Information commons

Kranich, Nancy; Schement, Jörge Reina

doi:10.1002/aris.2008.1440420119

Cited by 15 publications

(14 citation statements)

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“…One wonders, indeed, whether it is not also time to start building wholly new models of news‐information institutions, given the inexorable decline of the industrial‐era press. Perhaps, as has been suggested elsewhere, a new form of “information commons” is needed as “a fundamental institution for a 21st‐century democracy” (Kranich & Schement, 2008, p. 548). We should also perhaps become much more imaginative about how we might harness advanced information technology—expert systems, robotics, artificial intelligence, etc.—for the common good.…”

Section: Institutional Requirements Of the Theoremmentioning

confidence: 95%

The Rawls‐Tawney theorem and the digital divide in postindustrial society

Duff

2010

J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci.

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The digital divide continues to challenge political and academic circles worldwide. A range of policy solutions is briefly evaluated, from laissez-faire on the right to "arithmetic" egalitarianism on the left. The article recasts the digital divide as a problem for the social distribution of presumptively important information (e.g., electoral data, news, science) within postindustrial society. Endorsing in general terms the left-liberal approach of differential or "geometric" egalitarianism, it seeks to invest this with greater precision, and therefore utility, by means of a possibly original synthesis of the ideas of John Rawls and R. H. Tawney. It is argued that, once certain categories of information are accorded the status of "primary goods," their distribution must then comply with principles of justice as articulated by those major 20th century exponents of ethical social democracy.The resultant Rawls-Tawney theorem, if valid, might augment the portfolio of options for interventionist information policy in the 21st century.

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Section: Institutional Requirements Of the Theoremmentioning

confidence: 95%

The Rawls‐Tawney theorem and the digital divide in postindustrial society

Duff

2010

J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci.

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“…The most recent was by Sandra Braman (2006), covering the literature on the micro‐ and macroeconomics of information, a literature that she describes as now vast, noting that attempts to create online databases of the literature have fallen by the wayside. Harmeet Sawhney and Krishna Jayakar's (2007) review of the literature on universal access and Nancy Kranich and Jorge Reina Schement's (2008) review of the information commons literature provide recent coverage of aspects of the topic. Other ARIST reviews of particular value to this chapter are Lamberton's (1984a) review of the milestones in the literature up to the early 1980s, Aatto Repo's (1987) review of the literature from the viewpoint of information services, Michael Koenig's (1990) review of information services and productivity, and Sheila Webber's (1998) review of the pricing of online information services.…”

Section: Economics Of Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Information is neither a pure public good nor a pure private good. This fact has been overlooked by those who seek to commodify information goods and services (Kranich & Schement, 2008).…”

Section: Economics Of Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the other hand, there was considerable discussion in the library and information science literature in the 1980s and 1990s in North America and the United Kingdom. Noteworthy was Thelma Freides's (1986) article providing the economic perspective on the controversy that arose when the U.S. federal government sought to impose controls on government information dissemination, described by Kranich and Schement (2008, p. 557) as an “enclosure movement.” Some literature was also generated by political scientists and other information users (see, for example, William Alonso and Paul Starr's [1987] book on statistical information). All of this literature was a response to the commodification of public information and the various privatizing, revenue generating, and cost‐recovery initiatives of governments of the time.…”

Section: Pricing Of Public Sector Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Economic theory as it applies to public sector information

Nilsen¹

2010

Annual Review Info Sci & Tec

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IntroductionThis chapter 1 reviews the economics literature pertaining to public sector information. In addition, the economic arguments put forward in government studies and policy documents are reviewed, focusing on the current push for harmonization of public sector information policy across the European Union and the debate as to which model of information dissemination is preferable (i.e., the U.S. open access model versus the more restrictive European model). Some works by economists that appeared in the library and information science (LIS) and other literatures are covered, but the LIS literature in general is not reviewed.The term "public sector information" (PSI) is used here rather than "government information" or "official information." The terms are synonymous, although PSI can be construed more broadly, to include any information produced by public sector bodies, including cultural and educational institutions. Public sector information (and content) is any kind of information that is produced and/or collected by a public body as part of the institution's mandated role. It is directly generated by, and associated with, the functioning of the public sector and is readily useable in commercial applications (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry, Working Party on the Economy, 2006). As will be discussed, the economic value of its commercial use is the focus of much recent attention in Europe.The chapter begins with a brief summary of neoclassical economic theory, including the concepts of market failure and public goods, to lay the groundwork for the review. Readers familiar with these concepts may wish to move directly to the section on the economics of information. The literature on the history of information economics; the definitions of information used by economists; and their concepts of information as a public good, as a commodity, and as a contributor to social value are addressed. The review then focuses on the economic arguments and rationalization for public sector versus private sector supply of information, the impact of PSI on general economic efficiency, commercial re-use, value adding, and revenue generation. Then the literature on the pricing of information and the arguments around the imposition of user fees for PSI, and, finally, the arguments for CHAPTER 10 419 and against copyrighting PSI are reviewed. The vast literature on the economics of e-government and of privatization is not addressed. Neoclassical Economic TheoryNeoclassical economic theory and social welfare theory are of particular interest for this review because both underlie the development of the economics of information. As Nobel economist Donald Lamberton pointed out (1994a), neoclassical economics provided a base and a language for information economics, which was necessary in order to keep an open dialogue with the economics profession, as well as with international and national decision makers in industry and government.According to the neoclassic...

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“…An equally interesting prospect, especially for the world of education and research, is that of the "open access" movement, aspiring towards free, immediate, unrestricted access to educational or researchrelated material through open access journals and digital archives or repositories. Here we encounter the concept of "information commons" (Kranich & Schement, 2008), likewise oriented toward the social benefits of sharing knowledge and liberating its usage. The term "commons" evokes an old English tradition by which farmers could share rights and responsibilities regarding certain sections of land for cultivation or pasture.…”

Section: Private or Shared Property?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Competing views of information: human right vs. commodity, private vs. shared property

Fernández-Molina

2009

tripleC

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Information commons

Cited by 15 publications

References 72 publications

The Rawls‐Tawney theorem and the digital divide in postindustrial society

The Rawls‐Tawney theorem and the digital divide in postindustrial society

Economic theory as it applies to public sector information

Competing views of information: human right vs. commodity, private vs. shared property

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