Security is a growing concern in multimedia management. To protect costly items from having to be replaced, commercial vendors provide sophisticated theft detection systems using electromagnetic technologies and “safer,” which are cases that secure video, audio, and CD’s with a locking device. Loss reduction rates have been estimated at about 80-85% in libraries using security systems.
Licensing agreements must be strictly adhered to in order to avoid copyright infringement of software. As many as four out of ten software applications now in use are pirated. If an organization cannot document the license for every copy of each program installed on its computers, it is violating the law. Steps to take to avoid software piracy include:
1. Make someone responsible and accountable for software management.
2. Write down procedures for purchasing software licenses and check periodically to make sure all software programs have a valid license.
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3. Have a software policy manual that details your compliance with copyright law that is accessible to employees.
4. Know the licensing agreements on all your software including the costs to maintain them.