Created as a discussion starter for a "professional interaction" at Museums and the Web 2010. See paper written with Rich Cherry from the Balboa Park Online Collaborative at http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/museum-commons-a-professional-interaction-museums-and-the-web-2010-michael-edson-and-rich-cherry (slideshare) and http://www.archimuse.com/mw2010/papers/edson-cherry/edson-cherry.html (conference site)

1. What is a Commons? The Museum Commons: a Professional Interaction Museums and the Web 2010 4/16/2010 Michael Edson, Smithsonian Institution Rich Cherry, Balboa Park Online Collaborative

2. What is a Commons? Rich CherryBalboa Park OnlineCollaborative @richcherry Michael Edson Smithsonian Institution @mpedson

3. Note: more detail, text, footnotes, links related to this topic are in the papers Museum Commons: A professional interaction Museums and the Web site: http://www.archimuse.com/mw2010/papers/edson-cherry/edson-cherry.html Slideshare:http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/museum-commons-a-professional-interaction-museums-and-the-web-2010-michael-edson-and-rich-cherry and Imagining a Smithsonian Commons http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/cil-2009-michael-edson-text-version What is a Commons?

4. Note: more detail, text, footnotes, links related to this topic are in the papers What is a Commons? Also… A 15-minute talk at the Walker Art Center Text/footnotes:http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/m-4402558 Video (starts at minute 12): http://channel.walkerart.org/play/opening-the-field/ Updated 6/21/2010

5. Preface: humility What is a Commons?

6. What is a Commons?

7. What is a Commons? A set of resources maintained in the public sphere for the use and benefit of everyone (from Imagining a Smithsonian Commons)

8. What is a Commons? Usually, commons are created because a property owner decides that a given set of resources—grass for grazing sheep, forests for parkland, software code, or intellectual property—will be more valuable if freely shared than if restricted. (from Imagining a Smithsonian Commons)

9. What is a Commons? In the law, and in our understanding of the way the world works, we recognize that no idea stands alone, and that all innovation is built on the ideas and innovations of others… (from Imagining a Smithsonian Commons)

10. What is a Commons? …When creators are allowed free and unrestricted access to the work of others, through the public domain, fair use, a commons, or other means, innovation flourishes. (from Imagining a Smithsonian Commons)

11. What is a Commons? (from Imagining a Smithsonian Commons)

12. What is a Commons? The Anti-Commons… (from Imagining a Smithsonian Commons)

13. What is a Commons? The Anti-Commons… Conversely, unnecessarily restricted content is a barrier to innovation. (from Imagining a Smithsonian Commons)

14. What is a Commons? The Anti-Commons… Conversely, unnecessarily restricted content is a barrier to innovation. This is the anti-commons, a thicket of difficulties. (from Imagining a Smithsonian Commons)

15. What is a Commons? The Anti-Commons… If you can’t find an idea, (from Imagining a Smithsonian Commons)

16. What is a Commons? The Anti-Commons… If you can’t find an idea, can’t understand its context, (from Imagining a Smithsonian Commons)

17. What is a Commons? The Anti-Commons… If you can’t find an idea, can’t understand its context, can’t leverage communities to share and add value to it, (from Imagining a Smithsonian Commons)

18. What is a Commons? The Anti-Commons… If you can’t find an idea, can’t understand its context, can’t leverage communities to share and add value to it, and if you can’t get legal permission to use, (from Imagining a Smithsonian Commons)

19. What is a Commons? The Anti-Commons… If you can’t find an idea, can’t understand its context, can’t leverage communities to share and add value to it, and if you can’t get legal permission to use, re-use, (from Imagining a Smithsonian Commons)

20. What is a Commons? The Anti-Commons… If you can’t find an idea, can’t understand its context, can’t leverage communities to share and add value to it, and if you can’t get legal permission to use, re-use, or make it into something new… (from Imagining a Smithsonian Commons)

21. What is a Commons? The Anti-Commons… …then knowledge and innovation suffer. (from Imagining a Smithsonian Commons)

22. 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)

23. What is a Commons?

24. What is a Commons? The framers of our copyright laws recognized this and established the notions of fair use and the public domain so scientists, inventors, educators, artists, researchers, business people… (from Imagining a Smithsonian Commons)

25. What is a Commons? …and everyone can have access to the raw materials of knowledge. (from Imagining a Smithsonian Commons)

26. What is a Commons? A commons can be thought of as a kind of organized workshop where these raw materials can be found and assembled into new things. (from Imagining a Smithsonian Commons)

27. What is a Commons? Licensing and labeling facilitate the productivity of this workshop by telling users, in advance, how the property in the commons can be used, without making them guess or negotiate. (from Imagining a Smithsonian Commons)

28. 12 dimensions of a commons From Museum Commons: A professional interaction: http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/museum-commons-a-professional-interaction-museums-and-the-web-2010-michael-edson-and-rich-cherry

29. 12 dimensions of a commons No hard rules, just a set of characteristics we’ve found from looking at and thinking about how all of this seems to work.

30. 12 dimensions of a commons No hard rules, just a set of characteristics we’ve found from looking at and thinking about how all of this seems to work. Any “one” of these dimensions does not necessarily make a site into a commons. Network effects and beneficial outcomes seem to be amplified when multiple facets/dimensions are combined in the same site.

31. 12 dimensions of a commons Examples are provided for discussion purposes, and aren’t meant to represent perfection! Please tell us what other sites/projects might serve as examples to advance this investigation!

32. 12 dimensions of a commons

33. 12 dimensions of a commons 1. Federated Assets from separate databases or repositories are presented together, irrespective of what organization or department they came from

34. 12 dimensions of a commons 1. Federated Example: Smithsonian Collections Search Center http://collections.si.edu/search/

35. 12 dimensions of a commons 2. Designed for usersToolsets to allow specific user groups to effectively use the combined collections and data

36. 12 dimensions of a commons 2. Designed for usersExample: D.C. Data Catalog http://data.octo.dc.gov/

37. 12 dimensions of a commons 3. FindableSearch and findability are strongly emphasized

38. 12 dimensions of a commons 3. FindableExample: ?

39. 12 dimensions of a commons 4. ShareableThe architecture of the commons emphasizes persistent URL's and linking/embedding tools that enable and encourage sharing

40. 12 dimensions of a commons 4. ShareableExample: Brooklyn Museum http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/157722/Morris_Kantor

41. 12 dimensions of a commons 5. Reusable Intellectual property policies are uniform and clearly stated

42. 12 dimensions of a commons 5. Reusable Example: Flickr

43. 12 dimensions of a commons 6. FreeAssets are free to access and use

44. 12 dimensions of a commons 6. Free Example: Internet Archive http://www.archive.org

45. 12 dimensions of a commons 7. Bulk downloadThe commons platform provides for bulk download of assets

46. 12 dimensions of a commons 7. Bulk download Example: Powerhouse Museum http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/download.php

47. 12 dimensions of a commons 8. Machine readableAssets are presented in machine readable formats

48. 12 dimensions of a commons 8. Machine readable Example: data.gov

49. 12 dimensions of a commons 9. High resolutionAssets are made available in high resolution and not unnecessarily restricted

50. 12 dimensions of a commons 9. High resolution Example: NASA http://marsrover.nasa.gov/gallery/panoramas/spirit/

51. 12 dimensions of a commons 10. Collaboration without controlThe commons platform, through a combination of the attributes above, enables collaboration and research without the necessity of formal contracts or agreements.

52. 12 dimensions of a commons 10. Collaboration without control Example: MIT Open Courseware http://ocw.mit.edu

53. 12 dimensions of a commons 11. Network effectsCommons platforms are designed to take advantage of network effects from user contributions

54. 12 dimensions of a commons 11. Network effects Example: OpenStreetMap “Some people think map data is so valuable that it should be free. OpenStreetMap, a nonprofit group whose mission is to make free maps that can be reused by anyone, has some 180,000 contributors who have mapped many countries in varying levels of detail.” Online Maps: Everyman Offers New DirectionsNew York Times 11/16/2009 http://www.openstreetmap.org/

55. 12 dimensions of a commons 12. The Public DomainParticularly for collecting institutions, understanding and advancing the public domain (U.S. law) or “CC-0” (Creative Commons “zero”) is, or should be, a core activity

56. 12 dimensions of a commons 12. The Public Domain Example: NOAA Weather.gov http://www.weather.gov/disclaimer.php

57. 12 dimensions of a commons … and a 13th? http://www.weather.gov/disclaimer.php

58. 12 dimensions of a commons … and a 13th? TRUST http://www.weather.gov/disclaimer.php

59. 12 dimensions of a commons … and a 13th? TRUST http://www.weather.gov/disclaimer.php

60. 12 dimensions of a commons … and a 13th? TRUST Are you going to be there tomorrow? Forever? Will you play fair? Will you be selfless, and help me be successful? If I invest resources working with your commons, will some other commons take your place? http://www.weather.gov/disclaimer.php

62. Assertions/Conversation Starters For the purposes of this professional interaction, several assertions about the commons model can serve as conversation starters. See MW site: http://www.archimuse.com/mw2010/papers/edson-cherry/edson-cherry.html Or slideshare:http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/museum-commons-a-professional-interaction-museums-and-the-web-2010-michael-edson-and-rich-cherry for full details

63. Assertions/Conversation Starters Commons model offers harmony with mission The Public Domain is important Commons sites offer better user experience Commons platform provides economies of Scale The commons is a better collaborative model The commons catalyzes innovation and knowledge creation Free commons offer a better business model Commons are more responsive to needs/expectations of digital natives Whose collections are they anyway? The commons can help our peers (by eliminating unnecessary rights/repro fees)

64. Thank You! Rich CherryBalboa Park Online Collaborative Michael Edson Smithsonian Institution http://www.bpoc.org/ http://smithsonian-webstrategy.wikispaces.com/