Controlled Digital Lending (CDL) is a hot topic in libraries. Libraries use the rights of first sale associated with physical books to lend patrons a digital copy. By holding back access to the physical item while the digital copy is lent, libraries maintain an “own-to-loan” ratio that parallels the physical lending practice. The digital copy has controls in place that prevent additional copying and automatically “return” the item when the lending period is over.

CDL has its roots in a 2011 paper by Professor Michelle M. Wu at Georgetown Law School. The concepts were solidified in a 2018 whitepaper by David R. Hansen and Kyle K. Courtney. Several libraries experimented with CDL, and the concept was widely desired by libraries to remotely serve patron needs in the early months of the Covid pandemic. 

At the 2022 Charleston Conference, Index Data’s Sebastian Hammer joins a panel of librarians and library technologists to discuss CDL on Friday, November 4, 2022, at 12:15 PM in the Francis Marion Colonial Ballroom. Members of this panel are part of a NISO working group that is forming a recommended practice for interoperability between CDL systems and other library automation services. Sebastian is a co-leader of the circulation integration subgroup of the NISO initiative, and he brings his expertise in APIs and open systems to the group. He also represents Index Data in Project ReShare’s current effort to implement CDL.