The Harvard Business Review (HBR) has recently made changes to its licensing provisions, which affect links to the material in Brightspace. Previously, our license with HBR stated that we could not include materials from their database in Brightspace or any learning management system (LMS), but we could provide permalinks to HBR content in the LMS. This has recently changed and our subscription with HBR now requires that we refrain from linking to any HBR content in either Brightspace or on course syllabi.

We ask that all faculty and instructors review their Brighstpace course spaces and syllabi and remove any permalinks to HBR material, and also that they refrain from including any in the future.

To use HBR material in a course, provide the citation to the material without the permalink. Students will be able to search for and access the material from the Library’s main page: https://libraries.dal.ca/  HBR can be accessed by searching for “Harvard Business Review” in the e-journals tab on the Libraries home page and then supplying the appropriate citation information (date, volume number, issue, and start page). Students can visit any library service point or contact the libraries (see https://libraries.dal.ca/help/ask-us.html) for help on searching for and accessing the articles.

We understand the frustration this may cause you and your students, but we appreciate your understanding and assistance in this matter. Failure to remove permalinks to HBR content from Brightspace and syllabi (and to abide by the terms of our license agreement generally) can result in all Dalhousie faculty, staff, and students losing access to this resource.

If you have any questions about this change, or about options regarding the use of HBR materials in your classes, please do not hesitate to contact the Copyright Office at Copyright.Office@Dal.ca or 902-494-2003. We want to thank you again for your understanding, and for helping to foster sustainable copying practices at Dalhousie.

By: John Yolkowski, Copyright Services Coordinator, Dalhousie Libraries

As Dalhousie makes the migration to Brightspace, the new Learning Management System (LMS), instructors will notice some changes and new features. For instance, when you first log into Brightspace you will be presented with this pop-up notice:

In order to gain access to Brightspace, you will need to click “I confirm,” to confirm that you are aware of your copyright responsibilities. This pop-up message will appear each term as a reminder about copyright.

Instructors share in the responsibility to ensure the materials you have uploaded into your course space are copyright compliant. This means you have the permission of the copyright holder to upload the item, or you are making content available under an exemption in the Copyright Act, like Fair Dealing (see our Fair Dealing Guidelines here).

If you are unsure about whether your course is copyright compliant, Dalhousie Libraries’ Copyright Office has tools to help you:

• We have a guide on our website regarding the use of copyrighted material in learning management systems: http://www.dal.ca/dept/copyrightoffice/for-faculty/online-teaching-guide.html

• And an online video tutorial on copyright and Brightspace:http://libcasts.library.dal.ca/Copyright_and_Brightspace/

• As well, we also provide a Copyright Course Review Service on request, where Copyright Office staff will review your course space for copyright concerns, and provide suggestions/clearances for material that may be infringing.

If you have any questions about copyright and your course-space, this pop-up window, or would like to take advantage of our course review service, please contact us at Copyright.Office@Dal.ca or 902-494-4346. Thank you again for playing your part in ensuring sustainable and ethical copying practices at Dalhousie.