Digital Rights Management: The Librarian's Guide

Editors Lemmer (director, Lake Forest Lib., IL) and Wale (Temple Univ. Beasley Sch. of Law Lib.) offer a primer on digital rights management (DRM) that moves from the basics and technical aspects to legal scenarios and hands-on situations where DRM comes into play. The authors include an introduction to DRM and related technologies, going on to explain how libraries can use DRM to manage open-access materials (with a guide that details various open-access models), and how workflows and organizational structure can help manage the practicalities of DRM. The last chapter comes down firmly and emphatically against using DRM in academic libraries and offers suggestions on how libraries can work toward building DRM-free digital collections. This book shines in its later chapters, which offers novices a framework on what to look for and best practices in digital collections contracting, a comprehensive overview of digital rights and information privacy and their importance to libraries, and a brief yet thorough explanation of what librarians need to know about DRM and copyright law.