The Patrick Power Library is pleased to welcome Dan Phillips and Sarah West as the newest members of our Copyright Office team.
Dan and Sarah will lead efforts to ensure Copyright Act compliance and build awareness across campus, and provide support services to faculty, instructors, staff and students. To learn more about copyright services at Saint Mary’s University, please visit our Copyright Guide for Faculty & Staff or our Copyright Guide for Students.
Dan Phillips joins the team as Data Services & Copyright Librarian. Dan brings a range of experience from working with government, healthcare, faith, education, and industry in Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Saskatchewan. Originally from Waterloo, Dan holds graduate degrees in Information (MI) and Resource/Environmental Management (MREM) from Dalhousie University.
“As the Data Services and Copyright Librarian, I encourage content creators to practice their rights by applying clear licenses to their work that allow their content to be discovered, accessed, and reused – especially by educators,” says Dan.
Sarah West joins the team as Copyright Assistant. Having worked in the university Registrar’s Office for the past five years, Sarah may be a familiar face to the university community! Before coming to Saint Mary’s, Sarah worked at Pickering Public Library for 12 years. Sarah earned her Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of King’s College and Master of Library and Information Studies at Dalhousie University.
Sarah’s goal is to make copyright information more accessible to the university community. “I highly encourage faculty and staff to explore our Copyright Guide,” she says. “The guide includes a wealth of information about fair dealing exceptions to copyright, Creative Commons licenses, and open educational resources. I look forward to working with faculty and instructors in this role, and encourage them to reach out with any copyright questions they may have.”
Copyright support for faculty and instructors
The Canadian Copyright Act provides protection for creators and their original works, and outlines how copyright protected material can be reproduced, including for educational use.
Faculty and staff must comply with the Copyright Act and licensing agreements that outline how library material can be shared and reproduced. The Copyright Office supports copyright compliance by offering information on copyright and best practices, however, we do not provide legal advice.
“Have you ever played a complex board game with someone who can explain the rules clearly? It can be very satisfying. That’s the type of guidance we want to provide for copyright,” says Dan. “When the rules are too complex, people hesitate to play. We want to make copyright approachable to help educators feel confident when they select resources for their classes.”
Dan and Sarah are available to provide guidance to the SMU community on all copyright-related questions. Questions can be sent to copyright@smu.ca and Dan or Sarah will respond within one business day. In addition to fielding general questions, Dan and Sarah encourage faculty and instructors to take advantage of the specialized services they offer:
Course Readings Service
Our Course Readings Service helps instructors to connect students with course readings and other course content in a cost-effective, environmentally friendly, copyright-compliant, and easily accessible manner. Simply send your syllabus or course readings list to copyright@smu.ca. We will review it and provide you with options from our licensed content, Open Access resources, or copies that fall under Fair Dealing. If copyright permission is required, we will help you get it.
Copyright Information Sessions
Invite us to your next departmental meeting or book a classroom session. Contact us at copyright@smu.ca to discuss your options or to book a session. We can present on a variety of topics, and offer custom sessions, including:
- Copyright basics
- Fair Dealing & Copyright in Canada
- Films and online courses
- And more!
Copyright Office contacts
| Suzanne van den Hoogen University Librarian / Copyright Officer Tel 902-420-5532 Suzanne.vandenHoogen@smu.ca | Dan Phillips Data Services & Copyright Librarian Tel 902-420-5148 Dan.Phillips@smu.ca | Sarah West Copyright Assistant Tel 902-491-6321 copyright@smu.ca |
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