Digital technology and networks have changed our society?how we communicate with
one another, how we purchase goods, how we work together to create reference resources,
how we more willingly give up anonymity and allow invasions of privacy, how we read,
how we teach. Particularly in places of learning, technology is all-pervasive, and because
everyone is always making copies, copyright is center stage. History shows us that during
times of technological change, copyright goes through a period of adjustment as it tries to
keep pace with the technology. Copyright never catches up to technology. Consistency can
be found only in our dedication to professional values.
Although some predicted that the new digital environment would signal the end of
libraries, it turned out to be just the opposite, because in countless ways the introduction
of digital technology has been the beginning of libraries. Others argue that copyright is an
outdated law that does not work in the digital environment, but it is still with us and is still
important. It’s just a little more complicated.
Prior to this technological change, librarians were one of the select groups even interested
in copyright law. We had to be interested to protect access to information and other
public policies that are central to librarianship. Today, educators should be interested in
copyright to protect learning, because copyright law when misapplied or misinterpreted
affects the way that you teach and even what you teach. This book seeks to address the concerns
of librarians, teachers, and teaching librarians who work in the K–12 environment.