And all that stuff. I have been trying to fond something interesting to discuss since coming back, and the archives blogs have really only started being interesting this week. But I won't be using them as I don't really care too much who the new US Archivist will be (it is important, but less so in Canuckistan). However, good times were found by Rebecka and myself so here we go:
Firstly: awesome article from the CBC about public domain and Wallace McLean. I'm not 100% sure what this guy does as although I have seen him on the ARCANL listserv, I don't think he is an archivist by trade. What he does do is keep a blog that tracks works that enter the public domain which isn't easy to track due to the differing times in each country. Grey Owl's writings have been in the public domain in Canada for some time, but are now jut available in Europe.
One thing I didn't know is that although in Canada published works enter the public domain 50 years after the death of the individual, there is this waiting period of another 50 years for unpublished items, that is archival material. This has never been mentioned in class, so I'm going to do some digging to see what this is all about.
In addition to this, turns out Gandhi's writings are now in the public domain in India.
The other story that I have been finding endlessly interesting is the firewall they are attempting around Australia. I may be wrong but it seems the main point of crafting such a security effort is to protect the children from porn and other nasty bits of the internet. There is already the great Firewall of China where they protect their citizens from silly things like protests and democracy. I'm not sure I follow the logic in having a country pretending to be a parent to its citizens. I think it would be far more effective to encourage information literacy and good choices than just making it all illicit, as that adds in more of a cachet. I also know the interwebz isn't so great to begin with in Australia, so adding in another level of throttling will not help.
Don't forget, if you want to participate in the ACA conference in Calgary, submit an abstract for a paper to be considered!!
One thing I didn't know is that although in Canada published works enter the public domain 50 years after the death of the individual, there is this waiting period of another 50 years for unpublished items, that is archival material. This has never been mentioned in class, so I'm going to do some digging to see what this is all about.
In addition to this, turns out Gandhi's writings are now in the public domain in India.
The other story that I have been finding endlessly interesting is the firewall they are attempting around Australia. I may be wrong but it seems the main point of crafting such a security effort is to protect the children from porn and other nasty bits of the internet. There is already the great Firewall of China where they protect their citizens from silly things like protests and democracy. I'm not sure I follow the logic in having a country pretending to be a parent to its citizens. I think it would be far more effective to encourage information literacy and good choices than just making it all illicit, as that adds in more of a cachet. I also know the interwebz isn't so great to begin with in Australia, so adding in another level of throttling will not help.
Don't forget, if you want to participate in the ACA conference in Calgary, submit an abstract for a paper to be considered!!
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