This paper seeks to provide an overview of the problem posed by the incorporation of materials protected by all-rights-reserved copyright, or that are not legally compatible with the copyright terms of materials offered to users, into otherwise open educational resources. This paper also describes a number of approaches to resolving this issue, including the reliance on jurisdictional copyright exceptions and limitations, and explores the trade-offs involved in adopting any one of these approaches. This paper also suggests areas for further empirical research into these issues. Complete listing and access info »

This whitepaper defines OER, discusses what underlies the open educational resources movement and the current status of open educational resources, presents MIT's OpenCourseware project as a case-study, and concludes with future visions for teaching and learning, challenges, and observations. Complete listing and access info »

There has been an explosion in the popularity of downloading and transmitting high-value digital content, triggered by the growth of the Internet and the evolution of peer-to-peer systems. At the same time, there is a substantial disconnect between public attitudes toward copyright and the letter of the law, and growing concern among copyright-holders over the erosion of their rights. The National Academy of Sciences has identified the phenomenon at the center of these developments and labeled it the "digital dilemma": The same technologies that allow the creation and manipulation of digital content (as well as its perfect reproduction and nearly free distribution) can also be used to prevent access to digital content. The result is a major policy debate between those who seek to protect their rights in digital content and those concerned about the public access to content that has traditionally been guaranteed under copyright law. In this emerging digital world, what, if anything, should be done to ensure that authors, artists, songwriters, and musicians have adequate incentives to create content? And what, if anything, should be done to protect the public's access rights, developed in the physical world, in order to encourage innovation and dissemination and to enhance the public domain? This report from the Digital Connections Council (DCC) of the Committee for Economic Development presents a different view of this "digital dilemma." Because of CED's mission to foster economic growth, the DCC has focused on the economic impact of copyright protection in the digital age and the potential economic effects of proposals for change. The report briefly explores the history of copyright law, revealing that legal protection of the rights of creators has always been explicitly balanced against protection of ongoing innovation. The DCC brings the perspective of the second innovator -- the creator of new social value based on existing copyrighted works -- to bear, noting that every creator owes a debt to what has come before. For this reason, our intellectual property systems are based on providing incentives to both create new material and to make such material open to the public for use for subsequent creation. The report then discusses current proposals for legislative and regulatory change, focusing on requests by the content distribution industries for technical copy protection mandates. Such mandates would have substantial effects on the information technology and consumer electronics industries in this country, on innovation, and on the economic growth that stems from the freedom to innovate. Complete listing and access info »

More scholars are exploring forms of digital dissemination, including open access (OA) systems where content is made available free of charge. These include peer -reviewed e -journals as well as traditional journals that have an online presence. Besides SHA's Technical Briefs in Historical Archaeology, the American Journal of Archaeology now offers open access to downloadable articles from their printed issues. Similarly, Evolutionary Anthropology offers many full -text articles free for download. More archaeologists are also taking advantage of easy Web publication to post copies of their publications on personal websites. Roughly 15% of all scholars participate in such "self -archiving." To encourage this practice, Science Commons (2006) and the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) recently launched the Scholar Copyright Project, an initiative that will develop standard "Author Addenda" -- a suite of short amendments to attach to copyright agreements from publishers (http://sciencecommons. org/projects/publishing/index.html). These addenda make it easier for paper authors to retain and clarify their rights to self -archive their papers electronically. Several studies now clearly document that self -archiving and OA publication enhances uptake and citation rates (Hajjem et al. 2005). Researchers enhance their reputations and stature by opening up their scholarship.

Mounting pressure for greater public access also comes from many research stakeholders. Granting foundations interested in maximizing the return on their investment in basic research are often encouraging and sometimes even requiring some form of OA electronic dissemination. Interest in maximizing public access to publicly financed research is catching on in Congress. A new bipartisan bill, the Federal Research Public Access Act, would require OA for drafts of papers that pass peer review and result from federally funded research (U.S. Congress 2006). The bill would create government -funded digital repositories that would host and maintain these draft papers. University libraries are some of the most vocal advocates for OA research. Current publishing frameworks have seen dramatically escalated costs, sometimes four times higher than the general rate of inflation (Create Change 2003). Increasing costs have forced many libraries to cancel subscriptions and thereby hurt access and scholarship (Association for College and Research Libraries 2003; Suber 2004).

This article originally published in Technical Briefs In Historical Archaeology, 2007, 2: -11.
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The universe of postsecondary education is expanding. It is an era of rapid demographic and labor market changes, increased competition and shifts in institutional form (e.g., the rise of for profit degree granters, the hybrid form of nonprofit/for profit partnerships, corporate universities), and new forms of delivery driven by emerging technologies. In nearly all of these cases, the pace of innovation and establishment of new institutional forms outstrips the ability of regulators or policy makers to stay ahead of the curve.

To better understand the complex interplay of public policy drivers regulating e-learning, the Center for Studies in Higher Education convened a meeting of experts in February 2006 for a preliminary examination of existing and emerging public policies that will shape its regulation both domestically and internationally. Three white papers were used as a point of departure for the discussions, which focused on the following areas: The Changing Regulatory Environment: Who, What, Why, and Where?; Finance, Investment, and the Flow of Capital; Student Access and Equity; Social Costs and Benefits from an International Perspective; and Consumer Protection and Cross-border Education. This report summarizes our conversations and recommendations for future research. Complete listing and access info »