Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Enjoy!

 Kristina

Hack Library School is seeking new writers for the 2017-18 cohort! New and returning students are welcome to apply. Applications are due February 15. https://hacklibraryschool.com/2017-call-for-writers/.

Mark your calendars! Hack Library School will host its very first Twitter chat on Tuesday, February 21, 2017 at 8pm CST. Check out Carissa’s post for more details.
https://hacklibraryschool.com/2017/02/01/dearhls-announcing-hlss-very-first-twitter-chat/

Jessica

In some exciting intellectual property news, the Metropolitan Museum of Art has stated that all “public domain images in its collection will be shared under CC0 [Creative Commons], expanding their digital collection by over 375,000 images as well as providing data on over 420,000 museum objects spanning more than 5,000 years. CC0 allows anyone to use, re-use, and remix a work without restriction.”

This is huge. If you know anything about Fair Use as a legal defense, you know that it can be flimsy when creative works are involved. Public domain images can already be used without the copyright owner’s permission, but sharing them under a Creative Commons license that specifies re-use and remixing without restriction encourages using these images for transformative works!

If you’re responsible for any signage or displays in your library, maybe try including these images in your next creation, and encourage your patrons to use them as well!

Cover photo from JSMetcalf Photos on Flickr Commons.  Licensed under CC 2.0.