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Other News
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Here are a few articles and news items dealing with open-source
software and curricular materials in academics.
September 2012
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Finnish teachers create open-source mathematics textbook in 3 days
29 September 2012---A group of Finnish teachers created an
open-source mathematics textbook for secondary school in a 3-day
sprint. While the book is in Finnish, it is a very interesting
experiment in creating textbooks. See the `blog post
<http://linja-aho.blogspot.fi/2012/09/a-group-of-finnish-math-teachers-write.html>`__
for more.
California will create 50 free digital textbooks
27 September 2012---California has passed a law to create 50 free
digital textbooks targeting lower-division college courses.
California also passed a law to create the California Digital Open
Source Library. See
the `Los Angeles Times article
<http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2012/09/free-digital-textbooks-to-be-made-available-after-gov-jerry-brown-signs-bills.html>`__
for more details.
Particle Physics taking all journals to open-access
24 September 2012---"After six years of negotiation, the
Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle
Physics is now close to ensuring that nearly all
particle-physics articles — about 7,000 publications last year —
are made immediately free on journal websites. Upfront payments
from libraries will fund the access." See the `Nature article
<http://www.nature.com/news/open-access-deal-for-particle-physics-1.11468>`__
for more.
June 2012
^^^^^^^^^
PeerJ Journal adopts "flat fee, all you can publish" model
12 June 2012---The `PeerJ <http://peerj.com/>`__ journal explores a model where authors pay a one-time fee to publish all the scientific papers they want. A `Nature article <http://www.nature.com/news/journal-offers-flat-fee-for-all-you-can-publish-1.10811>`__ talks about this and other models to reduce cost to access publications.
MLA Journals switch to "author retains copyright"
05 June 2012---The journals of the Modern Language Association have adopted a policy that authors will retain copyright to their articles. This means that authors will have no trouble posting their articles to open-access websites. See more at the `MLA Press Release <http://www.mla.org/news_from_mla/news_topic&topic=596>`__.
May 2012
^^^^^^^^
UCSF Mandates Open Access
23 May 2012---University of California, San Francisco faculty
senate voted unanimously for a policy requiring UCSF faculty to
make each of their articles freely available immediately through
an open-access repository. See more at the `UCSF news article
<http://www.ucsf.edu/news/2012/05/12056/ucsf-implements-policy-make-research-papers-freely-accessible-public>`__.
Fair use and e-reserves
12 May 2012---A judge just ruled on a case between publishers and Georgia State
regarding fair use of materials in an e-reserve system. Most of
the judgements came in favor of the university. Read more at
`Inside Higher Ed
<http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/05/14/court-rejects-many-publishers-arguments-e-reserves>`__
and `Kevin Smith's blog
<http://blogs.library.duke.edu/scholcomm/2012/05/12/the-gsu-decision-not-an-easy-road-for-anyone/>`__.
Having open-source curricular material makes these sorts of
complications moot, since copying and distribution of material is encouraged.
