Libraries that manage electronic reserves know dealing with copyright issues is a BIG part of the job. To obtain permissions in order to use materials for electronic reserves as well as to manage fee payments, most libraries work through the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC). The process of adding materials to the reserve list for a course generally involves toggling between the electronic reserves management system interface and the Copyright Clearance Center's Web-based submission system.
Through a recent feature developed by Innovative Interfaces, copyright permission requests can be initiated from within the electronic reserves system,without the need to toggle between two systems.
When posting an item to electronic reserves, a “get permissions” link will appear; this link automatically connects to the CCC's permissions service, initiates an item search, and populates the request form with all the bibliographic and user details. The integration of the permissions function into the electronic reserves application streamlines the process, reduces mistakes inherent in re-keying data, which makes the process, overall, more efficient.
This functionality is made possible through the Copyright Integration Service the CCC developed in order allow external applications to interface with its request system and the capabilities of Innovative's WebBridge link resolver.
While other types of organizations have taken advantage of this service—such as course pack providers and stand-alone electronic reserves applications—Innovative Interfaces is the only ILS vendor so far to develop software that taps into the Copyright Integration Service. Docutek added similar integration with CCC to its ERES electronic reserves application in 2001.
