Academic papers are hidden from the public. Here's some direct action. • Hacker News Board

Re: Academic papers are hidden from the public. Here's some direct action.

#51

Post by glimcat » Sat, Sep 17, 2011, 1:07 AM UTC

brador wrote: post #10

gammarator wrote: post #4

Without justifying any of this, since the Schwartz incident JSTOR has made all of the out-of-copyright content freely available: http://about.jstor.org/participate-jstor/individuals/early-j...

Would JSTOR have released these had the Schwartz action not occured? I suggest not. Does this then justify his actions? I don't know, but his actions have certainly proven advantageous to scientific study and breaking of the anti-science monopoly.

There are bigger crimes than breaching a paywall. It's not hard to see an argument for downloading as civil disobedience in this case.

Re: Academic papers are hidden from the public. Here's some direct action.

#52

Post by aheilbut » Sat, Sep 17, 2011, 1:38 AM UTC

metageek wrote: post #46

aheilbut wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the US and Canada, at least, they usually are open to the public.

I don't know about that. Thinking about the four universities I've got experience with, the only one that didn't have someone checking IDs at the door of the library was the small one that probably couldn't afford it.

In my experience, in Boston, nobody will bat an eye if you go into most libraries at MIT (so long as you don't go breaking into wiring closets) or BU. Harvard is very restrictive because it'd probably be overrun with tourists otherwise. I think libraries in big cities (NYC) tend to be more exclusive, to keep out the riff-raff and homeless people, but such cities usually have good public research libraries.

In Toronto, the the UofT libraries are accessible to anybody. However, I did once get kicked out of the Law Society of Upper Canada library when I mixed up Osgoode Hall with the Osgoode Hall law school when I was doing research for a high school class, and I'm still bitter about that.

Re: Academic papers are hidden from the public. Here's some direct action.

#53

Post by St-Clock » Sat, Sep 17, 2011, 2:03 AM UTC

zootar wrote: post #44

St-Clock wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am STRONGLY against this kind of service and I hope you will consider removing any recording that was not approved by the lecturer. Otherwise, I want a recording of everything you have said while working. Actually, I want a recording of everything everybody said while they were working so my BigBrother TM audio processing technology can highlight anything that was out of line, incorrect, inappropriate, whatever. I…

Are there any known instances of a lecture recording being used against an instructor unfairly? I doubt doing things that could be construed as "out of line, incorrect, inappropriate, whatever" really improve your lectures in a significant and sustainable way. In any case, there are better ways to be interesting and entertaining [1]. I think everyone understand that instructors aren't concerned about copyrights. They…

"I think everyone understand that instructors aren't concerned about copyrights."

Well if you click on the "about" link on lectureleaks.com, you'll see that they only talk about copyrights. They do not seem to care about anything else... Incidentally, they have quite a lengthy copyright and license notice themselves... Maybe I should write one for my course.

"Are there any known instances of a lecture recording being used against an instructor unfairly?"

If you asked me whether instructors were sometimes treated unfairly by students, administrators or politicians, I would say yes. Having access to recorded lectures just adds a new angle of attack.

"I doubt doing things that could be construed as "out of line, incorrect, inappropriate, whatever" really improve your lectures in a significant and sustainable way."

I was actually referring to some ill intentioned people who would turn a joke, a simple mistake you made, or a controversial topic you taught against you. For example, teaching evolution is a risky business in some US states.

Re: Academic papers are hidden from the public. Here's some direct action.

#54

Post by metageek » Sun, Sep 18, 2011, 8:35 PM UTC

aheilbut wrote: post #52

metageek wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know about that. Thinking about the four universities I've got experience with, the only one that didn't have someone checking IDs at the door of the library was the small one that probably couldn't afford it.

In my experience, in Boston, nobody will bat an eye if you go into most libraries at MIT (so long as you don't go breaking into wiring closets) or BU. Harvard is very restrictive because it'd probably be overrun with tourists otherwise. I think libraries in big cities (NYC) tend to be more exclusive, to keep out the riff-raff and homeless people, but such cities usually have good public research libraries. In Toronto…

So maybe the overall answer is that whether a school has people checking IDs depends less on rational decisions and more on their history—have they had trouble, have they had paranoid management, that sort of thing.