Access to knowledge and information : past, present and

future

Stefanía Júlíusdóttir, M.Sc.

Knowledge and information. Of importance is:

• Purpose of generation

• Purpose of publication

• Bibliographic access in – National bibliographies, subject indexes, catalogues, elsewhere

• Distribution and access to the “physical” items:– Through commercial channels, e.g. book stores, vendors

– Directly from producer

– Through public services, e.g. libraries

– Delayed or no distribution

Purpose of generation of new knowledge and information I

• For most part of the past century new knowledge and information was, to a large extent, produced to advance science for the benefit of mankind

• There were “free universities” e.g. the University of Iceland, where professors were free to choose their research topics and to distribute the findings and where students could study “for free” so to speak. We were taking part in making progress happen

Purpose of generation of new knowledge and information II

• Around the turn of the millennium a shift took place. Now an ever larger portion of new knowledge is produced for the advancement of particular products or services with the ultimate goal of benefiting shareholders of the producing organisations. Public access to this knowledge is either non-existent or delayed while owners secure a patent

• Universities are changing. Funding by private enterprise, heralds the loss of “freedom” both of choice of research projects and of dissemination of findings, in the name of economic growth

Purpose of distributing Purpose of distributing publicationspublications

• Profit making. Publications are merchandise sold for profit• Informing the public. Laws, e.g. distributed from governmental bodies

to the citizens • Informing the public and to justify funding: e.g. publicly funded

research institutions distribute findings to the public• Promoting ideas and policies, of various bodies, often to a large

audience• Providing a working tool and informing. Various kinds of reports,

guidelines and other material, issued in a small edition for limited distribution, NON-CONFIDENTIAL

• Providing a working tool and informing. Various kinds of reports, guidelines and other material, issued in a small edition for limited distribution, CONFIDENTIAL

Publishers: producers of publications

• Commercial publishers are in the business of publishing books, journals, and other material for profit. Publishing is their main activity. Editions can be by the millions. Distribution is through commercial distribution channels. Bibliographic control is through national bibliographies, subject indexes, publishers’ catalogues, and elsewhere

Publishers and producers

• Publishers of promotional material can be political parties, official organisations, candidates running for office, religious congregations, associations and others, publishing to promote and support their beliefs, policies and activities. Publishing is an auxiliary function. Editions are, in most cases, smaller. Distribution can be through commercial channels, but is often not. Sometimes delivered to homes for free or sold from door to door for a modest price

• Bibliographic control can be in national bibliographies and subject indexes. Often these publications are hard to come by, especially the older ones because they escape bibliographic control

Other publishers of knowledge and information

• Various kinds of reports, statements, guidelines, etc., NON-CONFIDENTAL, but issued for limited distribution. Most often distributed directly from the issuing organisation or the author. Not through commercial distributors. Bibliographic control is through the national bibliographies and in subject indexes, when the material is available, for that purpose

Still other publishers of knowledge and information

• Various kinds of reports, statements, guidelines, etc., CONFIDENTIAL, issued for limited distribution or no distribution at all, controlled by the owners. Not visible in national bibliographies or subject indexes. Bibliographic control, if any, is within the issuing organisation closed to all others. As the economic value of knowledge grows in the knowledge society the will to share decreases

AccessPublications of commercial publishers

• Easy bibliographic access. Easy to find what has been issued, in catalogues, bibliographies and subject indexes

• Easy access to the items themselves– Easy to locate copies of needed items– Easy to get needed items in home library, through

interlibrary loan and to purchase from commercial vendors or directly from the publisher

• Hindrance– Immense and growing costs– The advent of electronic publishing makes it possible

for owners of copyright to monitor usage, limit it to persons and locations, ultimately increasing costs of access

Access

• Bibliographic access to publications of non-commercial publishers :

– Easy when recorded in national bibliography, subject bibliographies or in publishers´ catalogues and library catalogues

– Otherwise very difficult

• Why do people ask for items not visible in bibliographies and indexes?

– These publications are visible in reference lists of other publications (they are cited)

– People know about them through hearsay

Access

• Access to “physical” items issued by non-commercial publishers :

• Can be much easier through e-publishing when items are current and available on the homepage of the issuing organisation

• Can be extremely difficult and expensive when on other media:

– A lot of time has to be spent on ordering such items, by the library, or,

– A lot of money has to be spent on ordering such items through a commercial distributor

• Hindrance– Used to be the cost (in time or money) of ordering current items

– Might be the cost of accessing archival items in the future

Effect of electronic publishing on access to knowledge and information I

• Electronic publishing• Commercial publishing: E-publishing makes it possible for owners

of copyright to:– Introduce different means of charging whereby more revenue is harvested

by the copyright owner

– Selling access to smaller items for a shorter amount of time

– Monitor usage

– Limit use to persons and locations

– Increase restrictions to access, which leads to increased costs for the users

– Distribute directly to users, eliminating book stores and vendors

– Use new methods of distribution. It is common to have the latest e-issue accessible free of charge. This will ensure that items get cited which leads to continued use in the future. Some works never cease to be cited

Effect of electronic publishing on access to knowledge and information II

• Grey literature*: E-publishing makes:– Access to current items easier while they are current, if accessible on

homepage at no cost

– It is not known what will happen with access when the items get archived. High cost may have to be paid for access to compensate for the cost of archiving

– If these items are cited heavily at the beginning, there will be a future demand. Providing access, when it no longer serves promotional purposes of the company, will be a financial burden to the owners, charging will be necessary and reasonable

• *Definition on the Grey literature page at The New York Academy of Medicine:

http://www.nyam.org/library/greylit/index.html. "That which is produced on all levels of government, academics, business and industry in print and electronic formats, but which is not controlled by commercial publishers."

The way of citations• As we librarians know, getting the first citation is of

utmost importance, for an item to be used in the future. It is best for an important citation to be made right after publication, then the accumulation will be speedier

• The more numerous citations, the greater the impact and fame of the author and the more abundant the wealth of the publisher or the shareholders in the publishing company

• “For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath”. (New testament, Matthew 25:29)

Distribution and access of knowledge and information

• Services of libraries and information centres

• Services of publishers and distributors

• In both of these sectors tremendous changes have happened or are about to happen in the electronic environment of dissemination and access

Services of libraries and information centres• Benefits

• Provision possible irregardless of location of the inquirer and the respondent

• Provision possible irregardless of time of day and day of month• Provision possible irregardless of location of the respondent, who can

work from home, when e-material is used as a resource for writing responses. The Library does not have to provide housing for such staff

• Bias can be eliminated, the respondent and inquirer do neither see each other nor hear each others voice. It is possible to have tele-services where the inquirer and respondent will see each other on the screen. That has not caught on in library settings

• Possibility to archive answers for later use on a global scale will make these services efficient and less expensive

• Electronic translation increases feasibility of this service• Co-operation, on providing access to e-resources and a means of writing

technically perfect papers, with service providers like e-brary and Questia, will make life easier for librarians and users alike

Services of libraries and information centres

• Drawbacks– Lack of face to face and spatial closeness of personal contact, makes the job

of the information provider more difficult and contributes to human loneness, a problem of the future

– Possibility to archive answers for later use is likely to standardise or petrify answers. This is especially unattractive on a global scale, if answers to particular questions are shared by all major providers in the world. Only one answer might exist to any particular question. At present there is more than one truth and more than one “correct” answer to many questions

– With services like e-brary and Questia sources, essays are based on and the way they are written will also be standardised

– These developments may lead to changes in use of space. Less space being provided for customers, increasing the isolation of humans even more

– Vulnerability of such services to misuse

A historical perspective

• Absolute power calls for absolute control over knowledge and information, control held by worldly and religious rulers in the past

• The freedom of direct public access to primary and secondary sources was one of the most important public rights won in the French Revolution

• Surely it must have been the intention that the public would have access to original resources from which to draw their own conclusions, not to have standardised answers, on a global scale, handed out world-wide

• This freedom was won with a boom. It might be lost in rejoicing silence

Summary

• There are changes in:– The purpose of knowledge generation. An ever larger part is

being privately produced for the producers’ private use• Probably applied research is being increased at the cost of basic research

– Publishing and dissemination, some items are easier to come by, others harder due to restrictions of use and high costs

– Information services:

• Easier to use remotely, elimination of bias– But bring about human isolation

• Standardisation on a global scale– The same kind of access to the same pieces of knowledge to be

offered all over the world, bringing stagnation to thought and paralysing creativity

Outlook for the future

• The possibility to have, on a global scale, one standardised truth in every matter is now being introduced and developed in a world-wide co-operative project. The service will be available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week

• A standardised way to present the standardised truth and new thoughts that may spring from it, does exist

• The question is: Which powers will control these facilities and for which purpose?