[OSCOM] New member intro. Hat in the ring.

Hi all - 
I'm one of that list of new members Paul sent out earlier. A few of you
may remember me as a speaker at OSCOM 3. Since then, I've mostly lurked
here on the list. I'm an academic: a research scientist at Rice
University, (Houston, TX) and a core developer on Connexions
(http://cnx.org) a leading site in the Open Education movement.

I'd like to throw my hat in the ring for a board seat. I'm a regular
guy, married, two kids (2 years and 5 weeks! old), teach Aikido on the
side (o.k., not so regular, there.) The unique thing I think I would
bring to this board is an emphasis on what the needs of users of OSCMSes
rather than those of developers.

As a large-scale user of an OSCMS in an academic environment, I think
that an organization like OSCOM has a role, and and important part of
that role is interoperability. One of the distinguishing features of
Open Source, from the users perspective, is that it lets me own my own
data: I'm not tied to the proprietary closed binary formats of someone
who's long term interests may run counter to my own. In that light,
"OS"COM should focus on that Openness: provide a framework for
developers of OSCMS to know about standards and implement
interoperability of features, including both import and export of not
only content but also other metadata. This should extend beyond
import/export to true interoperation, choosing existing standards where
possible, creating them if necessary.

In academ, interop. is a constant problem. Unlike the typical corporate
world, there is no way to set a 'corporate standard' or convert from one
platform to another. It is the very role of professors to be
iconoclasts, to try out new things, or cling to old things. In addition,
collaboration across institutions (across the world) within a discipline
is often even more critical than across campus. Having OSCMSes 'just
work' together would be a big win for all of us.

Ross
-- 
Ross Reedstrom, Ph.D.                                 reedstrm-OhmvVRJSr/[email protected]
Research Scientist                                  phone: 713-348-6166
The Connexions Project      http://cnx.org            fax: 713-348-3665
Rice University MS-375, Houston, TX 77005
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