NOLO Press – a Librarian’s lifeline

 

I am a big fan of Nolo Press. When I talk to librarians about copyright, I invariably recommend Nolo titles. So when Nolo’s Jennifer Balaco, Library Sales & Marketing Assistant contacted me, I asked her to put together a broader list of Nolo titles of special interest to librarians.  Of course libraries should get ALL their titles for library patrons, but which ones are useful for librarians to draw on to answer questions they face in their own work?

 

Below is the list Jennifer culled, and here’s a question from her to you:

 

Is there any legal topic that you really wish was covered in a book (not necessarily Nolo) that you just can't seem to find? I would like to offer a few possible topics that we may be missing in our catalog of resources, and would love to have some actual librarian opinions to back what I'm offering.

 

Resources useful to ALL librarians:

1. The Public Domain, Copyright Handbook, Patent, Copyright, & Trademark - These need no introduction... you even mentioned them already  [MM: True]

2. Effective Fundraising for Nonprofits - This has been the focus of several LJ articles recently. The most recent was Fundraising in the Downturn. 

3. Marketing Without Advertising - Hot topic in libraries (and probably for quite a while) - how to let the community know what we have without spending too much money

4. The Sharing Solution - As libraries have to do more with less, one possible solution is to begin sharing more resources. This book is a practical and legal guidebook designed to help people create and maintain successful sharing arrangements while addressing common concerns about liability and individual security.

5. Legal Guide to Web & Software Development - more libraries have in-house development teams create and/or modify their library systems and websites, it's important to know how to protect their work

6. Nolo's Plain-English Law Dictionary - an easy-to-read and fun resource for librarians to brush up on legal terms; it includes facts interspersed with the definitions to liven up a reference work

7. Legal Research -- I know librarians are the masters of information, but looking for legal information can at times be a stretch for the non-law librarian.

8. Library Law Podcast - http://www.nolocast.com/?p=50... I'm pretty sure you're very familiar with this [MM: thanks, Jennifer]

9. Nolo.com Legal Encyclopedia - http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/ - Free online content organized by subject matter... these articles are written by our legal editors and include legal updates.

        Especially of interest:

        -Copyright Law http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/

        -Legal Research http://www.nolo.com/legal-research/

                

Resources of possible use to government librarians:

10. The Essential Guide to Federal Employment Laws - provides an understanding of which business types must comply with each law plus detailed information about federal employment law

11. The Essential Guide to Family & Medical Leave - state-by-state information about family leave

Comments

[Jennifer]

Thanks for this feedback, Marcia and Dan.

Marcia, Nolo has 2 books focused on working with independent contractors/freelancers which might be of some help to you:
-Working with Independent Contractors (9781413306576, http://www.nolo.com/products/working-with-independent-contractors-HICI.html)
-Consultant & Independent Contractor Agreements (9781413307146, http://www.nolo.com/products/consultant-&-independent-contractor-agreements-CICA.html)

Please let me know if you have any further feedback or questions.

Thanks again,

Jennifer Balaco, MSI
Library Sales & Marketing Assistant - NOLO
jbalaco@nolo.com

[Marcia]

I'd like a book about understanding and the possible details of publishing contracts - for books, journal articles, artwork, scientific research, etc.

I'd also like some sample contracts for hiring people - an artist for a special project, for example.

[Dan Kleinman]

Jennifer Balaco,

I would like to see the following topics covered:

The ALA's Library Bill of Rights essentially states it would be age discrimination for librarians to keep children from inappropriate material. What is the legislative history of that, so to speak. The ALA makes a little information about that available, but not enough. For example, it does not disclose exactly who introduced it, why, and what is the background of that person who has essentially set policy nationwide that libraries no longer protect children from inappropriate material like they used to. And exactly how was that policy forced into American communities.

I would like to see focus on the issue of whether censorship is tantamount to keeping children from inappropriate material. The ALA created and uses Banned Books Week to claim it is, but it is not. In my experience, sources that address censorship do not focus specifically on this narrow but library-relevant issue. I would love to see that.

I would like to see something on pornography in public libraries. Some libraries claim legal porn is allowable. That's right, but that does not mean it goes in public libraries, just as US v. ALA discussed.

I would like to see something on E-Rate investigations and prosecutions against libraries and the people involved in E-Rate fraud. For example, the Brownsville Public Library in Texas collects E-Rate funding for Internet access but it does not filter "adult" computers. And the Brooklyn Public Library seems to have defrauded the federal government of $2.5M by following ALA advice to allow adults to turn off filters by themselves--the FCC told me this was not CIPA compliant. More significantly, the ALA, in advising libraries to skirt the law by using the means the FCC said was non-compliant, uses CYA language to advise libraries to get their own attorneys, but the ALA promised to provide guidance and it has failed. Is the ALA, therefore, a coconspirator in E-Rate fraud?

And look at Michigan state law. It requires any library that filters to leave one computer unfiltered. That violates CIPA, yet Michigan libraries are still collecting E-Rate funding in violation of CIPA.

And what is personal liability for E-Rate fraud? Two NJ businessmen were just jailed for E-Rate fraud. What they did sounds substantially similar to what Brownsville or Brooklyn did.

Here's another issue to examine. Library creation statutes. Look at the statutes, charters, whatever. What powers do they grant? What do they preclude? Do they allow legal porn in public libraries? I doubt it, but this issue is not addressed anywhere. I suggest you consider looking into this. Many libraries nationwide may be acting ultra vires if they force communities to accept legal porn in the public library. It may be useful to local communities to use their own legal precedent to force their own libraries to stop acting outside the law in compliance with ALA directives or on their own.

And what are the legal ramifications of libraries that aid and abet pedophiles, child porn users, etc? Why are library employees who cover up child porn crimes not arrested as accessories to the crimes? Be clear almost all librarians are law abiding, but at least a few, like the Holyoke, MA, library director, might not be.

Naturally I have various sources in mind as I raise these issues. Please contact me if you would like to learn what I had in mind as I made these suggestions.

Thank you very much.