Metousiosis

An interesting new development in the creative commons community is the idea of science commons. The motivation, as noted in the video clip given below, is to help aid in the proliferation of data between scientists.

I think that this is a fundamental step in the right direction, having open access to research data may enable other scientists to see new uses for that data. This has great potential for application in all venues of science: in medicine, geology, atmospheric science, genomics, proteomics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, etc. There is so much data currently being generated in science, that the larger implications or other applications of such data can be occasionally overlooked; this dissemination of data may help to alleviate that oversight.

From the Science Commons:

Making the Web Work for Science

Science Commons designs strategies and tools for faster, more efficient web-enabled scientific research. We identify unnecessary barriers to research, craft policy guidelines and legal agreements to lower those barriers, and develop technology to make research, data and materials easier to find and use.

Our goal is to speed the translation of data into discovery — unlocking the value of research so more people can benefit from the work scientists are doing.