1. connexions 1 Connexions: An Alternative Approach to Publishing Geneva Henry Executive Directory, Digital Library Initiative and Connexions Project ghenry@rice.edu 15 September 2004 Connexions Project: http://cnx.rice.edu

2. connexions 2 Overview of Talk Background on Start of Connexions Project Summary of Goals Project Overview Discussion of Publication Alternative Summary

3. connexions 3 Mission Provide and maintain a commons where individuals and communities worldwide can create and freely share knowledge

4. connexions 4 Connexions

5. connexions 5 Connexions Objectives 1.Provide a content commons of free, interconnected educational materials 2.Facilitate access to the commons and foster its growth 3.Facilitate content reuse 4.Foster community participation in the commons 5.Ensure sustainability of this resource into the future

6. connexions 6 Connexions Approach Modularity Interconnectedness Open licensing –Creative Commons “By” license – only require attribution for reuse Collaboration Open participation

7. connexions 7 Conceptual Model: Components

8. connexions 8 Content Types Module –Single topic building block –Standalone, but cross-linked Course –Sequence of modules –Customizations

9. connexions 9 Editing Environment Workspaces (private and group) Collaboration Create and manage content

10. connexions 10 Repository Storage Version Control Access Search

11. connexions 11 Viewing Single modules –Multiple formats Courses –Persistent navigation –Module customization

12. connexions 12 Technology and Tools Content modules encoded in XML Database to organize modules (eventually distributed) Authoring tools and workgroups to facilitate collaboration Course Composer to assemble modules Annotation to personalize modules Roadmap to navigate and explore Discussion forums for feedback, communication REST architecture All software is open source –Approach: find existing open source projects and contribute back to them –Only do new s/w project if nothing else suitable exists –It’s all about community Tools in live use at a range of institutions globally Full Version 1.0 launch February 2004

13. connexions 13 Content Adaptation Support for multiple languages –Content in English, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Portuguese, French, others Multiple presentations –Web (interactive) –Print (pdf) View modules or courses

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15. connexions 15 Intellectual Property

16. connexions 16 Music

17. connexions 17 Biodiversity Data

18. connexions 18 Mathematics / Engineering

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23. connexions 23 Open Content Licensing Current IP regime discourages sharing Creative Commons licenses provide common legal vocabulary for sharing content –By or Attribution Only license provides the most open terms of use Sharing and (re)use requires that IP be integrated into content Publisher collaborators –Kinko’s, Cambridge University Press

24. connexions 24 Publishing Alternative Open Content, post publication peer review –Many more eyes see quicker –Fixes to errors occur more rapidly –Notion of lenses to filter based on community needs Who pays: not the author, not the consumer Integrate research findings into the curriculum more quickly Spawn new research more rapidly Print on demand and at a significantly lower cost than traditional publications BROAD IMPACT – no limits on distribution, encourages value-add by allowing commercial use while keeping knowledge free and open

25. connexions 25 Prototype Communities International Community in Digital Signal Processing (DSP) –Rice, Illinois, Ohio State, Georgia Tech, Michigan, Polytechnic, Cambridge, École Polytechnique, ENST, ENS Lyon, INRIA (France), EPFL (Switzerland) –National Instruments and Texas Instruments Japan –Spontaneous contributions from NTNU (Norway), Univ. Verona (Italy) Electrical and Computer Engineering (Rice core curriculum) –goal: 15+ interlinked courses with prerequisites is >1/3 complete Bioinformatics (Rice, Baylor, MD Anderson, University of Houston) –genetics, statistics, computer science, bioengineering, … Botany/Biodiversity (BRIT, AMNH) Music appreciation and theory (college and K–12) UC Merced

26. connexions 26 Content Commons –2,100+ new modules –More than 40 courses User Community –~450,000 “users” –96% outside Rice University –~ 2000 author accounts

27. connexions 27 Commons and Usage Growth To date: 2100+ modules more than 40 courses Worldwide authorship: ECE, CS, bioinformatics, math, nanotech, physics, statistics, botany, music, … Hits: Q4 2002: 6,000–8,000 a day Q1 2004: 150,000–250,000 a day

28. connexions 28 Growth in Module Revisions 1725 10,098 1 version 2–5 versions more than 5 versions

29. connexions 29 Views by User Address 9.2 million views over six months In 2 years, views have increased from less than 1,000 up to 20,000 per day.

30. connexions 30 Views from Colleges & Universities domestic (.edu) and international Top 20 educational institutions (excluding Rice – 149,000 views) 32% of total international domestic Institutions teaching courses through Connexions

31. connexions 31 Worldwide Access from 157 out of 243 assigned country codes 25% of total Next most prevalent countries: Finland Denmark Sweden Japan United States Israel Belgium Switzerland Greece Pakistan Spain Mexico Argentina etc. (5,000–15,000 page views each)

32. connexions 32 Interdisciplinary Team Director Executive Director System Architect Project Coordinator Software Development Content Specialists Technical Writer / Trainer Graphic Design Assessment Intellectual Property Sustainability Faculty Advisors Foundation Relations Dr. Richard Baraniuk Geneva Henry Brent Hendricks Elvena Mayo J. Cameron Cooper Jennifer Drummond Dr. Ross Reedstrom Brian West Adan Galvan Dr. Charlet Reedstrom Mark Husband Max Starkenburg Dr. Janice D. Bordeaux Dr. Chris Kelty Dr. Steve Currall Dr. Paul Dholakia Dr. Don Johnson Dr. Bill Wilson Katie Cervenka Elec. / Computer Eng. Comp. Sci. / Political Sci. Elec. / Computer Eng. English Computer Science Ecology Bioinformatics Computer Science Psychology Chemistry Communications Architecture Psychology Anthropology Business Elec. / Computer Eng. Art and Public Policy

33. connexions 33 http://cnx.rice.edu