ALA Joint Digital Content Working Group Position Paper Released

The ALA has put out a press release on a position paper by the ALA Joint Digital Content Working Group (JDCWG). it says, among other things, the following:

CHICAGO - “The Need for Change: A Position Paper on E-Lending by the ALA Joint Digital Content Working Group” examines digital lending in public, academic, and K-12 school libraries. The paper notes current and long-standing challenges in digital content lending and the issues that complicate acquisition of, user access to, and preservation of digital information.

The pandemic continues to fuel increased demand for digital content and has highlighted the importance of digital media within U.S. libraries.  

As patrons continue to discover and rely on digital content, libraries continue their fight for fair pricing, multiple licensing models, and full access to digital content.

Current publisher licensing models impede library purchases and create information barriers that leave patrons who depend on digital library collections for education and enrichment with long waits or, worse yet, searches that yield no results.

Publishers’ limited licensing models are not the only barriers impeding robust collections. The paper also identifies issues with content provider platforms that cannot support multiple license models simultaneously, even if publishers offer options.  

The paper serves as a call to action for publishers to offer licensing models that are cost-effective and flexible and for library digital content providers to revamp platforms to support flexible licensing models, robust collections and enhance accessibility features.

Additional information about the Joint Digital Working Group committee and “The Need for Change: A Position Paper on E-Lending by the ALA Joint Digital Content Working Group,” is available at http://www.ala.org/tools/librariestransform/working-group-libraries-and-digital-content .

Your humble correspondent is a member of the JDCWG and can give a bit of background. The paper was started last August, went though many revisions based upon criticism from group members, and was finished last December. I would have preferred it to be released much earlier, but it took time to clear the ALA at various levels and it was decided to release it prior to ALA Annual. The paper explores issues and takes stands that RF has long held. We encourage reading of the report and advocacy for its positions.