On 10th October a community from across the nation
will come together to look at the issue of grey literature under the theme of
enhancing the transparency and accessibility of informally published research
and information. I encourage you to attend to discuss the demise of
government publications and the effect of this on transparency of government
policy and decision making, amongst other issues.
There will be many presentations on a range of grey literature
issues.
My presentation will focus on government publications.
So what is happening with government publishing? A few key
points:
· Government
publications have reduced by approximately 50% in the past decade
· 90%
of government publications are online, around 10% are not (Australian National
Audit Office on online availability of government documents tabled in the
Parliament)
· Analysing
the online publications of an agency produced in 2001 reveals that
approximately a third are “digital dust”
· Dynamic
data, which used to be published permanently in print, is now overwritten and
historic material is no longer available
· Finding
publications is onerous and exhausting.
· Rights
management is complex and confusing for anyone seeking to reuse materials. The
gamut of Creative commons licences and Crown Copyright are used – we do not yet
have truly open access.
All in all there is much to discuss and seek change in to
delivery on the government’s promise of open and transparent policy and
decision making. Do come along for a challenging and stimulating conversation!
http://eidos.org.au/v2/documents/grey_lit/GreyLiterature_NCS_2012_Brochure.pdfRoxanne Missingham
ANU
