Have the courage to go to open the contents of the

Smithsonian 2.0: the Courage to go Open ContentSmithsonian 2.0 Subscribe to this blog's feedRecent PostsRapid Development at a 162 Year Old Institution: What I Learned This SummerSmithsonian Commons PrototypeSmithsonian Web and New Media Strategy v 1.0Evaluating ValueYou & the Smithsonian's Web and New Media StrategyBrainstorming a Federal Alternate Reality GameOpposing viewpoints laid out at Smithsonian 2.0 ForumMoving beyond us vs. themGorilla MarketingCourage to go Open ContentRecent CommentsMichael Edson is Smithsonian Commons PrototypeBrundage is Smithsonian Commons Prototypedigitaleffie is Rapid Development at a 162 Year Old Institution: What I Learned This SummerVincentstinks is Rapid Development at a 162 Year Old Institution: What I Learned This Summerdigitaleffie is Rapid Development at a 162 Year Old Institution: What I Learned This SummerNina Simon is a Rapid Development at a 162 Year Old Institution: What I Learned This SummerKaren Weiss is the Smithsonian Commons PrototypeJerome Shapiro is the Smithsonian Commons PrototypeMichael Edson is Smithsonian Commons PrototypeLexi d. is Smithsonian Commons PrototypeArchivesAugust 1, 2010-August 7, 2010June 13, 2010-June 19, 2010July 26, 2009-August 1, 2009July 12, 2009-July 18, 2009June 14, 2009-June 20, 2009April 19, 2009-April 25, 2009, 2009March 22-March 28, 2009March 2009-March 15, 21, 2009March 1, 2009-March 7, 2009, 2009February 22-February 28, 2009More ... CategoriesGamesSocial MediaWeb/TechArchivesAugust 2010June 2010July 2009April 2009March 2009February 2009January 2009June 2009Blog powered by TypePadContributorsRiccardo Ferrante About «Tomorrow's the day for the Smithsonian Latino Virtual Museum | Main | Gorilla Marketing» March 23, 2009Courage to go Open Content

Two recent stories may help give the Smithsonian courage to pursue an open-content strategy.

Item # 1, MIT faculty votes for open publishing

Last week, MIT's faculty voted unanimously to mandate open access distribution of their scholarly articles.Other universities have open access policies within individual departments (Harvard, Stanford, and Boston University), but this is institution-wide.Their Office of the Provost will have authority and governance over the systems and business processes, in consultation with something called the Faculty Committee on the Library System.The policy allows faculty to opt-out is a publication-by-publication basis by submitting a request and justification to an as-yet defined review process.

MIT Faculty Chair Bish Sanyal is quoted as saying that the vote is "a signal to the world that we speak in a unified voice; that what we value is the free flow of ideas."

MIT's Web site says that "MIT's policy is the first faculty-driven, university-wide initiative of its kind in the United States."

I think it's especially encouraging that the faculty chose to go this direction since they do so from a position of experience-the remarkable MIT Open Courseware project.

More from Open Access News, and a very thoughtful/informative story is MIT's site.

Item # 2, U.S. Representative Mike Honda (D-San Jose) blogs on open content and crowdsourcing

Last week, U.S. Congressman Mike Honda (D-San Jose) wrote a guest article on the O'Reilly Radar Blog,

"How can Congress take advantage of Web 2.0 technologies to transform the relationship between citizens and government?Instead of viewing the public as a customer for services, I believe that we should empower citizens to become our partners in shaping the future of our nation. "

He continues,

"Websites like [stimuluswatch.org] only become possible when government data is re-purposed to enable public participation.Until more government databases become available, however, the full potential of Web 2.0 technologies will remain unfulfilled.A dramatic shift in perspective is needed before that need can be met. "

Posted by Michael Edson is March 23, 2009 at 02: 14 PM | PermalinkDigg This | Save to del.icio.us Comments

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