Rio Framework for Open Science
In the weeks preceding the iCommons Summit, it was clear to Heather Ford and John Wilbanks that the event could play a role in connecting open science and free culture. The two respective Executive Directors of iCommons and Science Commons agreed that the meeting in Rio should serve as a means for initiating discussion, in the hopes of discovering a way to bridge the divide. The result - the Rio Framework for Open Science.
“It was clear that members of the free culture movement weren’t connected enough to the open science movement,” said John Wilbanks, executive director of Science Commons and co-creator of the draft framework, “Things I knew at [Science Commons] weren’t filtering to Creative Commons and vice versa. There were people at [Creative Commons International] who knew licenses but not technology.’
Serving as a link farm, Open Science is the first substantive outcome of the Summit, delivered less than two months after it was conceptualized. Developed and tailored by Ford and Wilbanks, the first draft of the Framework was released on August 19. It is maintained on the iCommons wiki.
Right now, Open Science is a skeleton - a home for a minimal set of tools for universities and institutions, with the potential and hope that it expands exponentially as more users utilize the resources. By having the infrastructure live on a wiki, community members are able to actively edit, comment, annotate and add to the existing base.
“The point was to throw it out there like a crystal - people add to it, annotate [their additions] and it grows. The aim being to stick it all in one place so someone who knows one part can learn about the others,” Wilbanks said.
Currently, Open Science points visitors to a variety of existing writings about open access, software and technology regarding infrastructure development, document formats, and operating systems. There are also links to productivity software and web tools. The Framework contains information on policies, contracts and consists of other guides to assist audiences ranging from large research institutions to individual enthusiasts.
The potential for Open Science is only as limited as the imaginations of the open science community, especially the users. Ford hopes that through iCommons’ work with individual countries, users can see this link farm as a modal point, helping the public garner support and move forward with their own open access initiatives at a local level.
Wilbanks sees Open Science as a means for localizing arguments in the future. The wiki-based site could expand to provide users with PowerPoint presentations, evidentiary writings, and marketing documents targeted to specific regions and audiences. But it is only through the site’s use and community development that the Framework can move in such a direction.
He concluded, “I can’t wait to see what the international community does with the Framework - implement it locally and extend it far beyond its current state.”
This article is the first of many reports on the progress and work of Science Commons. Kaitlin Thaney will be submitting a monthly article to icommons.org, to keep the community updated on the exciting projects being initiated and implemented by the Science Commons team.