The Need to Characterize Open Content Projects

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. The Need to Characterize Open Content Projects
John Concilus has managed to capture in words a general unease I was unable - or too delicate - to state myself: "I think that right at this very moment there are many, many smart people trying to find ways to make money from the public funds channeled through grants to non-profits, NGO and other non-commercial organizations. Open Content projects are perfect candidates." This leads, he says, to a need for a discussion of just what constitutes Open Content. because on the one side there are 'open content' projects that are very closed from the perspective of potential contributors - some of the ManyOne Networks projects (the 'expert' alternatives to Wikipedia) allow participation by invitation only. While others - he cites Rice's Connexions - allow anybody to create content, and allow the marketplace. More...