Name: Open Access: Effects and Consequences in the Management of Scientific Discourse
Date: Wednesday, October 31
Time: 9:30am – 10:50am
Location: Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, Lillooet Room
Description: Open access has a number of effects on scientific discourse, some of which are only now becoming visible. A prominent effect of open access is the abolishment of the border between research inputs and outputs, transforming the process of scholarly inquiry. The creation and availability of data and finished research products tend to be more and more collapsed into one permanent flow of information, without fixed boundaries between a dynamic research process and a static notion of “publication.” Enabling researchers to permanently and openly access data and results at all processing stages changes the interactivity, the participational structure and the nature of scientific enquiry. In addition to changing the function and the nature of what constitutes “a publication,” and apart from the change in financial underpinnings of a new science, there are ripple effects for what is “excellent” research and for research evaluation. New notions of ownership and copyright adapted to a largely decommodified science discourse need to evolve. Roles of librarians will need to be redefined. The status of the book will be redefined. It is argued that these effects are embedded in, and part of, a new way of reorganizing cultural knowledge and its preservation.
Ticketing: FREE
Open to Public, Recommended for Faculty, Staff, Students, and other Schools
