North American Institute for Conflict Resolution (NAICR), is developing a project to create a digital library of dispute resolution and peace-building books, articles and training materials, to be made available online by subscription.
Such a resource could put an outstanding collection into the hands of virtually every library and school, in every corner of the world reached by the Internet.
THE BENEFIT TO LIBRARIES: With the high cost of publications and the shrinking funding of libraries and schools, few schools and libraries can have even a scanty collection of the burgeoning materials in the conflict resolution and peace-building field. This resource would materially enhance the dissemination of these materials to libraries, schools and individuals who may be finding it difficult to acquire and maintain an adequate collection in this critical field.. Once this relatively small effort is successful, there is no telling where it could lead, in terms of making materials more widely available.
Because of computer access, libraries and schools have the added benefit of not needing to handle the materials physically, nor find space to house those that are not frequently used. This means that the resource adds little burden to the libraries' operating costs: the subscription fee plus computer availability and access, which can serve many other purposes. The model envisioned for this work is as follows:
A: USER ACCESS: Users access the materials through subscription and ad hoc use. Some of the materials will be freely available. Section C: Document Management describes some of the varying levels of subscription services.
B: BENEFITS TO CONTENT CREATORS AND COPYRIGHT HOLDERS Content creators and copyright holders will be compensated in two ways:
by individual document pricing (if they so choose) and by profit-sharing. Levels of participation can be established that give greater or lesser access to the materials. The profit-sharing relationship with NAICR will create an incentive to keep document prices reasonable. Because copyright holders are relieved of publication, promotion and distribution costs for materials distributed through this Digital Library, they should see real advantages to it.
C. DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT: Through use of a sophisticated document management platform, distribution will be available in various levels of access, from partial and full viewing to downloading. Access can be controlled to allow (1) viewing only, (2) printing (with number of copies controlled), and (3) download. In addition, materials can be searchable by author, title, topics and keywords in summaries as well as in full-text.
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NAICR has the expertise and support network to pull together a worthwhile collection. NAICR co-founder and project leader is Barbara Ashley Phillips, a mediation pioneer and author of two books in the field. As a nonprofit corporation based in the U.S. with offices in Oregon and in Alberta, Canada, NAICR is in a unique position to access North American and world-wide support.
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This project needs resounding support from the library community to get off the ground. Let us know how we can best serve libraries - and specifically your library - with this resource. And let us know if you are interested in and can constructively contribute to the work of the Libraries Advisory Committee for this Project.
Please reply to info@crtraining.org, Re: Online Dispute Resolution Library.
Thank you.
Barbara Ashley Phillips
Executive Director
