Open Access and Open Data share strong ideological ties, but diverge in the content being shared and the arguments for and against such sharing. ...
Like Open Access, Open Data has proven controversial, yet the sources of controversy differ between the two movements. For Open Access, the most forceful objections have been raised by the existing scholarly publishing industry, who object to policies that they see as a challenge to their business model. For Open Data, the complaints emerge not from the publishing industry, but from researchers and research institutions. The objections raised against Open Data are quite distinct from those leveled against Open Access, among them:
Having to share data before the individual researcher/research group/institution has fully exploited it might reduce the incentive to produce the data in the first place.
Different legal systems afford different protections for databases and datasets; effective sharing creates thorny international intellectual property issues, and in some cases may directly clash with particular pieces of database protection legislation.
Particularly in medical fields and others dealing with human subjects, data sharing creates complicated confidentiality issues.
The formats of research datasets are insufficiently standardized to enable their integration, and attempting to increase standardization might create a disincentive for healthy variation in methodological choices. ...
Posted by
Gavin Baker at 11/02/2008 03:27:00 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.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
