settling a dispute

[Joseph Esposito <espositoj@gmail.com>]

I wonder if the listmembers could help to settle a dispute.  The 
topic is what constitutes fair use of books in libraries.

It is my view that some members (I don't know what percentage) of 
the academic library community believe that educational fair use 
covers the digitization of a book owned by the library, that the 
digital edition can be put on a Web server, and that the material 
can be made available at least to members of the institution 
(faculty and students).  Some librarians may also believe that 
the server can be accessible to the open Web, as the book was 
hosted by an educational institution.

The opposing view is that digitized copies are covered by fair 
use only when they are put in a dark archive for preservation 
purposes.

The question here is not what is the law (a complex question), 
but what do librarians think the law is.

Can anyone offer an opinion?

Thank you.

Joe Esposito