Module 8: "Information Wants to Be Free" Redux

As I listened to Lawrence Lessig in the two TED Talks that were recommended by Dr. Roland, I kept thinking about Stewart Brand’s famous quote from the 1980s concerning information and how it wants to be free:

”On the one hand information wants to be expensive, because it's so valuable. The right information in the right place just changes your life. On the other hand, information wants to be free, because the cost of getting it out is getting lower and lower all the time. So you have these two fighting against each other.”

(Wikipedia, Accessed 8/10/2013)

This is even truer today, as (re)creativity has been “democratized by affordable technology,” as Lessig states in Laws that Choke Creativity.  Lessig’s notion of (re)creativity struck a chord in my sensibilities.  I believe that the two ideas of economic gain from creative expression and the sharing of that creativity in order to create something new can peacefully co-exist, with the proper attention to common sense as pertaining to copyright law.  There will continue to be a marketplace and audience for creative works, even if another artist is inspired to create a new work that has its roots in the original work.  How barren our intellectual world would be if one were not allowed to ponder another’s ideas, and then expand upon and enhance those ideas with new opinions and perspectives. 

“If nature has made any one thing less susceptible than all others of exclusive property, it is the action of the thinking power called an idea, which an individual may exclusively possess as long as he keeps it to himself; but the moment it is divulged, it forces itself into the possession of every one, and the receiver cannot dispossess himself of it.” Thomas Jefferson, 1813

Tim Berners-Lee is another proponent of open access to information.  His examples of how people have taken data that is freely accessible and created useful mashups were inspiring.  Mashups are often used to create a dynamic visualization of data that is otherwise dense and difficult to understand in its raw format.  His TED Talk in this week’s assignment, along with Dr. Roland’s lecture on visualization of information, clearly illustrates many of the Web 2.0 principles we have discussed.  The increased participation of the information consumer in the creation of new and enhanced information is a prevalent feature.  Libraries can learn from Web 2.0 principles the lessons of open participation by users, rapid response to change, and facilitation of community through sharing, tolerance and trust.  In many cases, I think that libraries are held back by the technology delivered by their ILS vendors.  The software is often proprietary and built on an antiquated platform that does not encourage open access to the data.  Libraries have limited abilities to provide a more creative vehicle for information discovery.  As libraries move their information to open source solutions and cloud-based services with access to APIs, they gain the power to provide better tools for discovery, access, participation and (re)creation that their patrons have become comfortable with in the Web 2.0 environment.