First Monday August 2004

Dear Reader,

The August 2004 issue of First Monday (volume 9, number 8) is now available at
http://
firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_8/

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Table of Contents

Volume 9, Number 8 - August 2nd 2004

The devil you don't know: The unexpected future of Open Access publishing
by Joseph J. Esposito
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_8/esposito/

Abstract:
With the advent of the Internet and online publishing, the notion has arisen
that access to the world's
research publications could be made available to one and all for free,
presumably by shifting the
costs to other places in the value chain and disintermediating publishers, a
circumstance called Open
Access (OA) publishing. While there are many hopes embedded in this view
(lower costs, wider
access, etc.), it appears more likely that Open Access will come about not
through a revolution in the
world of legacy publishing, but through upstart media built with the innate
characteristics of the
Internet in mind. An unanticipated outcome of this situation will be that the
overall cost of research
publications will rise, though the costs will be borne by different players,
primarily authors and their
proxies.



Refuting objections to a Global Rural Network (GRNet) for developing nations
by Larry Press
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_8/press/

Abstract:
In a previous article, we suggested that it is now time to undertake a Grand
Challenge project:
providing Internet connectivity for every village in every developing nation.
Doing so would require
perhaps a decade and billions of dollars for design and planning, procurement,
installation and
operation. Critics object that such a project would not be worth the effort
and investment. This
article considers nine objections to such an undertaking.
	1.  	Internet connectivity would be nice, but it is not a high priority.
	2.  	Internet service has been offered in rural areas of developing nations,
and there is little
demand for it.
	3.  	There are no applications of interest or value to illiterate rural
people who do not speak
English.
	4.  	There is no sustainable business model.
	5.  	Developing nations lack the people and resources to do research.
	6.  	Even if the world community can justify sponsoring the research leading
to a concrete
backbone plan, developing nations cannot afford to implement it.
	7.  	Villagers cannot afford to use the network even if the backbone
transport and connection
are free.
	8.  	Developing nations cannot afford high-speed connectivity - low-cost
store-and-forward
technology is more appropriate technology for a poor, developing nation.
	9.  	We should focus on cities where there is already demand, not rural
areas.
We discuss each of these, and conclude with a brief outline of next steps.



Seeking an educational commons: The promise of open source development models
by Gary Hepburn
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_8/hepburn/

Abstract:
Schools are hindered by cost and flexibility problems as they try to obtain
resources such as software
and textbooks. Open source development processes are producing products that
can address many
of these problems and, as importantly, provide a better alignment with core
educational values.
Indeed, open source products potentially encourage the development of an
educational commons.



Who benefits from the digital divide?
by Brendan Luyt
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_8/luyt/

Abstract:
New information and communication technologies are seen as a potent source of
advancement for
many countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America and have increasingly
featured as topics of
discussion in international fora. Who benefits from the rapid rise of this
issue on the international
agenda? This article argues that the promotion of the digital divide as a
policy issue benefits four
major groups: information capital, developing country governments, the
development "industry," and
global civil society.



Ideology and policy: Notes on the shaping of the Internet
by by Katharine Sarikakis
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_8/sarikakis/

Abstract:
This paper considers some of the ideologies that are shaping Internet
policies. It addresses the
priorities of international policy initiatives and identifies their discursive
constructions. It takes stock
of some of the most characteristic policy directions that seek to define the
Internet and its uses
within an agenda of predominant privatisation.



E-learning and language change - Observations, tendencies and reflections
by by Henrik Hansson and Sylvia van de Bunt-Kokhuis
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_8/hansson/

Abstract:
This paper discusses the globalization of e-learning, changes in languages as
an effect of distance
technologies and the lingua franca of modern times, English, and its effects
on other languages.
Hybrid languages such as Spanglish (Spanish English) and Swenglish (Swedish
English) emerges as an
effect of the increasing interaction between non-English languages and the
dominant English
language. The need for speed and efficiency in communication and the
adaptation to new technology
changes language dramatically as is observed in chat and SMS-mediated
communication. The
complexity of modern human communication is discussed with a historical
perspective - the old
modes of communication can now be used via Internet but this transfer changes
their characteristics.


Book Reviews
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_8/reviews/

	Books reviewed

	Jeff Johnson. Web Bloopers: 60 Common Web Design Mistakes and How to Avoid
Them. San
Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann, 2003.

	Vincent Mosco. The Digital Sublime: Myth, Power, and Cyberspace. Cambridge,
Mass.: MIT
Press, 2004.

	John Philcox. Solaris 9 Network Administrator Exam Cram 2 (Exam CX-310-044).
London:
Pearson, 2003.

	Patti Shank and Amy Sitze. Making Sense of Online Learning: A Guide for
Beginners and the
Truly Skeptical. San Francisco: Pfeiffer, 2004.


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