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2016, Page 4

Topic 5. Summary

Source: i.ytimg.com I must admit that I have waited for this topic with interest to see what other people have to say about free/open access and I was not disappointed. I enjoyed reading posts discussing a range of valid arguments for and against making content freely available online. A few students highlighted restricted access as an important factor of persisting inequalities in education and science, including software programming (Tom) and medicine (Shriya). Continue reading →

Open Access

Firstly, what is open access? Here is a video that perfectly explains this concept… Within my own research, mainly for university work, I am always coming across articles that sound perfect to support my opinions. However, I find I can only get partial access to the information or have to pay a hefty fee to access the article at all. To me this is a risky investment because the article may end up being of no use to me resulting in my money wasted. Continue reading →

Open Access

      As an English student, I often need to read secondary texts that I get from online sources. These need to be credible sources so they either need to be books, texts or journals which I access free of charge thanks to Open Access. What is it? You may ask. Wiley have explained below:   Video Credits.   Here is my presentation of the pros and cons of Open Access: http://www.powtoon. Continue reading →

Open access vs free access to online content

First of all, when talking about open access and free access to online contents, we need to clarify that there is a crucial difference between the two:     “Full open access content is: Easily accessible online Available to anyone free of charge Available for re-use without restriction except that attribution be given to the source No one of these alone qualifies content for an open access label. Continue reading →

Open Access To Online Content

Open Access is an initiative to widen the availability of content, such as information and even entertainment, to a larger audience who might have been previously out of access due to prohibitive costs, through the distributive powers of the Internet. It is an issue that has been increasing in importance as many traditional methods of information and research dissemination, have become increasingly expensive (e.g. Continue reading →

Knowledge is Power but Money Makes the World Go Round

It’s safe to say we all love a freebie!  The internet was initially created to allow universities to easily share academic articles and documents (newsmedia, 2016).  Ultimately it has developed, providing a diverse range of content to the masses. With a larger and more diverse demand  for content comes the question of whether this content should be free and open to all, or only available for a fee. When considering scholarly articles there are two ways of publishing online. Continue reading →

Topic 5: Open Access to Online Content

Throughout the different posts on the blog over the past few weeks, I think I have made clear the benefit that the Web can bring to its users. One such incredibly-important way is through open access to online content. Open access is defined as “availability to all” and refers to the ability for anyone, anywhere to be able to access materials online for free at the point of access. Continue reading →

Open Access: Beauty or the Beast?

‘Open Access is the free, immediate, online availability of research articles coupled with the rights to use these articles fully in the digital environment’ (SPARC, 2016). When it comes to the subject of Open Access content us millennials don’t really know any different – with all too many of us taking it for granted. Continue reading →

Open or Closed?

Imagine writing an essay and having to pay every time to access a journal article or information? Imagine having to pay for it prior to finding out whether it’s relevant or will be used in your essay? Without Open Access this would be the case. Open Access may seem as a hard term to get around but it simply means content that is “digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions” (Suber, 2015). Continue reading →

“Why should I give everything away for free?”

When I started my dissertation a year ago I couldn’t believe how many articles were not easily accessible to me. Either I would have had to pay to read some articles, or my university had to pay for me and I had to use the VPN. I don’t think that’s right. Education, learning and research is meant to be about sharing ideas and new knowledge to benefit society and the world as a whole. Continue reading →

Releasing free music: Good or Bad?

As someone who wishes to focus on a music career after I finish my degree, I have always planned on releasing my own songs online, for free. Now if you click on the youtube or soundcloud links above, you’ll notice that I only have covers and I have a perfect reason for it. I am just not ready. Continue reading →

Topic 5: Open Access Content

Nature, The Lancet, The New England Journal of Medicine. These journals are big names in the field of medical research; in 2014 Nature had an impact factor of 42.3, the highest of any medical journal. However, the price of access to journals such as these is growing; prices have increased greater than inflation by 250% over the past 30 years. Access to medical research by different individuals is vital to prompt different hypotheses and further research. Continue reading →

Open Access in Science and Medicine

Photo credits. Late night essays were made worse by the chance that my institution wouldn’t have access to an important reference. “Check Access”. For 4 years, this blue button has irritated me beyond belief. Writing a patient case report or research essay at 4am was never fun, and to make it worse, I was constantly at war with all the journals that would not give me or the University access to their cutting-edge research articles. Continue reading →

Topic 5: Open Access to Online Content

Open access literature is “digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions” (Suber, 2015). But what exactly does this mean? For a student, this means immediate and free online access to a plethora of research articles (Hatzipanagos and Gregson, 2015). I have summarised four key pieces of information about open access literature in the Haiku Deck below. Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that’s simple, beautiful and fun. Continue reading →