DRM

Previously on...

In our last post, we discussed QR codes, which make it easier to share and access information. We next turn to Digital Rights Management, which is intended to make sharing information more difficult.

So what is digital rights management?

Digital Rights Management (DRM) is any technology used to limit the use and licensing of digital media. DRM is used to copy protect CDs, mp3s, DVDs, e-books, and any other digital media.

Examples of DRM technologies include the Content Scrambling System (used to protect DVDs), Microsoft’s Protected Media Path, the Advanced Access Content System (used for Blu-Ray), and TAGES (used to protect video games).

An explanation of what DRM is and how it works, as well as some pros and cons.

A tutorial explaining how to check out a DRM license from an Overdrive library for use with your eReader.

How does this relate to special libraries?

DRM is an emerging issue in law libraries. While law students and lawyers have varying licenses for Westlaw and LexisNexis, e-books are a rarity. Casebooks are virtually non-existent in an e-book format.

However, e-books could become invaluable to special libraries in the future, and DRM will have a heavy impact. While live-blogging the 2010 CALI Conference, David Holt mentioned a discussion on “crowdsourcing,” the sharing of knowledge and notes between people through one book. “One panelist,” Holt said, “made the claim that some students intentionally buy used print textbooks because they have already been marked up by the previous student.” In libraries, highlighting has traditionally been frowned upon because it permanently “defaces” books. On an e-reader, however, the highlighting could be erased, or notes added by subsequent borrowers. “...It is interesting,” Holt noted, “to think that value can be added to the text by a previous user.”

This could be especially important in medical libraries, where doctors and researchers could potentially work together on important projects. A researcher could check out a current treatise on AIDS treatments, add his notes and findings, and then return the book to the medical library. Another researcher on his team could check the book out, read the treatise, and learn from and expand upon his colleague’s notes and suggestions.

Medical journals and law reviews might also one day be available in the e-format.

The question, however, becomes whether or not a special library’s DRM license allows permanent highlights and notes. Since DRM often works to prevent modifications to the original text, sound or program, libraries will probably be restricted to distributing clean, original files to each patron. Collaboration could become impossible if special libraries were forced to lend only one copy of an e-book at a time, or prohibited from retaining notes and highlighting.

Want more information?

Check out Wikipedia's article on DRM Technologies.

Read David Holt's live-blog from last year's CALI Conference. (mentioned above)

Read this article on BoingBoing about Harper Collins' restrictive new DRM policy.

Check out this article on DRM from the Fall/Winter 2010 edition of Progressive Librarian. (requires WSU ID)

Learn more about DRM at HowStuffWorks.

Amuse yourself with a cartoon about DRM and libraries.