>Dear Colleagues,
>
>The Alexandria Archive Institute, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and
>Creative Commons are launching a new project to help facilitate open
>access and digital information sharing for archaeology and related
>disciplines.
>
>To best meet the needs of researchers, students, the public, and other
>stakeholders, we are formulating intellectual property policies and
>guidelines. We are particularly interested in learning about any
>intellectual property protections or limitations you feel are necessary to
>preserve investment in archaeological investigation and dissemination, as
>well as any concerns you might have about overprotection that now inhibits
>access and use of information for instruction and research.
>
>We would be grateful for your help. Please forward this survey to your
>colleagues and any relevant lists, and take a few moments to answer the
>following questions.
>
>Please email all responses to: [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
>
>
>SURVEY: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND ARCHAEOLOGY (12 QUESTIONS)
>
>SECTION A: These first few questions will help us understand some aspects
>of how the archaeological community relates to the broader community of
>stakeholders.
>
>
>(1) The following best describes my professional position (tenured
>professor, graduate student, CRM researcher, etc.): Professional researcher
>
>
>(2) If you allow your name to be associated with your responses, please
>provide it below. Otherwise, we will assume that you wish to keep your
>responses anonymous.
>
> Name: Dr. Linda Scott Cummings
> Affiliation: Paleo Research Institute
>
>
>(3) Have you ever had any intellectual property/copyright obligations
>under the terms of any of your research permits or grants? If so, what
>kinds of obligations? Can you provide us with copies of those
>permits/grants?
No
>
>
>(4) Have you ever had any discussions regarding intellectual property or
>copyright with those stakeholders? If so, which ones? Did you experience
>any frustrations or insights from those conversations that you would like
>to share with us? --
>Well, I've had a few archaeologists and water
>engineers take my work and put their names on it
>either for submission to the Federal Government
>or for publication. So far, the articles that
>have been submitted for publication have been
>rejected on the basis that I did the work and
>someone else was taking credit as the author. I
>certainly hope that reviewers and journal
>editors will continue to recognize the
>importance of intellectual property and question
>articles that do not appear to be written by the
>person who did the work.
>
>
>(5) Do you think we, as archaeologists, strike the right balance between
>information access, the interests of researchers, the protection of
>sensitive information, and the interests of other stakeholders, especially
>members of indigenous communities? If not, how would you change the
>current balance to make it better?
>
>
>(6) Do you think it is fair to share attribution, commercialization, and
>copyrights with other stakeholders, even if these other stakeholders were
>not directly involved in funding or permitting your research? What effect
>do you think it would have on relationships between archaeologists and
>other communities if we were to share more of these rights?
>
>
>
>
>SECTION B: Open IP policies would permit free copying, distribution, use,
>reuse and reinterpretation of archaeological documentation for instruction
>and research. Understanding and balancing professional incentives for such
>open information resources is vital to guide our project to success.
>Please keep these goals in mind as you answer the following questions:
>
>
>(7) How do you feel about the current copyright restrictions and costs of
>traditional publishing? Do these restrictions inhibit your instruction or
>research? Has your research ever been hampered because relevant
>information remains either unpublished or inadequately published?
>
>
> (8) Would you be willing to share, via the Internet, your primary
>documentation (maps, plans, image archives, databases, analyses, GIS
>files, etc.) if this content was protected by a legal license that
>requires anyone who uses your research to attribute you as the source?
Some (maps, etc), yes, others (data bases) no.
Much of my decision hinges on the amount of work
I perceive it would take me (or that I would have
to pay staff for) to get the information ready.
We already share much on our website.
>
>
>(9) Some researchers worry that open access to primary data enables rivals
>to beat them to publication and professional advancement. A “do not
>republish” term would allow the public free access and use of primary
>research, so long as these uses do not include unauthorized publication in
>a peer-review journal or similar outlet. Do you think a "do no republish"
>term would encourage more authors to provide open access to their
>materials? If so, how long should the term be in effect before materials
>are open for free republication?
No, and that's because the people who want to
publish work done by others will not be bound by
this request.
>
>
>(10) If an Internet dissemination method has: (a) a peer-review mechanism,
>(b) legal licenses that protect attribution and may guard against
>competitive republication, (c) data longevity and stewardship assurances
>from university digital library programs, (d) the ability to support
>highly specific searches and the data filtering / aggregation power of a
>database. Would you value this as much as traditional paper publication?
>Do you think your colleagues would value it? Why or why not?
Yes, probably
>
>
>(11) In your opinion, is open access worth funding? If so, what sources of
>funding do you think are best to sustain open dissemination channels? How
>should foundations be involved? What about professional societies?
Don't know
>
>
>(12) If you have any other open access / intellectual property / copyright
>concerns or suggestions, please add them here:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>--------------------------------------------
>Eric C. Kansa
>
>Executive Director, Alexandria Archive Inst.
>Visiting Scholar, Stanford University
>www.alexandriaarchive.org
--
Linda Scott Cummings, Ph.D.
Paleo Research Institute
2675 Youngfield St.
Golden, CO 80401
USA
(303) 277-9848
fax: (303) 462-2700
http://www.paleoresearch.com
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