Providing a sweeping millennium-plus history of the learned book in the West, John Willinsky puts current debates over intellectual property into context, asking what it is about learning that helped to create the concept even as it gave the products of knowledge a different legal and economic standing than other sorts of property.Willinsky begins with Saint Jerome in the fifth century, then traces the evolution of reading, writing, and editing practices in monasteries, schools, un...

A comprehensive proposal for reforming copyright law to ensure sustainable public access to research and scholarship.Open access is widely supported by researchers, librarians, scholarly societies, and research funders, as well as large and small publishers. Yet despite this support—and the pandemic’s demonstration of the importance of open access for scientific progress—the scholarly publishing market is failing to deliver open access quickly enough. In Copyri...

What is the meaning of a word? Most readers turn to the dictionary for authoritative meanings and correct usage. But what is the source of authority in dictionaries? Some dictionaries employ panels of experts to fix meaning and prescribe usage, others rely on derivation through etymology. But perhaps no other dictionary has done more to standardize the English language than the formidable twenty-volume Oxford English Dictionary in its 1989 second edition. Yet this most Victorian o...

Originally published in 1990. This book examines the innovative programs that changed the way reading and writing was taught during the previous ten years. Both teacher and critic of the New Literacy programs, the author gives a perspective that allows educators, parents, and other readers to assess the promise of these programs. Examining the work of educators from the USA, UK and Canada, he compares programs from first grade to college that foster a new level of literate engagement and v...

In If Only We Knew John Willinsky uses current social issues and historical precedents to demonstrate that the social sciences can and should contribute far more to public knowledge than they have in the past. We have the technologies, Willinsky demonstrates, and need only the determination to create a public resource out of social research that can extend democratic participation and self-determination, as well as improve research's focus and public support. If Only We Knew offers example...

El Programa SciELO fue creado a finales de la década de 1990, cuando la idea de acceso gratuito a contenidos académicos comenzó a ganar impulso, incluso antes de que se acuñara el término "acceso abierto". En aquel momento, el acceso a las publicaciones académicas era limitado y costoso, restringido a las bibliotecas universitarias y a las colecciones a las que estaban suscritas. Con la aparición de la World Wide Web, el acceso electrónico a la información académica se hizo prácticamente p...

O Programa SciELO foi criado no final da década de 1990, quando a ideia do acesso livre ao conteúdo acadêmico começou a ganhar força, antes mesmo que o termo “acesso aberto” tivesse sido cunhado. Naquela época, o acesso a publicações acadêmicas era limitado e dispendioso, restrito às bibliotecas universitárias e às coleções que elas assinavam. Com o surgimento da World Wide Web, o acesso eletrônico à informação acadêmica se tornou viável, permitindo uma disseminação mais ampla e rápida das...

The SciELO Program was created in the late 1990s when the idea of free access to scholarly content began to gain momentum, even before the term "open access" had been coined. At that time, access to academic publications was limited and costly, restricted to university libraries and the collections they subscribed to. With the emergence of the World Wide Web, electronic access to academic information became practically possible, allowing for wider and faster dissemination of scientific pub...