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Liaison and Support

The Liaison Officer has a pivotal role and remains involved throughout the progress of a list from lecturer to delivery. S/he needs to:

• ensure the Copyright Officer has the necessary information on each text to identify the relevant rights holder
• obtain regular progress reports from the Copyright Officer and pass them on to the Library Rep.
• liaise between Copyright Officer and Library Rep. to reach appropriate decisions where difficulties arise in tracing rights holders or clearing permission
• alert the Library Rep. when clearance is obtained and the text is required by the Technical Unit for digitisation
• obtain progress reports from the Technical Unit and pass them on to the Library Rep.
• arrange with the Library Rep. for the necessary student data to be sent to the Technical Unit for implementing authorisation procedures
• liaise with the Library Rep. over delivery of lists, either as course packs or online
• supply Library Reps. with basic staff and student instruction leaflets for the online service

Liaison Reports are submitted to the Project Board at regular intervals and form part of the project's quality-assured outcome.

Regular meetings of Library Representatives are held at the University of Stirling. These meetings are chaired by Cate Newton, Collections Manager at the University library in St Andrews and give all CMIs the chance to contribute to SCOPE development plans.

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Copyright Clearance

On receipt of a complete reading list from the Liaison Officer, the copyright clearance process begins:

• check the database for contact details of all publishers on the list
• obtain and enter details for publishers new to SCOPE
• phone call to new publishers to identify appropriate contact by name
• phone call to all publishers on list to ascertain correct rights holder for each item on the reading list
• send standard written request for permission to use each item - the form of the request will vary depending on the rights holder's relationship with SCOPE:

  SCOPE contract already signed

  amend the relevant appendix and submit with standard letter of request to add item to those for which permission is already held

  new rights holder

  standard approach letter giving details of request

  model contract

  appendix 1 - with details of item(s) for which clearance is required

  appendix 2 - with list of SCOPE consortium institutions

  SCOPE leaflet giving outline information about the project and the rights management system

• follow up requests by phone after 3-4 weeks if no response (BUT some rights holders have a standard period of 6-8 weeks for clearance, which is noted and any follow-up respects that period)
• enter into discussion and negotiation if necessary by phone / fax / email / letter, in order to clarify any misunderstandings, exercise persuasion and reassurance if appropriate, respond to requests for amendments if acceptable, etc. The length of time spent at this stage - if entered - is entirely unpredictable and can vary from days to months. During negotiations, communication with the lecturer, through the Liaison Officer and Library Rep. is vital, and may result in abandoning the attempt to obtain clearance.
• record return of signed model contract
• issue 2 copies of customised final contract with relevant appendices, signed by SCOPE Copyright Officer, for signature by rights holder, one copy to be returned to SCOPE
• record return of signed final contract

  on occasion, a rights holder may decline to sign the SCOPE contract, but will give clearance either according to a one-off agreement, or according to the rights holder's own standard form of agreement. Both are acceptable in order to give access to the material, and this outcome is also recorded.

• inform Liaison Officer of clearance
• record clearance details and conditions on database for use by Technical Unit in presenting item to users.

Copyright Reports are submitted to the Project Board at regular intervals and form part of the project's quality-assured outcome.

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Evaluation

• questionnaires prepared and distributed to Library Reps at regular intervals
• Library Reps distribute questionnaires to lecturers
• lecturers issue questionnaires to students and collect in when completed
• lecturers return questionnaires to Library Reps
• Library Reps prepare evaluation report from questionnaire results
• Library Reps send report to Liaison Officer
• Liaison Officer collates and analyses results
• Liaison Officer disseminates evaluation results to stakeholders as appropriate

In addition, CMIs are encouraged to hold Focus Groups, to encourage students to discuss and comment on the SCOPE service in an informal setting with an informed group leader. Again, results are passed via the Library Rep to the Liaison Officer and collated for dissemination.

As evaluation results are obtained, an attempt is made to carry out any adjustments to the service which are deemed desirable and possible within the timescale of the project.

Electronic discussion lists

Electronic Discussion Lists

Lis-on-demand should be used to disseminate news on and discuss any issue relating to on-demand publishing in academic libraries, e.g. copyright and technical issues and cultural change in higher education institutions.

To join lis-on-demand send a message containing only the following text (substituting appropriately) to mailbase@mailbase.ac.uk:

join listname firstname(s) lastname