Abstract
Digital technology combined with new communications technologies have presented archivists with an unprecedented opportunity to make their unique research holdings widely available to audiences worldwide. While there are technical and resource hurdles to placing archival materials before a broader public, the most significant challenges are those in copyright law. This paper assesses the practical effect of the conjuncture of archival principles, copyright law, and archival collections, and examines current “digital archives” projects in light of these issues. While there is general consistency of objectives and policy at the consortia level, there is wide variation in the practices and content presented by individual repositories. All confront significant barriers when working with the vast array of non-public domain works in archives. To address these issues, the paper concludes with suggestions for project administration as well as a public action agenda.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Free Culture and the Digital Library Symposium Proceedings 2005 |
| Editors | Martin Halbert |
| Place of Publication | Atlanta |
| Publisher | MetaScholar Initiative |
| Pages | 141-153 |
| ISBN (Print) | 0-9772994-0-6 |
| State | Published - 2005 |