Finally heard back from program manager. One piece of advice (which he didn't think was too important) was too remove references to "NSF" from the proposal (just in case someone there DID have a problem). Other than that, it was a green light and yellow light: (a) He strongly favors rapid publication of data resulting from public money & thinks science should be much more open than it is and (b) he's not sure that me posting my ideas in public is a good idea (risk of scooping). Thus, his only worry is effect on my lab. All very reasonable. I was impressed by the strong open science vibe I received from talking with him. - Steve Koch

Next step is trying to convince collaborators. I'm feeling huge mental block and nerves over doing so. Ick. - Steve Koch

Good luck with it! - Cameron Neylon

wish I could like this x10. - Maureen

Good luck Steve! I wouldn't expect NSF to care too much either way - but your collaborators will be a tougher sell - Jean-Claude Bradley

Ah, the every present but always intangible fear of being scooped. How much self-esteem is required to believe that every result you generate is in danger of being stolen by people hot on your trail? - Mr. Gunn

There is a parallel in the teaching world to scooping - people guarding their course materials like precious jewels that everyone is trying to steal. The reality is that now you can get for free pretty much any course content you want - even as recorded lectures by a quick Google search. Some people still think in terms of "hide or be robbed" while the reality is more "be open or be forgotten". - Jean-Claude Bradley

The case of course materials is an interesting one -- the teaching culture in general encourages sharing among members: sharing increases everybody's performance and is part of taking care of students. My colleagues and I frequently "plagiarize" each other (though we tell each other first). It's trickier if teachers feel that they should at least earn mention for their work, a desire that seems at odds with cultural expectations and behaviors of teachers. I think there is a good argument for some course material being sufficiently creative/innovative that the creator has earned the right to proper attribution; I am always grateful when an instructor leaves explicit permission to re-use work and, if necessary, options/instructions for doing so (see William Trochim of Cornell: http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/ or Miguel Roiq http://facpub.stjohns.edu/%7Eroig...). As more instructors make use of the web, there needs to be greater understanding of "ownership" and more thoughtful participation by teachers of how/whether they want their material attributed. I don't know how this dovetails with university rights, though -- do I have the right to declare my materials covered by creative commons? For myself, I am truly happy to have someone else use my material (due to get a major overhaul as I earned a modest faculty dev. grant for organizing my web stuff!), but I would also like some attribution for it. But I have not really said so anywhere -- perhaps it is a matter of simply requesting the courtesy, e.g. "Feel free to use these materials as you see fit for any non-commercial use; please include "adapted from xxxx" somewhere on your page"? - Mickey Schafer

Mickey - I've run into both types of cultures. Most of my colleagues who record lectures do not want to make them public - attribution is simply not enough for them to do it. But I have also run across a group who see the value in sharing. - Jean-Claude Bradley

I wonder if the differences can be accounted for by rank/position -- my circle of colleagues and I are all lecturers -- with PhDs, but on non-tenure tracks [I prefer the term "teaching track" but we are defined by what we don't do with respect to the university's research mission :-(] -- promotion is based on teaching success (stud. evals are part, but leadership, service, publication, innovation, etc also count) -- the culture that arises then is quite different than what might be expected of tenure-track/tenured research faculty who are accustomed to thinking of their material as uniquely their own. Personally, I've begun using the people here (FF, sci2.0) -- esp. Steve Koch -- as models for alternative visions of practice for my students heading into research while figuring out ways to help the teachers I work with/train to understand web-based professional promotion. - Mickey Schafer

Mickey that is an excellent point - the way researchers think about their research probably does overlap with how they think about their teaching materials. - Jean-Claude Bradley

Thanks, Mickey -- that is really great motivation for us to keep working towards these open science goals! :) - Steve Koch