The Legal Environment of Digital Curation - A Question of Balance for the Digital Librarian.

Digital curation is about maintaining and adding value to a trusted body of digital information for current and future use. This requires active management and on-going appraisal over the entire life-cycle of scholarly and scientific materials. Whether there is a desire to make materials as open as possible or a requirement to keep them closed and private (for example in the case of sensitive personal data), legal elements can have a huge impact on the overall ability to effectively curate and preserve digital information over time. The DCC advocates the development of a framework for any curation activity that includes consideration of legal matters throughout. - from copyright and licensing models, to freedom of information and data protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]