I remember looking into CC-licensing my PhD thesis back in 2009-10, and found that it wasn't possible as I had to include a copyright statement in it that included restrictions that weren't compatible with CC licenses (without the copyright statement, I couldn't have submitted it to the university!). So I ended up only sharing it on arXiv [1].
Things may have changed for the better since then, but if not then it would be great to encourage that change to happen (and would seem like it's in-scope for WMUK). It's the same problem as publisher's restrictions on the licenses of scientific papers (some still require that you sign copyright over to them before publishing a paper!). BTW, there was a WMUK OTRS workshop back in 2012 [2] - it was mostly good, but there were some issues (particularly with non-OTRS users not being allowed to see OTRS!). If another one is organised (which I think is a good idea!) I'm happy to pass on learnings from the 2012 one. Thanks, Mike [1] https://arxiv.org/abs/1006.2760 <https://arxiv.org/abs/1006.2760> if anyone's interested ;-) [2] https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/OTRS_workshop <https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/OTRS_workshop> > On 2 May 2017, at 10:38, leu...@fabiant.eu wrote: > > Hi all > > Thanks to John for his prompt prompt response. > > Actually my answer is no. > > I am afraid John's solution does not deal with the wealth of academic > material, theses etc which have been produced before such universities start > to understand the benefits you mention. As students already have the option > of publishing their material on CC licenses (Students are not employees), > they do not need to universities to provide such an option. > > My point is that Wikimedia UK is in a unique position to actually do > something to benefit how the community works as regards OTRS, of which the > benefit I have mentioned is just an example. > > If Wikimedia UK does not want to do this, then perhaps we could have a policy > decision from the organisation to put us in the picture. > > Then we could explore doing this directly through the Foundation. I doubt > there is much appetite for setting up some sort of Wikimedia UK 3.0 – at this > moment in time. > > I know from one or two discussions I have had that various people feel that > Wikimedia Uk has been experiencing some mission drift towards more general > open knowledge advocacy and away from specific Wikimedia Community support. I > feel this is an opportunity for the organisation to clarify where it's going. > > Another issue I feel the charity could address is a generic clause for people > to add to their wills releasing their copyrightable output under Creative > Commons licenses. These could be generic, i.e. everything, or partitioned > (for example: "all my photographs"). > > It would also be useful to have some phraseology so that people who own the > copyright of someone who has died can release their material under a Creative > Commons license. I feel this would make a significant impact in covering the > gap between photos in particular taken by people whose copyright has lapsed > and the contemporary period when people have started releasing their own > photos on a CC license. > > > > > > all the best > > Fabian > > aka Leutha > > On 02 May 2017 at 14:05 John Lubbock <john.lubb...@wikimedia.org.uk > <mailto:john.lubb...@wikimedia.org.uk>> wrote: > > Hi Fabian. Do you not think that this time consuming process of asking > authors individually could be substantially reduced by getting universities > to understand the benefits of Open Licenses and having them give their > students the option of publishing on CC licenses. Then the only work we > would have to do is to upload them. > > John > > On 2 May 2017 at 14:02, <leu...@fabiant.eu> wrote: > > Hi all, > > As copyright for a PhD thesis rests with the person who wrote it, it would > seem to be a secondary concern to worry over much about various > institutional arrangements. The Wikimedia movement has already developed > Wikisource <https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Main_Page > <https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Main_Page>>, which is a > suitable repository for PhD theses, and I would say Masters thesis as well. > In fact all we need do is ask the people who own the copyright to upload a > pdf (or better a Dejavu file) to commons. Once they have done this - which > involves releasing reproduction rights as Creative Commons - then whether > they or others take the document through to becoming a completely validated > document. > > The advantage of this is that we can then generate an annotated version > which includes hyperlinks to wikipedia pages which means we can create an > approach to reading which allows the reader to move fluidly between > wikipedia pages and upload PhD theses. > > One of the problems I have encountered during my period as a Wikimedian in > Residence at MayDay Rooms, is in uploading an old MA thesis from Chris > Knight, <https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Author:Chris_Knight > <https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Author:Chris_Knight>> currently a > professor of Anthropology. Getting his agreement, getting a pdf of his > thesis was quite easy. The problem was that having uploaded the file to > commons and having sent emails to the Commons OTRS > <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:OTRS > <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:OTRS>>, nothing happened for > several weeks. Indeed it was only thanks to the help of a Wikimedia at the > London Meet up who had access to the OTRS system, that the Commons > documentation could be updated. > > The hold up is largely down to a shortage of people with OTRS access. When > I volunteered for this I was told I did not have enough experience. I was > not informed how such relevant experience constituted and how it might be > gained. > > I raised this issue at the Education Summit > <https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/wikimedia-uk-education-summit-at-middlesex-university-tickets-30324750144 > > <https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/wikimedia-uk-education-summit-at-middlesex-university-tickets-30324750144>> > (sorry > for the eventbrite link, but I have been unable to find any on-wiki > documentation), and it would be interesting to know whether Wikimedia UK > would be interested in doing something about this? > > In particular it would be useful if we could have some people already > active on OTRS to deliver a training session, so that we could have a whole > cohort trained up, and if they could thus show a sufficient level of > competence, could then go through the OTRS recruitment process. > > OTRS respondents have a verified identity, but this identity is not made > public. This means that Wikimedia UK with its robust Data Protection > Policy <https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Data_Protection_Policy > <https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Data_Protection_Policy>> constitutes > a suitable vehicle for organising such training, as this cannot be > organised by an informal group. > > I would suggest that using staff time for this purpose should be > prioritised over activities which might have less direct impact on the > development of our movement. > > all the best > > Fabian > > aka Leutha > > On 02 May 2017 at 10:59 Richard Nevell <richard.nev...@wikimedia.org.uk > <mailto:richard.nev...@wikimedia.org.uk>> > wrote: > > Open Research Exeter > <http://www.exeter.ac.uk/research/openaccess/databases/ > orepolicies/#d.en.444179 > <http://www.exeter.ac.uk/research/openaccess/databases/%20orepolicies/#d.en.444179>> > allows people to publish content under Creative Commons licences. > > Aside from open licences, a lot of institutions are doing some good work > with making theses available online for free. As well as Exeter (where I'm > a PhD student), there's Edinburgh > <http://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/library-museum-gallery/finding- > resources/library-databases/databases-subject-a-z/database-theses > <http://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/library-museum-gallery/finding-%20resources/library-databases/databases-subject-a-z/database-theses>> > , Hull <https://hydra.hull.ac.uk/ <https://hydra.hull.ac.uk/>>, Oxford > <https://ora.ox.ac.uk/ <https://ora.ox.ac.uk/>>, and > White > Rose <http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/ <http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/>> > which covers Leeds, Sheffield, and > > York. Not everything is freely available - for example because some have > embargo periods - but it represents a large resource of free-to-access > information. > > On 1 May 2017 at 14:34, Deryck Chan <deryckc...@gmail.com > <mailto:deryckc...@gmail.com>> wrote: > > Thanks John for the idea. I'm in a good position to participate on a > personal basis if something like this goes live. > > I'm a PhD student at Cambridge University and I'm partially funded by > EPSRC which requires all their research publications to be open access. So > I will have the option to open-copyright my eventual PhD thesis, especially > if there's a movement and a repository for it. > > Deryck > > On 1 May 2017 at 14:22, John Levin <anterote...@gmail.com > <mailto:anterote...@gmail.com>> wrote: > > Dear list, > > The subject of publishing postgrad / PhD these under open licenses came > up via the W.UK twitter account a few days ago: > > Wouldn't it be amazing if all postgrad/PhD students were given the option > to publish dissertations/theses on Open Licenses? #OpenKnowledge > https://twitter.com/wikimediauk/status/857618743924592640 > <https://twitter.com/wikimediauk/status/857618743924592640> > I think there's two issues here: first, if, how and when postgrad theses > are published, then second, under what license. > > For the first, there's been debates recently about embargoing publication > etc. Eg: > http://www.chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/publishing-dissert > <http://www.chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/publishing-dissert> > ation-online/51361 > But that's another subject really. > > For the second, I think there's no reason that prevents any thesis being > published under a free open license, save where there is use of copyrighted > materials. But I haven't found many unis stating this clearly. > Leeds is the only UK university I've found that overtly advocates CC > licenses: > https://library.leeds.ac.uk/info/371/copyright_for/294/copyr > <https://library.leeds.ac.uk/info/371/copyright_for/294/copyr> > ight_for_phds/4 > But this is on the sole basis of a few hours googling. > > I'm a PhD at Sussex ATM, so will be looking more closely into their > arrangements next year. > > John > > -- > John Levin > http://www.anterotesis.com <http://www.anterotesis.com/> > http://twitter.com/anterotesis <http://twitter.com/anterotesis> > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia UK mailing list > wikimediau...@wikimedia.org <mailto:wikimediau...@wikimedia.org> > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l > <https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l> > WMUK: https://wikimedia.org.uk <https://wikimedia.org.uk/> > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia UK mailing list > wikimediau...@wikimedia.org <mailto:wikimediau...@wikimedia.org> > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l > <https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l> > WMUK: https://wikimedia.org.uk <https://wikimedia.org.uk/> > -- > Richard Nevell > Project Coordinator > Wikimedia UK - sign up to our newsletter <http://eepurl.com/cnYOw5 > <http://eepurl.com/cnYOw5>> > +44 (0) 20 7065 0921 <+44%2020%207065%200921> > > Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and > Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered > Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT. > United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia > movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who > operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects). > > *Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal control > over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.* > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia UK mailing list > wikimediau...@wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l > <https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l> > WMUK: https://wikimedia.org.uk <https://wikimedia.org.uk/> > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia UK mailing list > wikimediau...@wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l > <https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l> > WMUK: https://wikimedia.org.uk > <https://wikimedia.org.uk/>_______________________________________________ > Wikimedia UK mailing list > wikimediau...@wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l > WMUK: https://wikimedia.org.uk
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