The level of awareness and understanding of copyright laws and policies among academic librarians in Ghana

Awareness and understanding of copyright laws are critical in the proper administration of copyright in academic libraries. Data from 38 library staff and 4 head librarians was used in a sequential explanatory mixed methods approach to assess the level of awareness and understanding of copyright law...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of academic librarianship 2021-05, Vol.47 (3), p.102317, Article 102317
Main Authors: Adu, Theresa L., Van der Walt, Thomas B.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic libraries
Copyright
Copyright laws and policies
Creative commons licensing
Fair use
Ghana
Infringement
Law
Level of awareness and understanding
Librarians
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Summary:Awareness and understanding of copyright laws are critical in the proper administration of copyright in academic libraries. Data from 38 library staff and 4 head librarians was used in a sequential explanatory mixed methods approach to assess the level of awareness and understanding of copyright laws among library staff with regards to balancing user rights with rightsholder rights in academic libraries in Ghana. The data was collected using questionnaires and qualitative interviews. Though awareness of all the copyright laws, which was not influenced by the educational status of staff was high, the level of understanding was lower. Work experience, schedule of work and current position of staff significantly influenced the level of understanding. The generally moderate level of understanding of copyright laws for library staff; particularly for fair use and creative commons licensing, is a worrying development for copyright administration in academic libraries in Ghana.
ISSN:0099-1333
1879-1999
DOI:10.1016/j.acalib.2021.102317