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2017, Page 4

Topic 5 Reflection

The end of the module is finally here and it’s fair to say I have learnt a great deal – more than I could ever have expected. As the topic explored open access, there was plenty of ground for everyone to cover. I specifically focused on open access and academia, with a little introduction to news media. However, it was great to see other blog’s like Ausaf’s and Carolina discuss open access in the music industry, highlighting Spotify as a noteworthy example. Continue reading →

Topic 5: Reflection

Having done this blogging activity five times, I’ve really learnt to consider my thought and learning processes when constructing a post/comment. I was able to consider this weeks topic on a personal level, because open access is something that benefits students massively. Taking Lisa’s advice from her topic 4 overview, I thought about how could I present this topic as clearly as possible: Image created by the author to illustrate thought process. Continue reading →

Topic 5 ā€“ Open Access?

Open access can be defined as making the products of research freely accessible and available to all (HEFCE, 2017). When I think of the internet; open access almost immediately goes hand in hand in my opinion. Using the internet comes with very few entry barriers and requires little to no understanding of all the background coding that makes it work and function.However as of recent yearsā€™ internet has become subject to subscription based services and paid to read published works. Continue reading →

Open Access publishing: The pros and cons

Open access (OA) refers to publications which are free to read, download, copy, distribute, print or searchĀ (Openaccess.nl, 2017). ThisĀ relates to any paywall free publication from academic journals to entertainment (e.g. music and film streaming).Ā Like manyĀ digital innovations, OAĀ has its advantages and disadvantages which will be discussedĀ in this post with particular attention onĀ the impacts for content producers. Ā  The Advantages Click to view slideshow. 1. Continue reading →

Topic 5: Open Access or Not?

Open access is the ‘free, immediate online availability of research articles with full re-use rights.’ (Piled Higher and Deeper (PHD Comics), 2012) Before the mid-1990s, most scientific research journals were only available on paper, however over the years, many have moved theirĀ content online. Yet, in 2013, it was estimated that 90% of online content was expected to be behind a paywall over the ensuing three years. Continue reading →

Read me, Its free!

Our world as we know it is becoming more digitalised, where access to any information we may need is available almost everywhere online. As a result, much of the online content we come across is of open access which Suber (2015) describes as ā€˜digital, online, free of charge and free from almost all copyright and licensing restrictionsā€™. What are content producers? Content producers typically oversee the making of content for websites and other online properties. Continue reading →

Availability to all ā€“ Open access

I would like to start off this weekā€™s blog by defining open access and comparing its advantages and disadvantages. http://www.powtoon.com/embed/ekieo8m537I/ As a student, I am obviously biased towards the idea of open access. This is because I donā€™t want to pay for information and it would benefit myself and my peers. However, there are two sides to every story of which I am going to weigh up in this blog post. Continue reading →

Explain the advantages and disadvantages to a content producer of making their materials freely available onlineā€¦

The internet is a great way of sharing your work with the world and getting the exposure you desire. However, it does of course have its downsides. Putting your own content online means that millions of people can have access to it meaning they can also use your content without permission, or even worse, claim it as their own work. However there are ways of preventing things like this from happening such as open access, creative commons, and IP. Continue reading →

Topic 5: Sharing Knowledge Openly Online

Nowadays, most people understand that the internet is revolutionary as it decreases the need for space, facilitating the death of geography (although disputed) Nowhere is this more apparent than with knowledge. But, is sharing knowledge as content openly and freely online beneficial or harmful to the sharer? Open access involves the following: ^(Photo sourced from here) Education is all about sharingĀ your knowledge with others so they can develop theirs. Continue reading →

Open Access in 21st Century

Open access has been the traditional method for retrieving information for quite some time until digitisation rapidly increased meaning we access data differently and the price of research has risen astoundingly. Now, we do not necessarily have ‘open access’ on a lot of online content in today’s society because journal companies are charging an unexplainable amount of money for the information (PHDComics, 2012). Continue reading →

Hit a brick wall

While it can be argued that one of the main purposes of the internet is to share, and receive information with ease, it has been noted that the current scientific model, dating back to the 1600s, makes this process somewhat challenging (Tracz and Lawrence, 2016). According to Mayyasia (2013) scientist follow a ‘consistent pattern’ that has almost become institutionalised. Continue reading →

Online Content ā€“ Should it be free?

Ā The internet has opened up many different potential channels through which to distribute content. One of the channels which grew widely is that of freely available content; with websites such as Youtube, Tumblr and WordPress making it possible for opinion, news and academic content to become widely available at no cost to the content creator or to the recipient of the content. Continue reading →

Online Content ā€“ Should it be free?

Ā The internet has opened up many different potential channels through which to distribute content. One of the channels which grew widely is that of freely available content; with websites such as Youtube, Tumblr and WordPress making it possible for opinion, news and academic content to become widely available at no cost to the content creator or to the recipient of the content. Continue reading →

Pros and Cons of Open Access

Figure 1: Self-Produced using Canva.com The increasing use of the Internet hasĀ led to an influx of digital information. In the academic world of Medicine alone, over two brand new papers are published every minute (Hall, 2014). This, in combination with the decline of print media (Schlesinger and Doyle, 2015) has led to the prediction that 90% of online content would be behind paywalls as of 2016 (Lepitak, 2013). Continue reading →

Topic 5: Open Access ā€“ Is There A Dark Side?

What is Open Access? Figure 1. Introduction to Open Access (self-produced via Haiku Deck, with information from Jisc) Within higher education, we all know the frustration that comes with finding a great journal article, only to find that itā€™s access is restricted. This has become a particular issue for me, a content consumer, over the course of writing my dissertation. However, what does restricted access and open access mean from the point of view of a content producer? Figure 2. Continue reading →

Access denied or granted?

    There is an ongoing dialogue about whether or not work published online could and should be more freely available, expressly to those in education and those wishing to contribute to current research. Open access describes a situation where anyone anywhere in the world can access, read and build upon research content found online (Shockey and Eisen, 2012). Open, adj.Ā generous, sharing, giving (Wiley, 2010). Continue reading →

The advantages and Disadvantages of Open access

What is meant by open access? Open access is free immediate access to articles free to all people all over the world, to make research literature more available. Here is a short video to explain more. An example of open access are Open educational resources, or OERā€™s. OERā€™s are textbooks, research articles, videos, assessments and simulations that are licensed under an open copyright licence, or public domain. Continue reading →