be poor ones, further affecting our ability to support an e-reserves system.
Our plans are re-examine Blackboard’s potential as a e-reserves platform, while awaiting the University’s implementation of Aleph (July 2002): then we can better assess its e-reserves module for use at Brooklyn. In the meantime, at the recommendation of Chief Librarian Barbra Higginbotham CUNY’s Council of Chief Librarians has appointed a Copyright Task Force (December 2001), charged with developing a University-wide policy for copyright compliance. With the implementation of Aleph, many CUNY institutions will begin using its e-reserves module, making a common approach to copyright compliance highly desirable. Judith Wild represents Brooklyn on this group.