Creating the Information Commons for e-Science: Introductory Remarks to the Workshop

Abstract

"References to the 'digital commons' and the 'information commons' now abound, evoking in allusive, metaphoric terms the idea of a sphere of common use rights. To what does 'the common' refer? Most simply, we understand a common' to constitute a collectively held and managed resource to which access by cooperating parties is open (though perhaps limited as to extent or use), and subject to minimal transactions costs."