Openness is a foundational principle in science. Making the tools and products of scientific research openly accessible advances core aims and values of education researchers, such as the credibility, equity, impact, and efficiency of research. The digital revolution has expanded opportunities for providing greater access to research. In this…

Metadata are crucial for discovery and access by providing contextual, technical, and administrative information in a standard form. Yet metadata are also sites of tension between sociocultural representations, resource constraints, and standardized systems. Formal and informal interventions may be interpreted as quality issues, political acts to…

Cochrane is an international network that produces and updates new knowledge through systematic reviews for the health sector. Knowledge is a shared resource, and can be viewed as a commons. As Cochrane has been in existence for 25 years, we used Elinor Ostrom's theory of the commons and Institutional Analysis and Development Framework to appraise…

Internationally there is concern that many science teachers do not address socioscientific issues (SSI) in their classrooms, particularly those that are controversial. However with increasingly complex, science-based dilemmas being presented to society, such as cloning, genetic screening, alternative fuels, reproductive technologies and…

In February 2008, the faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University made history, unanimously passing a revolutionary open access mandate that, for the first time, would require faculty to give the university copies of their research, along with a nonexclusive license to distribute them electronically. In the press, Harvard University…

This is the first comprehensive, national-level study of the state of sound recording preservation ever conducted in the U.S. The authors have produced a study outlining the web of interlocking issues that now threaten the long-term survival of the sound recording history. This study tells everyone that major areas of America's recorded sound…

As the wealth of information available on the Web increases, Web-based information seeking becomes a more and more important skill for supporting both formal education and lifelong learning. However, Web-based information access poses hurdles that must be overcome by certain student populations, such as low English competency users, low literacy…

The aim of this paper is to use agency theory as the theoretical framework for an examination of the government-university relationship and to assess the main strengths and weaknesses of the theory in this context. Because of its logically consistent framework, agency theory is able to manifest many of the complexities and difficulties that…

Discusses problems with Internet filtering when it results in erroneously blocked Web sites. Topics include the Children's Online Protection Act (CIPA); blocking all sites on an Internet Service Provider (ISP) through Round Robin DNS; blocking by URL or by IP number; and questioning the need for filters. (LRW)

Addresses issues of safety and security in libraries. Topics discussed include keeping library collections safe; patron behavioral problems; factoring loss into the budget; staff theft; access versus security; apathy regarding library crime; a need for a unified security apparatus; preventive measures; staff and patron safety; and a…

Examines issues of CD-ROM networking for companies; identifies cost savings and focuses on administrative and technical problems. Highlights include slower access speed, technical design deficiencies, inconsistency in search engines and user interfaces, installation problems, drive letter selections, designs that work for LAN access, questions to…

Reviews the history of electronic information services; examines the role of the Commission of the European Communities in this area; provides details of the Information Market Policy Actions (IMPACT) program; and describes efforts to overcome barriers to accessibility to information services in Europe, including language barriers. (LRW)

Discusses issues of preservation of and access to library materials from a historical perspective, based on a story by Washington Irving. Topics addressed include the founding of the Astor Library, early access and service problems, preservation issues and remedies, and new definitions of access. (14 references) (LRW)

The vast diversity in goals and emphases of sport programs for children and the potential problems that exist when a child is enrolled in a program that does not best serve his/her needs accentuate the need for a rating system for youth sport programs. The current proposal of a youth sport rating scale would provide information for parents on the…

This paper provides an overview of the problems found by both professional and amateur users of archives and libraries who need to be able to phrase specific questions in conventional and online forms. It discusses issues within the context of a national archive holding over ten million photographs and is concerned with the varying roles of not…