RESOURCE CENTRE MANUAL
HEALTHLINK WORLDWIDE
7.6 Photocopying
Photocopying articles from periodicals or pages from books makes information
more easily accessible. If the resource centre offers a photocopying service, the
resource centre budget needs to include photocopier maintenance and
accessories such as paper and toner (See Section 2.3: Financial planning).
It is important to be aware of copyright laws, which allow only a few pages to
be photocopied unless permission is given. Some publishers are happy for their
materials to be photocopied or adapted for education and training without
being asked permission. If so, they always state this clearly in the publication. It
can be useful to add copyright details to notes about the publication in the
catalogue, so that these are known before the material is taken off the shelf.
It is best to check about copyright in the country concerned. The national
library usually has this information. However, the following can usually be
photocopied:
• one article in an issue of a periodical (such as a newsletter or journal)
• one chapter of a book, or 10 per cent of the publication, whichever is less
• no videos, unless permission is given
• no computer software, unless permission is given (except to make a single
security backup)
• a small number of records from a commercial bibliographic database such
as Medline or POPLINE, either to print and post, or to e-mail the
information to a user who cannot visit the resource centre.
Example of permission for reproduction
14 SECTION 7: INFORMATION SERVICES