Onsrud, H.J., "Balancing Intellectual Property Rights and Public Goods Interests in Geolibraries", International Federation of Surveyors (FIG), Brighton England, July 25, 1998, Vol 3, pp. 222-226. (Based on earlier presentation to Conference on Geolibraries, Mapping Science Committee, National Research Council, June 15, 1998, Washington D.C.)

Harlan J. Onsrud

onsrud@spatial.maine.edu

The balance in interests supported by our current intellectual property laws has made conventional libraries highly successful and valued social institutions. That balance is currently being disturbed by the accelerating shift to electronic publication and dissemination. This comment piece argues that both the public goods aspects and authorship protection aspects of current public library arrangements need to be supported in future geolibrary digital environments.