Paul Lima, Information liberation: Exploring the promise of information commons, Content Institute, November-December 2004. Excerpt: 'While respecting the right of corporations to charge for information, some information professionals are calling for fewer restrictions on the distribution of information and are lobbying for, or actively participating in, the creation of information commons -- a new way of producing and sharing information, creative works and democratic discussions. Information commons are like information portals -- digital repositories of thematically related information. The information may include scholarly journals, medical and scientific research, Supreme Court arguments, marketing and business data, or even information pertaining to knitting, culture or alternative news. Instead of being run by corporations, information commons tend to be run in a collective manner by like-minded individuals -- associations or university departments for instance -- and they are accessible to all....The development of information commons will help restore the balance, says [Marjorie Heins, a former ACLU lawyer, founder of FEPP and fellow of the Brennan Center for Justice Democracy Program at NYU School of Law]. But it will take a collaboration as well as financial support from governments, foundations and even corporate coffers to build a healthy system of open archives and commons projects, particularly in the scientific community where peer review is required to validate information before it is published. The alternative might be more neatly packaged information, but it also means less information from fewer sources distributed only to those who can afford it, something [Nancy Kranich, former American Library Association president and FEPP senior research fellow] finds ironic. "I thought it was all about eyeballs. That the value of information was getting it out there." ' (Thanks to Shelflife.)
Posted by
Peter Suber at 1/13/2005 01:15:00 PM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
