Terrence Maxwell, Parsing the public domain, Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, July 12, 2005. (Thanks to Charles W. Bailey, Jr.) Only this abstract is free online, at least so far:
This article explores the use of the term public domain in the American context and finds that the symbol is subject to multiple meanings. Using historical and content analysis, the analysis explores the various uses of the term and provides a preliminary taxonomy for subsequent analysis and theory building. In conclusion, it suggests that more coherent information policies regarding national and international information access, creativity, governance, and private property rights will require a better understanding and delineation of the use of public domain in legislative and common practice.
(PS: Good point. One of my pet peeves is the sloppy use of the phrase "public domain", leaving readers confused about whether the author meant (1) the set of things not hidden or private or (2) the set of things not under copyright.)
Posted by
Peter Suber at 8/15/2005 04:54:00 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.
