Beware! You might be guilty of copyright infringement right now!

Documentation of knowledge, as we know it, has evolved over the years.

I mentioned here once in my reply to Wei Seong‘s comment that the ways that we use to impart knowledge has changed rapidly over the years with the advancement of technology. With increased level of convenience, comes great responsibility when using available content.

When is it right to use online content or ideas without crediting? Am I allowed to edit online content before reproducing it? If so, do I have still have to credit the creator? I mean, it is partly mine right?

YES! You have to cite everyone that played a play in generating your content (Senior and Swailes, 2007).

Did you know Google has this filtering function for their search results?

Be honest, how many of you actually filtered your search results to show content that you can allowed to use?

For amateur video producers, do you know that you have to cite your references in your videos if it is hosted on another website?

I particularly liked how this video explains open access in an easily comprehensible way.

So what is it good for?

It is a way to gain access to online materials for free. Through these channels, publishers will gain the ability to inspire more people to build on their ideas, thus acts as a catalyst for new innovations. (D., 2004) It also encourages active learning by individuals as they are able to search and uses the available resources to gain information in their areas of interest. For producers, they also stand to gain increased readership as their materials would be available to a wider audience.

See how different open access articles and restricted articles are below!

All these benefits sound really great right?

Take a walk in the shoes of the content producers. With open access, authors will have to manage the publications fees as we no longer have to pay subscription fees. If they are unable handle the incurred fees, they may be discouraged to continue with their research. Journals generate majority of their revenue from publications fees, thus maintaining the quality of journal articles becomes an issue when they churn more articles for the sake of gaining more revenue (Geib, 2013).

I believe the potential for learning using Open Access to be limitless. However, there has to some regulations or quality measures set in place in order to ensure that free online content that is available is also reliable for use.

Lastly, check out this video to see how the rights of scholars and researchers are protected under open source.

References

D., P. (2004). An Open Letter to All Grantmakers and Donors On Copyright And Patent Policy In a Post-Scarcity Society – Paul’s Post-scarcity Perambulations. [online] Pdfernhout.net. Available at: http://www.pdfernhout.net/open-letter-to-grantmakers-and-donors-on-copyright-policy.html [Accessed 9 Dec. 2014].

Geib, A. (2013). Advantages and Disadvantages of Open Access | edanz editing global. [online] Edanzediting.com. Available at: http://www.edanzediting.com/blog/advantages_and_disadvantages_open_access#.VIbzfTGUeSo [Accessed 9 Dec. 2014].

Google.com.sg, (2014). funny – Google Search. [online] Available at: https://www.google.com.sg/search?q=funny&biw=1366&bih=643&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=z-yGVIzEAcXHuAT2kYH4Bg&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ#q=funny&tbm=isch&tbs=sur:fc [Accessed 9 Dec. 2014].

open-access.net, (2011). Go Open Access – II. What Rights do Scholars and Scientists have?.

Senior, B. and Swailes, S. (2007). Inside Management Teams: Developing a Teamwork Survey Instrument. British Journal of Management, 18(2), pp.138-153.