Why open source? Academics do an enormous amount of work editing journals and writing articles and now publishers have broken an implicit contract with academics, in which we gave our time and they weren't too greedy. Sometimes articles cost $20 to download, and principles books regularly sell for over $100. They issue new editions frequently to kill off the used book market, and the rapidity of new editions contributes to errors and bloat....The publishers are vulnerable to an open source project: rather than criticize the text, we will be better off picking and choosing from a free set of materials. Many of us write our own notes for the course anyway and just assign a book to give the students an alternate approach. How much nicer if in addition that "for further reading" book is free. Moreover, by doing it this way, we avoid the problem of assigning a $100 book that has all sorts of errors and problems, an assignment which justifiably annoys students....You are free to use any subset of this work provided you don't charge for it, and you make any additions or improvements to it available under the same terms....There are some technical issues associated with open sourcing a book, and few books have been open sourced, although many are given away free. Some of the challenges are discussed [here]. My model is slightly different than the model espoused there. I hope some people will maintain their own version of this work, using mine as a springboard, adding to it over the years until it is personalized and superior for their course. I expect some others to just use the most appropriate "flavor" around. The best outcome would be a friendly competition between different flavors, with the result of several specialized versions for distinct purposes, all embedding best-of-breed insights. I'll maintain a list of recommended flavors, although I won't attempt to be comprehensive. If I deem a version unsuitable, I won't draw attention to it by linking to it. However, the nature of the license is that I have ceded control so that others can create versions I don't personally like. I also hope that others will create complementary websites with homework exercises and additional applications, although I will of course include some of those in my version.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 11/08/2005 08:33:00 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.
