When Provenance is Questionable

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SELCO’s Cataloging Policy

When provenance is questionable

Sometimes there are questions about the legality or availability of an item sent in for cataloging for broad use. This can include, but is not limited to:

-Advanced Reader Copies (ARCs)

-Region-locked DVD/Blu-rays

-Illegal copies of movies/television shows not published by the owning company

-AI generated material

-Material not properly licensed from the intellectual property owner

If SELCO is aware of an issue with any item sent in for cataloging, it will not be added to the ILS, and returned with a note asking the owning library to check/confirm the legality of the item. If items are noticed in general cleanup or circulation tasks the owning library may be contacted.

SELCO encourages the following:

-if possible, return the item

-if the library wishes to circulate the item, it should be added as an uncataloged item and use a non-requestable circ mod as patrons and/or SELCO should not be monetarily responsible for replacing material created via copyright infringement. If this is not possible, the item should be either non-requestable or local request only. 

For more information on how to identify bootleg DVDs, AI generated material, or general collection development assistance please contact the SELCO help desk.