Copyright Instruction in LIS Programs: Report of a Survey of Standards in the U.S.A.

This article will detail the results of a survey distributed within the United States of America to professionals working in academic, public, school/media, and special libraries that asked respondents to rate their daily copyright and intellectual property knowledge needs vs. their actual knowledge and education in this area. The results were then compared with an analysis of course content in current ALA accredited LIS programs in the U.S. gathered from online course descriptions to determine whether there is evidence pointing to a need to alter the curriculum of LIS programs to better prepare graduates for the copyright and intellectual property demands they will face on the job. The combined data will inform Library Science colleges and educators as to whether an instruction deficit exists in their current curricula and will give these colleges and educators data to support the development of new programs.