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I would like to encourage everyone that takes the OpenKnowledge course to contribute their top five favourite websites that can give us more information on open learning and information sharing and/or people, collectives and websites that are already doing it! This is a Library open to all which we can use now and in the future to search for the resources we need.

Hello, Teresa, As the amount of information taken from this course, as well as from resources related to it and taken from the web is simply overwelming, I decided to create a blog with all these resources. Some are from the course, others from different internet resources, all related to open learning and knowledge. I give you the adress here: learninglovers.wordpress.com Sorry for not compleating your document, but I am still in module 3 and I have recorded more than 300 resources, so it would take me for a little while to do so... Hope it's useful for you!

"If, as rumoured, google builds a platform for depositing unrefereed research papers for "peer-reviewing" via crowd-sourcing, can this create a substitute for classical peer-review or will it merely supplement classical peer review with crowd-sourcing?"

Two facts that makes me think, peer-reviewing via crowd-sourcing, at best would supplement the traditional peer-review process. Fact one, there are already open access repositories that allow "deposit first; review later", but those repositories have not taken over other journals. Fact two, Wikipedia is an example in that, though theoretically anyone can contribute and edit the articles, there is definite number of people who would do it. Therefore, I don't see crowd sourcing peer review would really substitute the traditional route.

I appreciated that this source was framed outside of dichotomous thinking by not pitting more traditional and open access peer review models directly against one another, carrying the assumption that a particular publishing process must choose one or another. Although, I think I would challenge Harnad to take this thought process further. Rather than supplementing or complementing one another, traditional and open peer review models are distinct enough to also be applicable in different types of contexts, without necessarily needing to rely on one another. That is not to disagree with Harnad that the two do not "substitute" one another, but precisely because they cannot substitute one another indicates that they serve different purposes and could thus be useful in different contexts…. Or, as Harnad suggest, supplement each other in the same context. I think this very well parallels the context of taxonomies and folksonomies.

"[W]e use open source software in our solutions and will use open source software in the future. From time to time, we may face claims against companies that incorporate open source software into their products, claiming ownership of, or demanding release of, the source code, the open source software and/or derivative works that were developed using such software, or otherwise seeking to enforce the terms of the applicable open source license."

A source of some open text books with a interesting back story that should act as a warning about open--they are all now ex-open text books. After 2012 the publisher decided to abandon the CC/open textbook model and shifted the licensing on all their books. However, you can not revoke a CC license retroactively, so copies of the books downloaded prior to the change are still CC. But if the publisher no longer provides access to them, they disappear from CC circulation and access--luckily in this case, some one saved the CC versions and makes them available on this website. thanks!

Seriously useful! Indeed!

Wow, this collection is extensive, and the content seems good too! I'm so glad that someone was motivated enough to make these available according to their original licenses -- but it feels a bit bittersweet as well they had to resort to guerilla tactics to keep them available. It does make me wonder -- why did the publishing company decide to start charging for their textbooks? Was the previous model unprofitable?

En este post se habla de Randy Schekman y su postura sobre las revistas de lujo y el open access

Open access, be it via institutional repositories or publishing using OJS, is fast becoming the norm for sharing research output. Africa needs to get onto the open access bandwagon.

Hi TG, great to see you here! :)

Of the 255 papers that underwent the entire editing process to acceptance or rejection, about 60% of the final decisions occurred with no sign of peer review. For rejections, that's good news: It means that the journal's quality control was high enough that the editor examined the paper and declined it rather than send it out for review.

This article is certainly controversial, and I believe in some way did a service to the Open Access community by highlighting the practice of predatory journals. However, the irony of Bohannon's article, being an example of the kind of "bad science" he describes in his own article is inescapable. First, there is no randomization of his "experimental group", and there is no control group; second, there was elimination of non-responders; third, there was no application of the intention to treat principle in the analysis; and finally there were no inferential statistics and no references! Using his own standard, there is nothing that can be concluded from his study. For the criticism regarding Bohannon's targeting of OA journals exclusively, it is important to note that this experiment has been done before with 'traditional' journals as well- and many of them failed the test of peer review. http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/02/27/how_nonsense_papers_ended_up_in_respected_scientific_journals.html

I think Bohannens "study" should be considered more "investigative journalism" than scientific study. While it may have some flaws if held against the standards of a scientific study, as a journalistic piece it goes a long way to justify its central accusation that there are predatory open access journals. He does not claim that there are no or evwen less predatory journals in the tradional sector (although it seems reasonable to believe that it might seem easier to predatory publishers to dupe unsuspecting scientists rather than subscription paying librarians). It demonstrates that open access is not a cure for all the problems besetting acacemic publishing. I think more deeply about it, it shows that author fees for publication may create a buisiness model just as open to abouse as the traditional subscription system. One answer might be to make the peer-review process more transparent, i.e. name the reviewers But that of course has other drawbacks.

This is a weekly series highlighting Open Access Button users from around the world, discussing their work, and sharing their stories. If you would like to participate, please email oabutton@gmail.com Professor Ernesto Priego, part of the team at City University London's Library and Information Science Course, was thankfully able to chat with us after a...

This title is SO meaningful. People always ask what librarians do in this digital-Google-era. Librarians enable access, that is what they do! And in many ways. In educating people on open access, how to search databases, by searching databases for patrons, by searching the full-text, by contacting other libraries to get interlibrary loans, etc. etc. etc. The role of the librarian today is still very important and relevant. Technologies did not diminish the role of the librarians, technologies pushed it to very advanced, specialized and precise roles.

"Data connectivity is intrinsic to most of our daily lives. The place which exists in almost every community large or small, rural or urban, is the public library. Ben Lee argues that not only do libraries provide free access to data, but they do so in an environment which is trustworthy and neutral, geared to learning. Access to digital technology increasingly overlaps with access to opportunity and it is important to recognise the role public libraries already play (and have always played) in keeping the gate to knowledge open. "

These are some cool 'motivational' videos about open education - certainly a valuable resource when talking about the subject. The attached link has the three best ones (I have looked ahead & the third place winner is actually included in module 7), but this playlist (sorry, could not find one in English, but the videos are in English anyway) has a few more: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgmAVOv3Lv3H1q20GUUg9h2koK6hPq4hk (playlist from Virtual educational library from Lithuania).

Shule.Info is a project that puts data about Tanzanian schools online, providing information for the overall country, regions, and individual schools. The website is also in both English and Swahili, the language of the majority of Tanzanians. This is a great attempt at making this open data accessible and understandable to the people to who need it. "We all know that education in Tanzania is in a state of crisis. Massive failure rates. Not enough teachers. Not enough books. Poor teaching. And many more problems. So what do you do if you are a parent, brother or sister and want to find a good school? What if you are a council or national government leader and want to track progress? Right now it is very difficult to do so, because data is not easily available. And when you can access data, it is very difficult to understand and use. Open data is in fact relevant to all of us in making beter decisions. It is not just a concept for technical experts. If we knew which medicines were available in our nearest health centres we would save ourselves wasted trips. If we had live traffic updates we could better plan our travel. And if we had data on school performance we would have the chance to make better decisions about our children's education and potentially shape the course of their future differently."

Life Science, Medical Science, Engineering and Pharma

Free vs. Privacy - Open Access comes with pros and  cons

Thanks for posting.

Paper Conclusions: While sources differ in their precise estimates of the economic potential of Open Data, all are agreed that it is potentially very large. In countries which were early movers in Open Data there is already evidence of significant businesses having developed to exploit that potential. Leading governments have recognised that their role is not simply to publish data - they are supporting the whole value chain of the use of data through four distinct though interlinked roles. Other governments should consider how to use their Open Data to enhance economic growth, and should put in place strategies to promote and support the use of data in this way.

The working group on Open Science consists of Brazilian researchers who share an interest in discussing and promoting the understanding and practice of open processes in science, in its various manifestations: Open access to scientific publications open scientific data Scientific Instruments opened [1] citizen science [2] open and Education