Hochschulforschung | Higher Education Research Pfeffer, Open Sources in Higher Education 17 th CHER conference Sept. 2004, Enschede NL Open sources for higher education Do information technologies change the definition of Public and Private Goods? Thomas Pfeffer

Hochschulforschung | Higher Education Research Pfeffer, Open Sources in Higher Education 17 th CHER conference Sept. 2004, Enschede NL 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

Hochschulforschung | Higher Education Research Pfeffer, Open Sources in Higher Education 17 th CHER conference Sept. 2004, Enschede NL 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

Hochschulforschung | Higher Education Research Pfeffer, Open Sources in Higher Education 17 th CHER conference Sept. 2004, Enschede NL 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

Hochschulforschung | Higher Education Research Pfeffer, Open Sources in Higher Education 17 th CHER conference Sept. 2004, Enschede NL 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

Hochschulforschung | Higher Education Research Pfeffer, Open Sources in Higher Education 17 th CHER conference Sept. 2004, Enschede NL 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)

Hochschulforschung | Higher Education Research Pfeffer, Open Sources in Higher Education 17 th CHER conference Sept. 2004, Enschede NL 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)

Hochschulforschung | Higher Education Research Pfeffer, Open Sources in Higher Education 17 th CHER conference Sept. 2004, Enschede NL 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)

Hochschulforschung | Higher Education Research Pfeffer, Open Sources in Higher Education 17 th CHER conference Sept. 2004, Enschede NL 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