Archives, Access and Ethics

Tuesday (20 April):

I think we all are starting to feel a bit home-sick by now, and also feel the strain of a full and challenging program (37 presentations in 8 days!). The mountain walk was a nice distraction, and came at just the right time! :)

Carnegie Tuesday 20 April

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Dr Yasien Sayed (School of Molecular and Cell Biology, WITS) touched on a topic very close to my heart: Data sets, research raw materials, storage, digitising, re-using data for different purposes. Data leads to information, which leads to knowledge, and which become wisdom in the end. He said that data that has been collected and stored for serving the needs of a local research group can meet the needs of larger communities. Scientists like to share if it can lead to sharing (nationally & internationally). It is becoming more and more difficult to find funding if you work on your own. The library can provide a valuable partnership with the research community that ensures preservation and access to digital data. They are pro institutional repositories and publishing with open access journals. He sees the role of the library as very important in this regard. They are interested in most recent research, and make use of international contacts to get hold of an article if the library does not subscribe to it (by-passing ILL even).

My notes:
- Using electronic lab books is something they should look at (aka Dr Sayed)
- They are prepared to submit their own research output
- I think WITS has succeeded excellently in providing a seamless interface to information, because researchers are using the databases via Google without noticing it! Exactly what we want to achieve - ease of access.
- They also support the LOCKSS principle (lots of copies keep stuff safe)

Ms Michele Pickover (WITS, University Archives) is of the opinion that an archive is about the future rather than the past, which makes a lot of sense to me. We after all build the future on what we have learned from the past, don't we? She also referred to digitization, and projects such as DISA and ALUKA. Librarians should be neutral custodians of information.

Ethics is always a difficult one, and Dr Colin Darch and Ms Anne Pope - both from UCT - gave us the bigger picture. We watched an episode from "House", critically commented on the ethics of experimenting with people, etc. It made us definitely think. In a research environment it is different, and you need to conduct research in a responsible way, adhere in line with certain governmental acts and rules from your institution. This applies to both humans and animals. Know where to contact your Ethics Committee on campus and the procedures involved to get ethical clearance.

When it comes to copyright, I realised once again that money is the key driver behind everything. Dr Colin Darch once again challenged us with some difficult questions we had to think about.

Notes to myself:
- Remember the SPARC clause (Thanks Eve!)
- Researchers should be made aware of Creative Commons licensing options

Ms Eve Gray (UCT) is synonomous with open access, and it is always a treat to listen to her. Blogging, twittering, informal publications are all part of scholarly communication. It is expected that by 2012 more than 55% of all books will be in e-format. The publishing industry is a commercial system build on big money. Please refer to Pavlinka's blog entry for some useful links. About 80% of publishers now allow archiving in IR's.

Notes to myself:
- Our clients had to tell us about Kindl's etc ... they are way ahead of us it seems, and embrace new technologies! Quite embarassing ...
- Librarians should all be informed about open access

Ina