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Funding and governance of library and information services for visually impaired people: international case studies

Part2:Country studies

Canada

Publishers'involvement

Publishers'involvement is in the early stages. Canada, through CLA and Library and Archives Canada has just finished a publishers' e-text clearinghouse pilot project in which publishers could make requested files available in alternative format for trusted partner alternative format producers. Most publishers are amenable to providing an e-text copy where possible, but there is no formal process in place yet, and often the file is difficult to use for producing an alternative format.

A detailed report of the pilot project was published in April 2006 [http://www.cla.ca/top/releases/CH_Pilot_FINAL%20REPORT_EN.pdf]. In the section on issues and problems identified, the report lists a number of problems in publishers' responses, including:

• No French-language publishers took part (the reasons are unclear);
• Some publishers refused to participate;
• Some publishers asked for more information on users in return for providing e-files, although the existing copyright exception applies equally to e-files;
• It is vital to get contact at the right level in the publisher but there needs to be back up in the event that the named contact is unavailable

Other issues concerned whether a single repository where each producer could download a file directly was preferable to a clearinghouse system where producers could request files from each other. But most publishers are unable to provide suitably structured files; this means that alternative format producers need to carry out substantial cleaning up of files. In turn, other producers would save time and effort by being able to take the cleaned file from the producer rather than the original file. A clearinghouse rather than a repository model would address this problem.

Copyright issues also prevent the sharing of files with institutions outside Canada. The report recommended that it may be possible to extend the Standard Agreement to expedite the acquisition of e-files from US publishers whose title has been published by a Canadian affiliate.

The report made a number of recommendations for the improvement of the working of a clearinghouse. It also recommended that separate efforts be made towards a central repository, probably in conjunction with the CLA's Network for Equitable Library Service initiative. The report notes that some publishers would not want to take part in a repository, while the problem of poorly structured files makes it less valuable than it may seem at first sight.