Open Access & Related Initiatives
1. Open Source Policies
Award winning SHERPA is investigating issues in the future of scholarly communication. It is developing open-access institutional repositories in universities to facilitate the rapid and efficient worldwide dissemination of research. http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/index.html
2. IOSN FOSS and Open Standards Primer
This primer provides a rationale for the use of Open Standards in Government. Also in this primer is an overview of standards setting bodies and FOSS software and tools to create new content as well as migrate to solutions based on Open Standards. http://www.iosn.net/open-standards
3. iFOSSF | International Free and Open Source Software Foundation
The International Free and Open Source Software Foundation ( iFOSSF ) is a 501c3 ... that influence ICT Production and Consumption Policies enabled by FOSS. http://www.ifossf.org/
4. Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities
The Internet has fundamentally changed the practical and economic realities of distributing scientific knowledge and cultural heritage. For the first time ever, the Internet now offers the chance to constitute a global and interactive representation of human knowledge, including cultural heritage and the guarantee of worldwide access. We, the undersigned, feel obliged to address the challenges of the Internet as an emerging functional medium for distributing knowledge. Obviously, these developments will be able to significantly modify the nature of scientific publishing as well as the existing system of quality assurance. In accordance with the spirit of the Declaration of the Budapest Open Acess Initiative, the ECHO Charter and the Bethesda Statement on Open Access Publishing, we have drafted the Berlin Declaration to promote the Internet as a functional instrument for a global scientific knowledge base and human reflection and to specify measures which research policy makers, research institutions, funding agencies, libraries, archives and museums need to consider. http://oa.mpg.de/openaccess-berlin/berlindeclaration.html
5. CIARD Coherence in Information for Agricultural Research for Development
Our Vision: "To make public domain agricultural research information and knowledge truly accessible to all."
Our Objective: "To develop effective and coherent institutional approaches to sharing agricultural science and technology information based on common standards."
The need for CIARD
The fact that most public science and technology information is not easily or widely accessible limits the impact that research can have on agricultural and rural development. But this doesn't have to be the case. New information and communication technologies provide many opportunities for information to be handled and presented differently (and more cheaply) than in the past.
However, CIARD is not just about technology. What we actually address is the way that technologies are used. This includes building and improving information systems, empowering the institutions and people using them, and opening access to the content resources available.
So, while we recognise that every institution has its own particular niche and set of clients, we're encouraging them to interconnect and work together in ways that complement each other. In this way, we're tackling the fundamental issues involved in making local, national, regional and global information systems available and accessible. for more info. http://www.ciard.net
6. Creative Commons
Creative Commons is a nonprofit corporation dedicated to making it easier for people to share and build upon the work of others, consistent with the rules of copyright. We provide free licenses and other legal tools to mark creative work with the freedom the creator wants it to carry, so others can share, remix, use commercially, or any combination thereof. for more visit http://creativecommons.org/