Jean-Claude Bradley of Drexel University came to Swarthmore College this Tuesday for a Sigma Xi Lecture on Open Notebook Science....
Bradley argued that as science moves toward being more open, computers and machines will be able to perform more of the scientific process itself without humans—and this might allow more science to be released in a public open format....
At Drexel, Bradley has what he calls an open lab. He started by blogging about everything he does there, and has solicited comments from peers in the scientific community to help him with his research. He now has a Wiki, called UsefulChem that has all the experiments his lab has conducted. It functions as his students’ lab notebook and has all their information so that outside scientists can see the entire process of the experiments.
This method has many advantages. In his lecture, Bradley said that because of his strategy, “I can share my raw data with the world.” When everything is public, he explained, nothing can get lost. Although some scientists are worried about getting scooped since anyone can see their work, Bradley argued that open-notebook research makes finding collaborators easier, allows exchange for discussing vendor reliability and hypotheses, and allows undergraduates to see real research in action.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 11/30/2007 09:16:00 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.
