...This contribution...outlines a number of direct correlations between the functions of libraries and the characteristics of OSS [open source software], and by extension, how the principles of OSS can be applied to the distribution of “open libraries” as a future direction for librarianship....I want to look at what can be learned from the OSS software to understand the changing nature of libraries....
Conclusions
Libraries traditionally have been working with non-free information. They have argued that resources should be pooled to purchase access to such information for community members. Their promotion of free information has been hypocritical. They have advocated free access to information as long as it requires paying libraries to provide it.
The most important trend libraries are facing is the increase of free access information resources. Nowhere is this more obvious than on the web. More and more serious information is being made available for free on websites....
Generally, we see societies moving from an economy of information to an economy of attention. In the economy of information, information is rare and attention is plentiful. In the economy of attention, it is the opposite....So far the library sector is stuck in the economy-of-information track. It will wither if it does not get out of there.
Libraries have the opportunity to participate in the creation of open libraries that provide structured information on behalf of community members for free reuse by others, which can be a value-added business model for them. Building open libraries requires technical skill current librarians generally don’t have. It requires a business sense they have problems perceiving. And it requires a change in purpose that they are slow to accept. Therefore, I am not optimistic about the future of the formal library sector. But, of course, open libraries that are modeled after the open source movement are here to stay.
Update (1/29/09). Krichel has made another OA copy of this article with improved HTML coding.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 12/12/2008 11:14:00 AM.
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.
