Audience Tools

iSchool alum wins scholarship for copyright work at college library

University of Washington Information School alum Kathleen DeLaurenti has been awarded the 2015 Robert L. Oakley Memorial Scholarship, the American Library Association announced. The scholarship, established by the Library Copyright Alliance, supports research and advanced study for librarians in their early- to mid-careers who are interested and active in public policy, copyright, licensing, open access and their impacts on libraries.

DeLaurenti, who earned her MLIS at the iSchool in 2008, serves as the arts librarian at the College of William and Mary, where she led a user-centered redesign of the Music Library, including adding new equipment, collections, and services. The Oakley scholarship will support DeLaurenti’s work in copyright education, focusing on students’ understanding of music licensing and copyright basics.

"The support of the Oakley Scholarship would allow me to not only continue the next phase of this project to create music copyright learning modules, but it would provide the resources to involve students in curricular development and module creation," DeLaurenti told the ALA.

The Oakley Scholarship awards a $1,000 scholarship to individuals or a team of individuals who meet eligibility criteria to encourage and expand interest in and knowledge of these aspects of librarianship, as well as bring the next generation of advocates, lobbyists and scholars to the forefront with opportunities they might not otherwise have.

Law librarian and professor Robert Oakley was an expert on copyright law and wrote and lectured on the subject. He served on the Library Copyright Alliance representing the American Association of Law Libraries and played a leading role in advocating for U.S. libraries and the public they serve at many international forums including the World Intellectual Property Organization and United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization. He served as the United States delegate to the International Federation of Library Associations Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights from 1997-2003.