OA Week 2023: The Ethics of Access

Does all information want to be free? At the first Hackers Conference in 1984, Stewart Brand, the founder of the Whole Earth Catalog, noted that “information almost wants to be free, because the cost of getting it out, in many respects, is getting lower and lower all the time.” When we talk about Open Access publication today, we most frequently focus on zero-cost availability as its primary value. But the other significant aspect of Open Access information, especially as stored and distributed through platforms owned and operated by public institutions such as a university, is its ubiquitous availability. This freedom of information brings hazards as well as benefits to scholarship and the community at large.

At this year’s event we will delve into the implications that Open Access research may have both for individual privacy and community integrity, including (and perhaps especially) as it applies to primary source materials. How do researchers and archivists gather, describe and make searchable cultural materials in a way that both preserves and respects a people’s legacy? How might the availability of an individual’s correspondence or images on the internet impact the privacy of their associates?

As featured speakers we welcome this year:

• Ellen Jarosz, Head of Special Collections & Archives
• Kalani Heinz, American Indian Studies

We will also introduce you to our new Open Access platform, CSU ScholarWorks, where you can search scholarly communications, including faculty publications and research, as well as student work, across 19 CSU campuses. Light refreshments will be served.