Success of digital copyright masterclass

The feedback from the digital copyright masterclass has demonstrated the value of the training and the regionally coordinated training provided by AWM.

Thank you to everyone who attended the course and took the time to provide us with feedback.

Why people attended

To develop knowledge and to feel more confident in a core professional skill and in so doing support ‘an efficient and robust service’.  Several people highlighted how necessary copyright skills are for digital material and digital preservation including one who was writing a digital preservation policy.  Several respondents also noted that they had come to refresh training taken several years ago.

The most useful elements of the course

Topics considered to be the most useful were Creative Commons, orphan works and the 2039 rule, social media, credits, moral rights as well as the core principles of copyright.  Several respondents could not pick a specific area and said the whole course was useful.

People also valued the interaction between attendees, which bought in the operational and archival perspectives.  The training materials were also considered really useful given the complexities of the subject.

No one felt there was any element of the course that could be considered ‘the least useful’ other than one respondents who felt that Digital Asset Management was the least relevant.  Most replied that ‘it was all useful’.

What action do you intend to take following today?

Follow-up actions included:

• Disseminate information amongst colleagues
• Further reading on the subject including the suggested follow-on resources in the training material
• Re-evaluate certain processes to view their adequacy and compliance.
• Investigating using Creative Commons in more detail
• Undertaking more detailed work on Orphan Works in the delegate’s collection, surveying and developing procedures for investigating copyright, due diligence searches etc.
• Make better use of existing Digital Asset Management System

Would you have been able to access this training otherwise?  If not why?

Two respondents said they would not have been able to access the training due to limited budgets and a job role not having training.  Four respondents were unsure and again noted issues around tight budgets and additional costs such as travel to access training.  Only 2 respondents said they would have definitely been able to access the training by other means.

How else would you like AWM to support you in developing digital preservation?

Several respondents wanted reassurance and specifically valued the check-ins on progress within the region and having benchmarking sessions such as that which happened during the RAM workshop.  One respondent asked for a re-run of the DPC digital preservation training course.  One other asked for information around standards for digitisation, and photography of collections.

Would you be interested in training on other legal issues and if so on what topics?

There was high level of interest in training on other legal issues including

• GDPR
• FOI
• Copyright
• Environmental Information Regulations
• Privacy and Electronic Communications

What other activity you would like AWM to provide to its members other than around digital preservation?

• Shared knowledge and resources.  Case studies?
• Accreditation for archives
• How to present virtual talks or training events

One respondent also noted how they valued the general updates on TNA activities and policy, archives accreditation, funding streams, inclusivity.