Keynote given at Europeana's European Cultural Commons conference in Warsaw Poland, October 12, 2011.
A video of this talk from Warsaw is at http://youtu.be/RSaLnHlN4gQ
A full text version of the talk (with footnotes and hyperlinks) is at http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/museums-and-the-commons-helping-makers-get-stuff-done-6779050
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Making and the Commons, for Europeana's "European Cultural Commons" conference :: Michael Edson
1. Making
and the
commons
Michael Edson
For Europeana’s
European Cultural
Commons workshop
Warsaw, Poland
October 12, 2011
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23739734@N08/6197553025/sizes/l/in/photostream/
8. Making slideshare.net/edsonm
and the
commons
[the written-out version of this talk]
http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/museums-and-the-
commons-helping-makers-get-stuff-done-6779050
9. Making slideshare.net/edsonm
and the
commons
[This is also relevant]
http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/michael-edson-
prototyping-the-smithsonian-commons
10. Making slideshare.net/edsonm
and the
commons
[As is this]
http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/cil-2009-michael-
edson-text-version
11.
12. There’s a certain energy around someone
who is making something
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23739734@N08/6197553025/sizes/l/in/photostream/
16. There’s an intensity of focus, a sense
of urgency, a twinkle in the eye
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tortipede/6107303370/
17. We accord special status to those whom
President Barack Obama called
“The risk-takers,
the doers,
the makers of things…”
These makers are important—the future
of our species might quite literally depend
on their success, and with great pride we
fill our museums with evidence of the
things they've figured out and
accomplished.
18. Museums, libraries, and archives are celebrations of human
doing—but here we have a disconnect: while these institutions
excel at celebrating things that makers have thought and done in
the past, they can be surprisingly indifferent to the needs of
people who want to get stuff done in the present and in the future.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/75905404@N00/669525192/sizes/l/in/photostream/
23. Museums have vast collections of rare and notable
physical and intellectual property, they have
people with expertise and know-how. They
nurture curiosity and knowledge creation through
research, publication, exhibition, and public
programming. They hold positions of trust and
respect in their communities and they're heralded
as places that, as Roy Slade, the Director of the
Cranbrook Art Academy said, "reflect creativity,
history, culture, ideas, innovation, exploration,
discovery, diversity, freedom of expression and the
ideals of democracy."
24. Museums have vast collections of rare and notable
physical and intellectual property, they have
people with expertise and know-how. They
nurture curiosity and knowledge creation through
research, publication, exhibition, and public
programming. They hold positions of trust and
respect in their communities and they're heralded
as places that as Roy Slade, the Director of the
Cranbrook Art Academy said, "reflect creativity,
history, culture, ideas, innovation, exploration,
discovery, diversity, freedom of expression and the
ideals of democracy."
25. Museums have vast collections of rare and notable
physical and intellectual property, they have
people with expertise and know-how. They
nurture curiosity and knowledge creation through
research, publication, exhibition, and public
programming. They hold positions of trust and
respect in their communities and they're heralded
as places that "reflect creativity, history, culture,
ideas, innovation, exploration, discovery, diversity,
freedom of expression and the ideals of
democracy."
Roy Slade
Why Museums Matter
26. But walk into any museum in the country
and ask these 3 questions…
27. Can I get access to all your collections
and resources?
Are experts available to help me
understand key ideas and concepts?
Can I incorporate your collections and
resources into new products, ideas, or
creative works?
28. access Can I get access to all your collections
and resources?
Are experts available to help me
understand key ideas and concepts?
Can I incorporate your collections and
resources into new products, ideas, or
creative works?
Can I get the raw materials of
creation and innovation?
29. Can I get access to all your collections
and resources?
Expertise
Are experts available to help me
understand key ideas and concepts?
Can I incorporate your collections and
resources into new products, ideas, or
creative works?
Can I get the help of guides, connectors, and problem-
solvers, whether they work for you directly or are part of
your broader networks?
30. Can I get access to all your collections
and resources?
Are experts available to help me
understand key ideas and concepts?
Can I incorporate your collections and
Re-use resources into new products, ideas, or
creative works?
Once I get raw materials and expertise,
can I do new things with them?
33. We received 1,200 public comments on
Smithsonian Commons Prototype
http://www.flickr.com/photos/trepelu/225518847/sizes/l/in/photostream/
34. “One of my biggest gripes doing presentations
for the public on archaeology, is the number of
museums that do not have their collections
online. Much is kept hidden away for
researchers only. We can read journal articles
on valuable exhibits and sometimes a few
drawings are available, but anything else
requires either a visit or an application to do
scholarly research.
35. “One of my biggest gripes doing presentations
for the public on archaeology, is the number of
museums that do not have their collections
online. Much is kept hidden away for
researchers only. We can read journal articles
on valuable exhibits and sometimes a few
drawings are available, but anything else
requires either a visit or an application to do
scholarly research.
36. “This is not fair to the public, since they
pay either directly or indirectly for the valuable
items kept for a limited number of people.
37. “This is not fair to the public, since they
pay either directly or indirectly for the valuable
items kept for a limited number of people.
38. "
“Further, many people cannot travel or will never
travel to see some more distant institutions. I am
hoping for the day when all museums small and large
put their collections online, for the benefit of schools,
colleges and the general public.
39. “Further, many people cannot travel or will never
travel to see some more distant institutions.
I am hoping for the day when all
museums small and large put their
collections online, for the benefit of
schools, colleges and the general public.
40. “Further, many people cannot travel or will never
travel to see some more distant institutions.
I am hoping for the day when all
museums small and large put their
collections online, for the benefit of
schools, colleges and the general public.
41. “Further, many people cannot travel or will never
travel to see some more distant institutions.
I am hoping for the day when all
museums small and large put their
collections online, for the benefit of
schools, colleges and the general public.
Excerpt from comment #406
Smithsonian Commons Prototype
http://smithsonian-
webstrategy.wikispaces.com/Public+Com
ments+on+Smithsonian+Commons+Prot
otype+401-600
42. I am hoping for the day when all
museums small and large put their
collections online, for the benefit of
schools, colleges and the general public.
43. I am hoping for the day when all
museums small and large put their
collections online, for the benefit of
schools, colleges and the general public.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/46758972@N00/2442068480/sizes/l/in/photostream/
44. Most museums, libraries,
and archives aren’t
focused on people
like this…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/46758972@N00/2442068480/sizes/l/in/photostream/
45. Most museums, libraries,
and archives aren’t People like this, with
focused on people practical digital
like this… requirements, didn't exist
on planet Earth
20 years ago!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/46758972@N00/2442068480/sizes/l/in/photostream/
55. Smithsonian Strategic Plan
Grand Challenges
1. Unlocking the Mysteries of
the Universe
2. Understanding and
Sustaining a Biodiverse
Planet
3. Valuing World Cultures
4. Understanding the
American Experience
Smithsonian Secretary
G. Wayne Clough
56. What is a Commons?
1. Unlocking the Mysteries of
the Universe
2. Understanding and
Sustaining a Biodiverse
Planet
3. Valuing World Cultures
4. Understanding the
American Experience
57. What is a Commons?
1. Unlocking the Mysteries of
the Universe
It is, we think, a way of getting 2. Understanding and
a lot of hard work done Sustaining a Biodiverse
Planet
3. Valuing World Cultures
4. Understanding the
American Experience
58. What is a Commons?
A set of resources maintained in the public
sphere for the use and benefit of everyone
60. What is a Commons?
Unnecessarily restricted content is like a
virus that spreads through the internet,
making the intellectual property
provenance of each generation of new
ideas less and less clear.
(from Imagining a Smithsonian Commons)
61. What is a Commons?
Unnecessarily restricted content is like a
virus that spreads through the internet,
making the intellectual property
provenance of each generation of new
ideas less and less clear.
(from Imagining a Smithsonian Commons)
77. “we are living in the middle of a remarkable increase in
our ability to share, to cooperate with one another, and
to take collective action, all outside the framework of
traditional institutions and organization …Getting the
free and ready participation of a large, distributed
group with a variety of skills has gone from impossible
to simple.”
Clay Shirky
78. “we are living in the middle of a remarkable increase in
our ability to share, to cooperate with one another, and
to take collective action, all outside the framework of
traditional institutions and organization …Getting the
free and ready participation of a large, distributed
group with a variety of skills has gone from impossible
to simple.”
Clay Shirky
79. “we are living in the middle of a remarkable increase in
our ability to share, to cooperate with one another, and
to take collective action, all outside the framework of
traditional institutions and organization …Getting the
free and ready participation of a large, distributed
group with a variety of skills has gone from impossible
to simple.”
Clay Shirky
80. 12 ingredients of a commons
10. Collaboration without control
MIT Open Courseware
http://ocw.mit.edu
81. 12 ingredients of a commons
11. Network effects
OpenStreetMap
http://www.openstreetmap.org/
83. The Public Domain is not “some gummy residue left
behind when all the good stuff has been covered by
property law. The public domain is the place where we
quarry the building blocks of our culture.”
James Boyle
84. The Public Domain is not “some gummy residue left
behind when all the good stuff has been covered by
property law. The public domain is the place where we
quarry the building blocks of our culture.”
James Boyle
85. The Public Domain is not “some gummy residue left
behind when all the good stuff has been covered by
property law. The public domain is the place where we
quarry the building blocks of our culture.”
James Boyle
86. 12 ingredients of a commons
… and a 13th?
http://www.weather.gov/disclaimer.php
88. 12 ingredients of a commons
… and a 13th?
TRUST
Why don’t we just let the private sector do this?
We are in the forever business. By putting something online—be it a cultural treasure, a
folk song, a fossil of a bug, a lecture, or a community—we are asking people to trust us.
We're not going to scam you. We're not going to violate your privacy. We're going to be
honest about what we do and don't know, we're going to be open to new ideas and
points of view, we're going to help each other figure out the world, and these promises
are good forever.
Museums are among the few organizations in our culture that enter into those kinds of
promises, and we take that responsibility very seriously.
89. 13 ingredients of a commons
• Federated • Bulk Download
• Designed for users • Machine Readable
• Findable • High Resolution
• Shareable • Collaboration w/o
• Reusable control
• Free • Network effects
• Public Domain
• Trust
90. What is a Commons?
http://www.si.edu/commons/prototype
91. What is a Commons?
Text version of this talk: Museums and the Commons: Helping
Makers Get Stuff Done
http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/museums-and-the-commons-
helping-makers-get-stuff-done-677905
Imagining a Smithsonian Commons
• http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/cil-2009-michael-edson-text-version
Prototyping the Smithsonian Commons
http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/michael-edson-prototyping-the-
smithsonian-commons
92. What is a Commons?
Text version of this talk: Museums and the Commons: Helping
Makers Get Stuff Done
http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/museums-and-the-commons-
helping-makers-get-stuff-done-677905
Also, a video
Imagining a Smithsonian Commons
• http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/cil-2009-michael-edson-text-version
Prototyping the Smithsonian Commons
A 15-minute talk at the Walker Art Center
http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/michael-edson-prototyping-the-
Video (starts at minute 12):
smithsonian-commons http://channel.walkerart.org/play/opening-the-field/
Updated 6/21/2010
93. Thank You!
Michael Edson
@mpedson
http://slideshare.net/edsonm
Editor's Notes
Photo, CC licensed from Representative Virginia Fox (R – N.C.), http://flickr.com/photos/repvirginiafoxx/2298030037/