Electronic Resources in the Virtual Learning

particularly important within a virtual learning environment where links
may open within the same window by default. Some websites will have
an explicit statement that forbids the use of certain types of links, such
as deep or frame links. Frame links are where a link to a website opens
within the frame and might be confused as being part of the site where
the link originated. Frame links can be set up fairly easily within some
VLE software, for example many versions of WebCT use frames. Links
to external websites by default will open in the WebCT frame and may
87

---

Electronic Resources in the Virtual Learning Environment
appear as if they are an integral part of the course website. In this case,
hyperlinks should be set up to open in a new window, which can be
easily done.
In some instances, particularly where transient information appears on
websites or if there is a concern that the material might be removed at a
later stage, teaching staff may insist that they download material rather
than link to it. This will usually require obtaining copyright permission
and sometimes this responsibility will fall to a librarian. In other cases,
staff may ask for advice about seeking permission. Further advice is
available later in this chapter. Nevertheless, do not assume that if
permission is required this will always be difficult to obtain and cost a
large amount of money. Many educational websites will freely grant
permission for other academics to use their material. In the first instance,
check any licences or copyright statements on a website to determine the
conditions of use. If you need to request permission, contact details are
usually included on the bottom of web pages. Appendix 1 contains a
sample letter which could be sent to the owner of a website to request
permission to download material for educational use.
Using images from the Web
One of the easiest things to download are images from other websites.
Search engines such as Google allow users to search specifically for
images, making them easy to identify. Even those with limited technical
knowledge can download images from the Web and reuse them in their
own website. However, you should be aware that this constitutes
copying and is infringing copyright law. If you wish to use a particular
image from another website, permission should always be obtained from
the copyright holder. Increasingly, as previously noted, commercial
website owners are including a watermark or some other digital rights
management system in images to discourage illegal copying, but also to
allow owners to track down illegal copying.
A true story: a senior academic wished to reuse an image he found in
an article written by a colleague, and because it was for publication in a
journal and he knew the individual concerned, he approached him to ask
for copyright permission. The response he received was somewhat
surprising, but then again perhaps not! The academic replied that he
would happily grant him permission to reuse the image – except that he
himself had downloaded it from the Web and couldn’t remember where
he had obtained it. Consequently, the academic decided to find an
88

---

Copyright and licensing digital texts
alternative image rather than risk publishing the image and having its
original owner see it and object.
So what is the solution? Generally, it is recommended that when
constructing your website, for educational use, or for any other purpose,
you should try to ensure you own the rights to all the resources you wish
to use. So, where possible, if you want to use images to illustrate your
site, use your own images. Photographs that you own can easily be
scanned, or perhaps the simplest answer is to obtain a digital camera and
then take your own photographs. If you don’t have the time or resources
to do this there are also numerous websites available that provide free
images that can be reused for non-commercial purposes. One such
example is freeimages.co.uk (http://www.freeimages.co.uk). Such
websites as this do have terms and conditions attached to their use. The
website cited asks that:
A link (or textural credit in non-web applications) to our commercial
site is required where an image is used.
11
It is also recommended that if you want to use images in your website,
you should investigate the digital image collections available in your
institution. Collections of images on all sorts of topics are increasingly
being licensed for educational use. For example, your institution may
subscribe to a commercial image collection such as the Education Image
Gallery (http://edina.ac.uk/eig/) available through the Edina service
hosted at Edinburgh University. The gallery is specifically designed for
further and higher education use and includes thousands of images from
the Getty collection. The images are copyright-cleared for teaching,
learning and research and can be used in web-based or printed materials.
Many institutions also have their own digitised image collections, which
can be used without copyright permission. Finally, if you really must use
someone else’s image, then ask them for permission first!