Creating and Maintaining the Commons: Using Open Licensing Policies to Reduce Costs in Higher Education This document discusses how open licensing policies can help reduce costs in higher education. Textbooks and databases cost students and universities billions annually. However, the cost of accessing knowledge has never been cheaper due to technologies like Creative Commons licensing. Open policies could require publicly-funded research be openly licensed and support the creation of open educational resources to increase access and affordability for students and universities. Examples of proposed open policies that could help include acts supporting affordable textbooks and open access to publicly-funded research. The benefits of further developing open policies include centralized open repositories for learning and research materials as well as redirecting freed funds.

1. Creating and Maintaining the Commons: Using
Open Licensing Policies to Reduce Costs in
Higher Education
LANCE EATON

2. Thomas Jefferson, 1815
“He who receives an idea from
me, receives instruction himself
without lessening mine….”
Source: https://flic.kr/p/83k78j

3. The Cost of Access
 Textbooks: $1200 annually per student
 Higher education libraries: $1.9 billion annually on databases
 Federal & state funded research since 2004: >$500 billion

4. But Why?
Access to knowledge has
never been cheaper.

5. 1815: 1 book = $48 in today’s dollars.
Source: https://archive.org/stream/gri_33125011074867/gri_33125011074867#page/n881/mode/1up

6. 2015: $1 = 65+ books worth in data
Source: https://flic.kr/p/89D449

7. Affordability & Openness
How can open policies be leveled to aid in the creation of
knowledge and its reproduction within the realm of higher
education—especially public higher education—for everyone’s
benefit?

8. What is Openness
Openness: freely sharing with little or no restrictions that which one
legally owns
Copyright: restricts this.
Creative Commons License: Empowers this.
2004: 1st established.
2015: 1 billion CC licenses issued.
Gives the means to easily & legally share.

9. How would openness work for higher
ed?
 Publicly-funded research must be CC licensed.
 Support the creation, development, and aggregating of OER
materials.

10. Examples of Open Policies
 Affordable College Textbook Act
Fosters opportunities & support for institutions to build out
OER
 Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act
Agencies with more than $100M must create pathways to
research being publicly available within 6-12 months.

11. Further Development of Open Policy
 Synthesizing establish policies.
 Central open repository for learning
 Central open repository for research
 Redirection of Freed Funds

12. The Bigger Why
 Antiquated copyright
 Returning public good to higher education
 Quantifying public good's return value
 What about patents?

13. Questions?
LANCE EATON