"imagining a smithsonian commons" cil 2009 michael edson powerpoint

Imagining a Smithsonian Commons

Michael EdsonDirector, Web and New Media Strategy

Smithsonian Institution, Office of the CIOComputers in Libraries (CIL) 2009

Preamble• @mpedson, slideshare.net/edsonm,

smithsonian20.typepad.com, usingdata.typepad.com

• Beware…The opinions in this presentation are mine, not the official policy/strategy of the Smithsonian…

• We’re a little bird• …Darwin…Write this down so it doesn’t slip away• How is this good for you as…

– A technologist? (How can you help us do this?)– An enthusiast? A re-user? A citizen?

• Urgency, and courage

Preamble

Urgency and courage

A Model Institution

A Model Institution

VisitorsCustomers

CollaboratorsContributors

ChampionsCritics

Competitors

A Model Institution

What example shall we provide?

What example shall we provide?

A Model Institution

A return to the commons.

Democratize knowledge and innovationCreate a free and open commons

Act with urgency and verve

A Smithsonian Commons is good civics,good mission, and good business

A Model Institution

Relevance

What is a Commons?

A set of resources maintained in the public sphere for the use and benefit of everyone

What is a Commons?

What is a Commons?

The Anti-Commons…

What is a Commons?

An organized workshop where raw materials can be found and assembled into new things.

What is a Commons?“The public domain is not some gummy residue left behind when all the good stuff has been covered by property law. The public domain is the place where we quarry the building blocks of our culture.”

James Boyle

What is a Commons?

What is a Commons?

“Free resources are crucialto innovation and creativity”

Lawrence Lessig

What is a Commons?

“I’ve been giving away my books online ever since my first novel, and boy has it ever made

me a bunch of money.”

Corey Doctrow

What is a Commons?

Commerce and the Commons

What is a Commons?


Crazy…?

What is a Commons?


IBM$10M into patent commons

$500M value from $100M investment

What is a Commons?


“IBM provides a surprising example of how a large, mature company with an engrained proprietary culture

can embrace openness and self-organization as catalysts for reinvention.”

Wikinomics

What is a Commons?

Collaborative Model

What is a Commons?

Collaborative Model

“we are living in the middle of a remarkable increase in our ability to share, to cooperate with one another, and

to take collective action, all outside the framework of traditional institutions and organization …Getting the

free and ready participation of a large, distributed group with a variety of skills has gone from impossible

to simple.” Clay Shirky

What is a Commons?

What is a Commons?

The ascendance of free commons models

The erosion of proprietary models

A new way of organizing

Commons Examples

Commons Examples

Washington D.C. Data Catalog

http://data.octo.dc.gov/Main_DataCatalog.aspx

Commons Examples

The National Institutes of Health

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/

Commons Examples

“We were established by congress as a universal repository of human creativity and knowledge, and that includes vast amounts of items that are in the public domain. It is our mission to make those freely available, whether in the 21 reading rooms of the Library of Congress, or online.”

Library of Congress spokesman Matt Raymond

Commons Examples

Flickr Commons

Commons Examples

Flickr Commons Smithsonian end-user survey (opt-in, non scientific)

• 84% likely to reuse SI images•35% for school, 16% professional/personal

• 41% say they’ll reference from blog/web• 97% say they’re more likely to visit SI sites• 100% have more positive opinion of SI – emphatically so!

Commons Examples

Flickr Commons

8 views/month vs 2,000 views/month

Commons Examples

Flickr Commons

Commons Examples

MIT Open Courseware (OCW)

Commons Examples

MIT Open Courseware (OCW)“I was amazed that a university such as MIT would

freely give access to its educational information.”

Triatno Yudo HarjokoUniversity of Indonesia

Commons Examples


A more effective model than proprietary contracts

Commons Examples


Subbiah ArunachalamIndian National Knowledge Commission

1,100 new universities

Commons Examples


“Unlocking Knowledge, Empowering Minds…”No Registration Required.

Open Courseware Tag Line

Commons Examples

Common Characteristics• Free sharing of information• Licensing or permissions structure• Fluid institutional boundaries• Network effects

The Rise of the Commons

The Un-Common Institution


99% decentralized


A “thousand wildflowers…”


• Search and findability• Usability and branding• Web 2.0 patterns• Platform development/maintenance• Duplication of effort

Nobody would design a world-class institution like this!

Vexatious Phenomena

Vexatious Phenomena

Unexpected Rivals in Google Search

Google Images

Wikipedia

Ocean.com

Discoveryeducation.com

NASA

Enchantedlearning.com

Vexatious Phenomena

Unexpected Rivals in Reach


si.edu

discoveryeducation.com

ocean.com

Google ImagesWikipedia

Ocean.com

Vexatious Phenomena

Unexpected Rivals in Reach


si.edu

discoveryeducation.com

ocean.com

Vexatious Phenomena

Traffic Trending Down

Vexatious Phenomena

Brand Identity

http://www.brandtags.net/battle/leaderboard.php

http://www.brandtags.net/battle/index.php

Vexatious Phenomena

We’re competing with… everybody!

Vexatious Phenomena

We’re competing with… everybody!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNXahIoXMw8&feature=related

http://flickr.com/search/?q=spaceshipone&w=all

Vexatious Phenomena

The Demographic Tsunami

November 2007 data: Pew Internet and American Life Project

Vexatious Phenomena

The Demographic Tsunami“Everything we hear from people we interview

is that today’s consumers draw no distinctions between an organization’s Web site and their traditional bricks-and-mortar presence: both must be excellent for either to be excellent.”

Lee RainiePew Internet and American Life Project

Vexatious Phenomena

The Smithsonian Commons

So…How shall we advance the increase and diffusion of knowledge now…?


We’re a publicly funded institution with a civic mission


The nature of our mission


Scope of endeavors


Siloed operations


The model of the commons…


The model of the commons…Rise of social media


The model of the commons…Rise of social mediaRise of distributed collaboration


The model of the commons…Rise of social mediaRise of distributed collaborationRise of crowdsourcing


The model of the commons…Rise of social mediaRise of distributed collaborationRise of crowdsourcingRise of “free” business models


The model of the commons…Rise of social mediaRise of distributed collaborationRise of crowdsourcingRise of “free” business modelsShifting attitudes about content and brands


I assert that reshaping our digital identity around the concept of a Smithsonian Commons is the way to move forward—it’s the game changer: a low risk, high reward proposition that addresses the fundamental challenges of the Institution in terms of brand, audience, operations, speed, governance, integrity, education, research, revenue generation, leadership, and legacy.

I want to be a commons…

Don’t forget about us!!!

Thanks!

Michael EdsonDirector, Web and New Media Strategy

Smithsonian [email protected]

"imagining a smithsonian commons" cil 2009 michael edson powerpoint

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