Mammal Images Library Committee |
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| Membership: |
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| D. G. Huckaby, Chair (dhuckaby@csulb.edu) E. J. Finck, Business Manager J. Bowman D. Byman B. D. Chepko-Sade J. H. Harris M. E. Hopton J. A. Lackey S. K. Lyons C. G. Mahan D. K. McClearn R. L. Rehmeier M. E. Rutzmoser J. S. Scheibe B. P. Tanis J. O. Whitaker, Jr. | |||||
| Committee Charge: |
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| History and Mission: The Mammal Images Library (MIL) was first established as the Mammal Slide Library in 1977 to provide low-cost slides of mammals principally for educational purposes (Gill and Wozencraft, 1994). The name was changed and the role broadened to reflect changes in ways images of mammals are now stored and accessed. The Mammal Images Library is a nonprofit educational program of the American Society of Mammalogists with the goal of providing images of mammals for use in educational purposes worldwide. The library consists of over 1500 images representing more than 80% of mammalian families from all continents. More than 110,000 slides are in use in more than 50 countries. In addition to optical projection for nonprofit instruction, many of the images can be employed (with permission) for other purposes, including commercial uses. Additionally, many will soon be available in digital format. Responsibilities Sales--The primary activity of the MIL continues to be sale of slides for optical projection for nonprofit instruction. Images are made available at a nominal fee (presently $3.00 US each, regardless of format), with a 10% discount on all orders of 50 or more images. An additional source of revenue is sales of catalogues (currently $4.00 US in the US, Canada, and Mexico, and $5.00 US elsewhere). Hard copy catalogues include a brief description of each image, date and locality of photo, photographer, geographic distribution of the species, and English (or other) common name. Information on library holdings is also available through our web site and orders may be placed directly from the site. Grants--In addition to sales, the MIL has a program whereby grants in the form of images can be obtained by educational institutions in developing countries. Institutions awarded a grant may select up to 50 images per award and may reapply annually. Electronic media--A major effort currently underway in the committee is a push to convert most or all of our image holdings to digital format for use by customers. This effort entails collaboration between the MIL and Johns Hopkins University Press and between the MIL and the Smithsonian Institute. Associated with the move to digital format, the committee recognized the need to update our Contributor's Agreements to permit digital presentation and minor editing. Consequently, revised Agreements have been drafted and are now being distributed to all contributors. Advertising--Income from sales of images is growing year by year and has accelerated following our development of a homepage on the World Wide Web. The Business Manager reports that the vast majority of sales are now coming directly from the web. Consequently, it must be a high priority for this committee to maintain and enhance our web site and to make sure that this site is registered with all major search engines. Additionally, links with other sites will further enhance the visibility of the MIL. With this in mind, the current collaborations with Johns Hopkins University Press and the Smithsonian Institute, whereby MIL images used in electronic publications carry a link to the ASM and the MIL should greatly enhance our visibility and sales. One important aspect regarding the web site and image sales deserves special mention here. The Business Manager reports that many potential customers want to preview images or request a detailed description before purchasing them. At present these requests pose a problem and require considerable additional work for the Business Manager and student assistants. However, when digital copies of the images are available, we will include thumbnail version of the images directly in the electronic catalogue so customers will be able to view the image before purchase from the web site. We feel that this step will provide a considerable benefit. Records--The MIL does not currently have an electronically searchable database of all holdings that will allow designated committee members to determine easily the duplication rights and restrictions associated with specific images. A database to meet this need is being constructed by several committee members and will be completed soon. The database will have all conditions of the Contributor's Agreement recorded for each image. One especially important item with regard to updating records and Contributor's Agreements involves contact information. Previous Contributor's Agreements did not contain banks for contact information for the contributors. This omission makes it difficult to contact contributors regarding commercial uses of images, royalties, term expirations, and the like. Accurate contact information, including postal address, telephone, and email addresses should be included with records for all future acquisitions and is now a specific item in the updated Contributor's Agreement and the MIL database. Acquisitions--The MIL exists only because of the generosity of its many contributors. Unfortunately, many taxa are still missing or are poorly represented in our library. An important activity remains identifying and acquiring new images for the library. I have designated several individuals on the committee to take primary responsibility for acquisitions. Changes in use of images--Conditions for other than optical projection of images for nonprofit educational use should be determined at the time of image acceptance into the library. These conditions are specified in updated Contributor's Agreements. Given recent technological advancements, the committee has elected not to accept images into the library for which we are not granted rights of digital reproduction for nonprofit educational purposes. Use of images for commercial purposes represents another matter. In the past the individual or entity responsible for making decisions regarding commercial uses and royalties was unclear, and inquiries regarding commercial use were referred to the contributor. Given the lack of contact information available for many contributors, this posed a substantial problem for many customers. To facilitate use of images for commercial purposes, the Contributor's Agreement has been revised to clearly identify who is responsible for making decisions regarding royalties. Additionally, for images where the MIL is responsible for decisions regarding royalties for commercial use, current policy is: 1) a minimum of $50 will be charged for use of any library image if the use is intended primarily for education and the image is not of fundamental importance in the project and; 2) royalties shall be negotiated between the Chair of the MIL and the customer(s) for commercial uses where images from the MIL are of fundamental importance to the project or are a focal point and where the project is expected to reach a large audience. In developing policies regarding royalties and royalty amounts, it is important to keep in mind that the fundamental goal of the MIL is education. Customers seeking commercial use of images for which Contributor's Agreements indicate that all royalties are to be paid to the contributor are directed to the contributor for royalty negotiations. Committee Chair This committee runs most efficiently when committee members volunteer for and are assigned specific responsibilities. Chairs should be especially careful not to allow excessive workloads to fall on one or a few individuals. Responsibilities requiring the most effort at present are the running of the Business Office and maintenance of the MIL web site. The Business Office, in particular, requires continuity and any person designated to serve as the Business Manager should be willing to make a multiple-year commitment. While there is, of course, no set time limit, the Business Manager should be asked to serve for at least five years. The committee is currently structured with the following responsibilities: Business Manager Web site development and maintenance Development of digital image library Updating Contributor's Agreements and development of database Advertising Mammal Images Library display Image acquisition Inquiries regarding other than nonprofit commercial use of images |
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