Effect of Copy Machines in a School Library on Students’ Inquiry-based Learning

Abstract

In the current knowledge-based society, it is necessary to let children know the worth of non-digitized media. This study examines the effect of copy machines on junior high school students’ learning of research methods and clarifies the use of a copy machine in a school library with reference to the Copyright Act of Japan. It also surveys the treatment of copying in Copyright Acts from other countries and compares them with Japan. The findings highlight that Japan is the only country that limits copying in the school library; the Japanese Copyright Act has not yet caught up with current welldeveloped information technology and therefore warrants revision. The introduction of a copy machine also decreased Internet use and increased use of books. However, the cost of the machine and teachers having to comply with students’ copying requests are some problems associated with copy machine usage.