Accountability in the knowledge commons: lessons from Next Generation Library Publishing and the 2022 Values and Principles Summit

Abstract

Values and principles provide a scaffold for community governance of the knowledge commons, engaging stakeholders in the construction of a system that encourages participants to adhere to a shared set of ethical and functional practices. This article introduces the FOREST Framework for Values-Driven Scholarly Communication, a toolkit and approach developed by the Next Generation Library Publishing project to assess a community or organization's alignment with scholarly values and principles. The article situates the FOREST Framework within the context of other initiatives advancing values-based scholarly communication and explains the importance of assessment mechanisms as a core element in governing an equitable and sustainable knowledge commons. It also synthesizes the findings of a half-day summit hosted in February 2022 that convened representatives of values-and-principles-based frameworks and initiatives in scholarly communication to strategize a collective future for these efforts.

User and service provider assessment of technology readiness of library commons in selected universities in Ghana

“…Technology readiness, used in this study, is the awareness and buildup of the individual's confidence, positive attitudes and preparedness toward using new technologies. It is built on the optimism, innovativeness, discomfort and insecurity felt by users of new technologies (Lippincott and Skinner, 2022). Technology readiness encompasses all the organizational and psychological issues that arise due to the implementation of recent technologies.…”

“…Library commonsmeaning, benefits and challenges. A commons can be defined as the shared resources that are either inherited or co-created by a community or group of stakeholders and managed according to the rules and values made by the community (Liljander et al, 2006;Hess and Ostrom, 2006;Bilson and Markwei, 2019;Lippincott and Skinner, 2022). Commons describes how the gifts of nature that cannot be arrogated to individual ownership, for example, oceans, wildlife; and shared social creations such as libraries, public spaces, scientific research and creative works, could be used for the optimum benefit of the society (Halperin, 2020).…”

“…It is defined as the state, stages of preparedness, the plan and project implementation processes, and application of the tools and techniques to effect a change in an existing or new environment. Readiness encompasses vision, purpose, planning, funding, perceptions, material and human factors that may affect change when change is identified (Lippincott and Skinner, 2022), as it involves people, facilities, processes, equipment and records. Changing an old situation for the best requires weighing the new against the old, and a subsequent decision to adopt the new.…”

“…Besides the general embrace of information and communication technologies by libraries (Nwagwu and Matobako, 2021; Oliveira, 2018; Lihn, 2008; Lippincott and Skinner, 2022), the sprouting of commons in Ghanaian academic libraries is partly being promoted by the activities of the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Ghana (CARLIGH) through its role of facilitating the implementation of information technology expansion in the libraries. CARLIGH was formed in 2004 by heads of higher institutions and a group of Vice-Chancellors of the universities in Ghana who had visions of their universities becoming centres of excellence.…”

Developing an Ethics and Policy Framework for Psychedelic Clinical Care: A Consensus Statement

“…A commitment to open science is consistent with these principles, recognizing that much of our current understanding of psychedelic medicines is ultimately rooted in Indigenous traditions and culture, which have been passed down for generations and form the basis of a knowledge commons that demands cooperative stewardship and collaboration. 2 Given how much we still have to learn, data sharing is also desirable for psychedelic substances developed in the 20th century, such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and MDMA.…”