hochschulforschung | higher education research pfeffer, open sources in higher education 17 th cher...

Hochschulforschung | Higher Education Research

Pfeffer, Open Sources in Higher Education 17th CHER conference 17.-19. Sept. 2004, Enschede NL

Open sources for higher educationDo information technologies change the definition of Public and Private Goods?

Thomas [email protected]



Aim

• Public/private debate: expenditures, not only funding

• Misconception: ICTs = commercialisation• ICTs can create new public domains for

knowledge resources:– scholarly publications– course materials– academic software



ICTs = commercialisation ?

• Problem– HEI/scholars are main producers + main consumers – Prices turn to costs for HEIs and to profit for commercial

vendors• Assumptions of the “new economy”

– ICTs industrialise and commodify HE– Only the most profitable HEI will survive

• Consequences– Commercialisation taken for granted, regarded an obligation



Scholarly publications (1)basic characteristics

• Not-for-profit:no compensation for authors + reviewers

• Motive: gain reputation and attention• Open exchange essential for scientific

communication and quality control• Prices should cover transaction costs only



Scholarly publications (2)current crisis

• Oligopoly of commercial publishers • Inelastic demand• Rocketing prices

(journals +8.5%, CPI +3.3% p.a.)• Declining variety of consumption• Restrictive copyright policies



Scholarly publications (3)ICT-based solutions

Characteristics– ICTs reduce transaction costs– Online archives ~ online publications– Open access shifts costs from consumer to producer

Types of open access repositories– Self-archives (eScholarship, RePEc)– Free online journals (EIoP, BioMed Central)– Pre-print servers (ArXiv)



Course materials

Characteristics– eLearning in HE: learning materials required– New form of scholarly publication

(quotations, reviews, sharing, etc.)

Types of open access initiatives– Single institution (MIT OpenCourseWare)– Discipline driven (The Harvey Project)– Institutional network (Merlot.org)



Academic software

Characteristics – Open Source code: open for critique and improvement– Cost containment

(no royalties, only development + maintenance) – open standards to facilitate exchange

Types open source software collections– Single issue (SPARC)– Loose collection (CampusSource)– Comprehensive architecture (The Sakai Project)



Conclusions & recommendations

• ICT-based open sources in HE have to be claimed, established and defended– Claim: public status with well defined licences– Establish: repositories, services, quality control– Defend: against infringement and shortage of funds

• Public goods do not come for free– Address production and consumption as

connected academic responsibilities– Shift expenditures from consumption to production

• Join collective initiatives and networks

hochschulforschung | higher education research pfeffer, open sources in higher education 17 th cher...

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