The Digital Resources Management Centre

The Digital Resources Management Centre [DRMC] provides a centralised service for the processing and copyright management of all journal articles, book chapters and other text materials that are required for teaching purposes by staff members of the University of Adelaide.

Contact details:

• Email: drmc@adelaide.edu.au
• Telephone: 8303 5774
• Location: Barr Smith Library Level 2 South

Services

The Digital Resources Management Centre:

• Scans copyright material to create a digital item and assigns accompanying metadata
• Provides access to this copyright material via Online Content either as individual readings or as a Readings: Online Content list (optional)
• Maintains the copyright record for these items to ensure that there is no copyright infringement

Submitting a request

Requests can be submitted in any format as long as the instructions are clear and the required information is included. Email your reading list to drmc@adelaide.edu.au or your Research or Branch Librarian. For single requests you may prefer to use the Digitisation Request Form.

If you provide a reading list, it is useful if the references are in priority order.

If the Library does not hold the publication, please send us a copy of the relevant journal issue or book chapter, if you have one; the best quality image can be created from the original document. The Centre is not permitted to use copies that you have obtained for your personal use from the Document Delivery service; this is in breach of the undertaking you signed when you requested the article. The Library will need to obtain another copy for digitisation purposes.

Please inform the Centre if you have a student with a print disability in your course so that a text version of the scanned article may be supplied if needed.

Exam papers

The University's Records Disposal Schedule no: 2001/01, effective 9 May 2001 - 30 June 2011, gives the University Library responsibility for retaining permanently a master set of examination question papers (item no. 2.2.4 of the schedule - it's on page 7) [the full schedule is available from the University Policies website].

The Digital Resources Management Centre will make past exam papers available to students through the "Exam papers" search option of the Library Catalogue. Electronic format is preferred for deposit. Just attach the files to an email addressed to the DRMC.

Paper copy is acceptable and will be scanned as a .pdf file. Send via internal mail to DRMC, c/- Barr Smith Library.

The order of preference for file formats is:

1. Adobe Acrobat .pdf file
2. MS Word file
3. Paper copy

Departments should indicate if an exam paper is not to be made available to students.

The University's Records Management Policy requires that a copy of every examination paper must be deposited in the Library, even if a department or academic decides that they do not want it made available to students.

Copyright

The copying (both hardcopy and digital) and electronic communication of materials is subject to the Copyright Act. The Copyright Act grants universities a licence which enables staff to copy and communicate literary, dramatic, artistic and musical works for educational purposes. This licence is commonly referred to as the “Part VB Licence”.

The Part VB Licence can only be relied on if the following criteria are met:

• the copying is undertaken for students of the University of Adelaide
• the material copies is for teaching purposes (for example, it cannot be for a sporting club)
• the copying is within the limits set by the Act

In the digital environment there are two further requirements:

• that the material placed online must be password protected and not available to the public
• a warning notice set by Regulation under the Act is placed immediately preceding, or on, a piece of copyright material online.

The DRMC plays a key role in compliance by checking that the digitisation of materials is within the limits set by the Act and placing the warning notice on the digitised version. However it is still your responsibility to comply with the other requirements.

For more information visit the University's Copyright Information page, or contact Geraldine Haese.

Accessing the digitised documents

You will be notified by email when your request has been processed and is ready to be activated via Online Content.
Once activated against your course, the items will be available to only those students undertaking that course.

Time needed for processing

The time needed for processing depends on the ability of the Centre to get the physical item for the digitisation process. With no obstacles, the turnaround time will be five working days from the time the Centre receives your request.

Benefits of using the Centre

• Highly used articles and book chapters are available to every student doing the course at all times and from anywhere
• The items are available for use in more than one course with little added effort to the lecturers
• You can optionally provide links to individual resources from within your MyUni course
• Ensures that the University does not breach its legal responsibility to provide only one copy of any digitised copyright material for teaching and research purposes.

Background information

The Digital Resources Management Centre was an initiative of three areas of the University of Adelaide: the University Library; the Division of the University Secretary; and the Learning and Teaching Development Unit. It has been established to monitor the production of copyright material in digital format, to ensure compliance with Copyright legislation.

All copyright material that is to be made available for teaching purposes on MyUni must be requested through the Digital Resources Management Centre.

Objectives

To provide a central point for the digitisation of all copyright text material that is required for University of Adelaide teaching purposes. This will ensure that:

• academic staff are provided with assistance in placing material online
• Departments save money by the use of:
  • existing Library e-journals and databases for which the Library pays a subscription
  • existing expertise, equipment and infrastructure
  • existing copyright compliance systems
• records for electronic copying are maintained in a single database, Online Content
• academic staff have access to stable URLs for linking to digital texts from MyUni
• compliance with usage monitoring systems that have been established by copyright collecting agencies
• compliance with Agreements that the University has entered into with copyright collecting agencies
• compliance with Part VB statutory licences under the Copyright Act

Further information

• University of Adelaide Copyright page
• Australian Copyright Act
• Australian Copyright Council. Information Sheets
• Learning and Disability Access