Policy Model for National and Academic Digital Collections

Abstract

The access and reproduction policies of the digital collections of fifteen leading academic and national digital libraries worldwide are classified according to factors such as the creation type of the material, acquisition method and copyright ownership. The relationship of these factors and policies is analyzed and quantitative remarks are extracted. We propose a policy model for the digital content of the national and academic libraries. The model consists of rules, supplemented by their exceptions, about which factors lead to specific policies. We derive new policy rules on access and reproduction when different copyright terms are applied. We conclude with findings on policies. Finally, we compare national and academic library policies, showing interesting results that arise on their similarities and differences.