- Economic implications of alternative scholarly publishing models: Exploring the costs and benefits
(source: JISC / via OAN, 27/01/09)
"A knowledge economy has been defined as: “…one in which the generation and exploitation of knowledge has come to play the predominant part in the creation of wealth. It is not simply about pushing back the frontiers of knowledge; it is also about the more effective use and exploitation of all types of knowledge in all manner of economic activities” (DTI 1998). In a knowledge economy, innovation and the capacity of the system to create and disseminate the latest scientific and technical information are important determinants of prosperity (David and Foray 1995; OECD 1997). Scholarly publishing plays a key role, as it is central to the efficiency of research and to the dissemination of research findings and diffusion of scientific and technical knowledge. However, advances in information and communication technologies are disrupting traditional models of scholarly publishing, radically changing our capacity to reproduce, distribute, control, and publish information. One key question is whether there are new opportunities and new models for scholarly publishing that would better serve researchers and better communicate and disseminate research findings (OECD 2005, p14).
Debate on the economics of scholarly publishing and alternative publishing models focuses almost entirely on costs, but from an economic perspective the aim is to have the most cost-effective system, not (necessarily) the cheapest. And however much one studies costs, one cannot know which is the most cost-effective system until one examines both the costs and the benefits. Hence, the aim of this project was to examine costs and benefits, and in so doing to inform policy discussion and help stakeholders understand the institutional, budgetary and wider economic implications of three of the major emerging models for scholarly publishing (i.e. subscription publishing, open access publishing and self-archiving). It seeks to build on and extend recent work on the costs and benefits associated with alternative scholarly communication models (Houghton et al. 2006) and respond to some of the gaps and challenges identified in the UK Scholarly Journals Baseline Report (EPS et al. 2006). [...]"

- Two bits : the cultural significance of free software
(source: Kelty, Christopher M., Duke University Press, 2008 / via CultureLibre.ca, 26/01/09)

- Beyond Open Source
(source: A. Sale, 22/01/09)
"The Open Source movement, of which Linux is a shining example, is a showcase of how accessibility makes for excellence. A parallel thrust is currently being conducted in the research institutions and the publishing industries of the world to create Open Access to the world’s publicly funded research. Arthur Sale will trace the origin of the movement, its economics and the forces holding it back, and where we are now, particularly in Australia. Open Access, or OA, has very many more active participants than Open Source, and many more nay-sayers, cautious Scrooges, and ignorant people. The struggle is titanic – the benefits equally large!"

- Checking Under the Hood: Why open source mightbe right for your library
(source: Stranack, Kevin, Ontario Library Association Super Conference, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, January 2009 / déposé sur E-LIS, 01/02/09)

- Open Access Initiative: Bioline International
(source: liste Liber, 30/01/09)

- SPARC Open Access Newsletter, issue #130
(source: P. Suber, 02/02/09)

- Open Data Openness and Licensing
(source: Open Knowledge Foundation Blog / via DigitalKoans, 02/02/09)
"Why bother about openness and licensing for data? After all they don’t matter in themselves: what we really care about are things like the progress of human knowledge or the freedom to understand and share.
However, open data is crucial to progress on these more fundamental items. It’s crucial because open data is so much easier to break-up and recombine, to use and reuse. We therefore want people to have incentives to make their data open and for open data to be easily usable and reusable — i.e. for open data to form a ‘commons’."

- OA, IRs and IP: Open Access, Digital Copyright and Marketplace Competition: article | présentation
(source: ALA Midwinter, janv. 09 / via liste LibLicence, 02/02/09)