Week 6, Thing 15

The copyright law is widely known about, but seldom understood.  The YouTube video of A Fair(y) Use Tale did a fantastic job of briefly explaining the ins and outs of copyright.  I decided to delve further and learn about Creative Commons, an offshoot of copyright that I had no idea existed.  Full Copyright laws can be restrictive not leaving room for creativity to flow.  Creative Commons allows individuals to share their work and allow others to use, adapt, or reuse by others.  Creative Commons makes this possible.  I was surprised to learn anyone can apply for a CC or, Creative Commons simply by going online and completing a questionnaire. This form of copyright allows the creativity to continue, IF the creator deems their work appropriate for Creative Commons.  Creative Commons Website


The first discovery exercise asked us to find an attribution displaying this program has been modified from it's original version.  I found the 23 Things is actually an article by Stephen Abrams article Stephen Abram's article, 43 Things I (or You) might want to do this year including the website 43 Things.  Thus the version of 23 Things we are currently using is an extention of 43 Things thanks to the Creative Commons copyright.


On another topic, I thought it best to highlight what Nancy Courtney, author of Library 2.0 and Beyond, believes will be the next version of an online library catalog which she dubs "Ingredients for Catalog 2.0."  Many tools we have explored in this class thus far could be incorporated in this futuristic catalog.  After reading chapter 2 of Courney's text and thinking about library catalogs did I realize how far behind OPAC's truely are.  It is time our OPACs catch up with the rest of technology, offering more to our tech savvy patrons.