University of Pennsylvania (University of Pennsylvania Libraries)

The University of Pennsylvania Libraries will demonstrate and provide tools and data for opening access to the large body of scholarly and general serial literature from 1923-1963 that is in the public domain, but not freely accessible online. Though libraries hold many serials published after 1922 that are in the public domain and contain unique and valuable information for researchers, most have not been made available online due to the uncertainty and difficulty of establishing their copyright status. The project will result in a complete, searchable inventory of serials with issue and contribution renewals made between 1950 and 1977, as well as procedures for using the inventory and other data to decide whether a portion of a serial is in the public domain.