Revitalizing
the Academic Commons: Open Source Software, Gift Cultures and Higher Education
– Independent Study Plan
Student: Mark Kelly
Instructor: Anita Coleman
This will be an investigation of the open source software (OSS)
movement within higher education. Specifically, I examine the
philosophical and political arguments of OSS advocates in the context of gift
cultures (both librarianship and OSS development are often argued as gift
cultures). In addition, several open source projects will be examined for
potential implementation at the Pacifica Graduate Institute (Mark:
tentatively identify subject area or discipline of interest (mythology? Graduate
studies?)). These will include examination of eprint and OAI software,
searching for and reviewing selected other software for open archives, open
courseware and enhancement of the Pacifica library web site.
Methods: A web-based
collaborative workspace will be established as a primary means to track my
progress in this independent study. This will contain notes and links to open
source initiatives, a working annotated bibliography/webliography, course
papers, calendar, and a bulletin board containing dialog with the advisor to
the course. The bulletin board will be a secure space open only to those
engaged in communication on the project details. The collaborative workspace
will be implemented using Manila and Frontier software from UserLand.
Outcomes & Timelines:
1. A project web site
mentioned above. Website
implemented by: 01/30/02
2. Resource Guide: A
selective annotated resource guide on open source initiatives relevant to
higher education. First Working Draft:
01/30/02. Completed for IS by
05/02/02. Consider including also a list of OSS organized by what it does;
Include listservs for Open Courseware and OSS, for example:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/open-courseware.html
Include SPARC (for news value to your own list) http://www.arl.org/sparc/
Include Virginia ETD (they are building an international or
National Digital Library of graduate theses and dissertations) - http://www.theses.org/
Fox, I believe continues to actively encourage new institutions to
join this effort. Initiative is documented here: http://www.ndltd.org/ and
there is a conference in Utah :-)
3. Annotated Bibliography
on open source software and higher education.
Include/separate sections on Gift Cultures and
Open Courseware like you have one on Eprints, etc.; (2) I think it will also be
very useful to me if you separate both the Resource Guide and Bibliography by
discipline.
3. Academic paper on the philosophical context of this project.
Unless you want to publish it is not necessary
for the Ind. Study. A final brief report on your assessment of Scholarly
Communication and the impact of OSS and Open Courseware (limiting referencing
to OAI, MIT, and Virginia’s ETD projects), working webpages on my server
(rani.sir.arizona.edu) with the Resource Guide and Bibliography will suffice
for me. I will give you an account on
rani once Spring is underway. Another outcome (alternative to paper) is a
current, limited to last 6 months, Lit. Review on Scholarly Publishing. This has the added benefit that it may also
assist in the matter of “surprise” you wanted. Final report and rani due: May 2002
4. Possibly, a working implementation of an eprint archive or open
courseware system.
Milestone: By Mid-semester
we should be able to identify a software for ‘test’ implementation. I’d like you to have some practical
knowledge by the end of this course. An
alternative is to actually write the implementation plan for OSS you’ve
identified as useful. This plan or test
implementation should be the major focus of ‘new learning’ for you besides
being the major course/study product outcome.
5. Participation in the upcoming Computer Supported Collaborative
Learning (CSCL) 2002 conference in Boulder, CO: http://www.cscl2002.org/
Conference is over by 15 Jan. 2002. Write in actual dates here and submit a
brief report on sessions you attended or things learned.