DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

I gained further knowledge about the public domain by applying material about the public domain and copyright to the project. I also learned that works in the public domain are not that easy to find. It was difficult to find the right images on sites other than Wikimedia. Once the image was found, it was challenging to find out about its copyright. It was fun, however to link images to research. I can now identify with all the people that are trying to do things legally. In addition to copyright and public domain, I learned Soundslides and Garageband. I am getting better with a Mac too!

:)

I think this project was more about copyright, public domain, and the technology of the assignment and not so much about the research. Knowing about digital archives opens a whole new world of information if you did not know about them before. I also think the point of this assignment was to demonstrate how easy it is to “steal” stuff and how difficult it is to find stuff legally, in the public domain. People are very cautious when you approach them about copyright, even if they do not own the copyright. It is as if copyright is a naughty word. I tried to contact a few people that specialized in Mounted Archery and they were cautious about communicating with me when I said the word research. If I said school project they were more open with information. I think the requirement of talking to a librarian was in the assignment to encourage people to ask for help and feel comfortable contacting people they do know. This was easy for me, not only with the librarians, but also with the professor of the topic. I also emailed a few other people that have an interest or specialize in the area. I think I might have even made a new friend in Hong Kong… We’ll see!