It is practically impossible to build tools that are maximally open in all ways and at all times. Where should we focus our energy as we work towards open scholarly communication infrastructure? This talk will go beyond openness idealism and focus on what kinds of open have made a difference on the ground. For example:
- Open source - does anyone actually make decisions based on whether a scholarly communications tool is open source, or even use the source code behind these tools when it is made available?
- Open data APIs - what uses have they made possible that would not be with just a free website user interface?
- Open licenses - have non-commercial licenses prevented innovation?
- Non-profit providers - does anyone actually care whether a company is non-profit when deciding whether or not to use its services?
- Equitable sustainability - have some models for sustainability proven to be more equitable for some users than others?
What does all this mean for what we should be building in the future? Evidence will be drawn from surveys, research studies, anecdotes and usage data. If you have any interesting evidence, please contribute by sending it to
team@impactstory.org!
