A great move

J


-- James Heilman
From July to December 2015 I was a board member of the Wikimedia Foundation. My emails and posts, however, do not represent the official position of the WMF


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Note by moderator: Continue reading about the open access clause in SuSanA's vision documents here in this thread: forum.susana.org/forum/categories/10-gen...-all-rights-reserved

Just to update you all on this: The SuSanA secretariat has now modified the "imprint" pages of the SuSanA website to make it clear that all SuSanA publications and the SuSanA website content are open access. That's great!

It's been done in all three languages of the SuSanA website. Please check if it looks correct for you?
You find it at the bottom of the page here for

• English: www.susana.org/en/imprint
• French: www.susana.org/fr/mentions-legales
• Spanish: www.susana.org/es/pie-de-imprenta

The next step is to use the same text also at the end of all the SuSanA publications*, starting with the vision document which we actually have in 12 languages: www.susana.org/en/resources/library?sear...&vbl_24%5B625%5D=625

The text is like this in English (please check):

Copyright information

All SuSanA materials are available under the open access licence CC-BY SA . Proper acknowledgement of the source should always be given when materials are used.

This licence statement only applies to materials by SuSanA but not necessarily to documents and presentations by others that have been uploaded to the SuSanA library or SuSanA website. For those documents by others, please check their licence situation carefully before using them. In any case, always make sure you give proper acknowledgement of the source.

In French

Mentions de Copyright

Toutes les matériaux produits par SuSanA sont disponibles sous la licence d'accès ouvert CC-BY SA . La source doit toujours être mentionnée de façon appropriée lorsque l’un de ces documents des utilisé.

Cette déclaration de licence s’applique uniquement aux matériaux produits par SuSanA mais pas nécessairement à l’ensemble des documents et des présentations produits par d’autres organisations qui ont été téléchargés dans la bibliothèque ou sur le site de SuSanA. Pour utiliser les documents produits par ces organisations, merci de vérifier attentivement les droits de reproduction au préalable. Dans tous les cas, assurez-vous toujours de mentionner correctement la source du document.

In Spanish:

Información de derechos de autor

Todos los materiales de SuSanA se encuentran disponibles bajo la licencia de libre acceso CC-BY SA . Se debe proveer el reconocimiento apropiado de la fuente cuando esta sea usada.

La declaración de esta licencia solo aplica para los materiales de SuSanA pero no necesariamente para los documentos y presentaciones de terceros que han sido incluidos en la librería o el sitio web de SuSanA. Antes de utilizar cualquier material de terceros por favor revisar cuidadosamente la declaración de derechos de autor. En cualquier caso, asegúrese de dar el reconocimiento apropiado de la fuente.

Please help us by spotting any errors that might still be in the three texts if you are fluent in English, French or Spanish.

Regards,
Elisabeth


*All SuSanA publications can be accessed with a new filter in the SuSanA library. There are 51 of them:
www.susana.org/en/resources/library?vbl_...&vbl_24%5B625%5D=625

Plus the 86 SuSanA case studies (is it misleading that they don't come up when someone ticks the filter "Publications by SuSanA"?):
www.susana.org/en/resources/case-studies

... making it 137 SuSanA publications in total!

Excellent move

Dear all,

I just wanted to update you on the process regarding the issue of open access for SuSanA publications (Dorothee and Carol: thanks for your helpful inputs in this thread above this post).
We had a consultation round with the SuSanA core group and the clear consensus was that this is indeed a good suggestion.
Therefore, I am happy to announce that the licence of all SuSanA publications (past and future) will be one of open access: CC BY SA (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)

This means that the clause at the end of the SuSanA vision document, SuSanA factsheets, case studies and other SuSanA publications* will be:

All SuSanA materials are available under the open access licence CC-BY SA . Proper acknowledgement of the source should always be given when used.

Some pages of the SuSanA website will also be shown as being open access, in particular the new Wiki pages:
SuSanA Wiki Sanitation Portal

(but not the SuSanA library page as it contains documents by other people and organizations)

As you can imagine, it will take the secretariat a while to update all the pdf files and to check through with all the authors to see if there are any exceptions that need to be made (e.g. for certain images that were used in factsheets).

As an easy first step, the SuSanA vision document pdf file will be updated soon:
www.susana.org/en/resources/library/details/267

I think we should also make an announcement about this on Sanitation Updates at some point in the near future as it's quite a big step forward for better sharing and dissemination.

By the way, here is also a statement by Jack Sim (World Toilet Organization) on this topic that was received by e-mail on 15 June 2015:

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Open Access is the best way forward.
In this internet age, social development cannot be the exclusive domain when we want to solve an inclusive challenge like Sanitation.

Let people who wants to ask questions have a Concierge service to match them with the resources or if the authors are happy to allow direct access to their contact details you can do so.

Jack Sim
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Regards,
Elisabeth


* I want to stress one more time that this does NOT apply to the 1900 publications that are in the SuSanA library, but only to the 100 or so publications published by SuSanA.

** Icon made by www.freepik.com from www.flaticon.com is licensed under creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Adopting the CC BY SA open access designation for print and other documents seems to support the open source approach to technology which seems to be needed if workable, adaptable, marketable sanitation technologies are going to spread through the world. The « even commercial use » can support small training and information sharing businesses.

PHLUSH has long used this CC 3.0 Attribution Share-Alike.

The statement that seecon uses is very clear and strong. ://www.sswm.info/content/copyright-and-disclaimer-0 We should consider adopting it. (Hmmm. How would we cite that?)

We continue to emphasize that any materials we recommend are evidence-based or peer reviewed. We've always had irresponsible dry toilet building here in the US and this is something groups like our are pushing back against. Finding ways to cite our sources and showing others how to do it is essential.

Putting at least short form citations on every slide of a presentation makes sense. We'll recommend this as slide shows often take on a life of their own and circulate as pdfs. Similarly, photos, graphics and drawings get lifted by well-meaning people. I'd like ideas on ways to acknowledge photographers and artists within the image.

Yes, we (seecon) do support the open access licence type you suggest and we are also commonly using it (see e.g. www.sswm.info/content/copyright-and-disclaimer-0).
Based on my experience, there are two things to keep in mind in order to use this concept effectively:

* Make it easy for user to cite you (otherwise they won't do it ….) and remind users of adding citations when you see appearing your pictures and your content without an reference (this is particular important for information on technical issues where information quality insurance plays a role) - see e.g. www.sswm.info/content/copyright-and-disclaimer-0 (we realised that this is actually not such a effective way, bat a credits footer on every webpage is a minimal effort to undertake compulsory – to my opinion)

* Use a format, that is convenient for 1:1 reuse (in order to avoid alteration of the copied information…) such as PPTs, World Files, JPGs or Excel sheets and make sure that some informations on the authorship are contained in the metadata of the file (i.e. Filename)


Cheers, Dorothee

I would like to give you an update on this question. We discussed it in a core group meeting in March, and I put a memo together to the SuSanA core group members which was sent out by Trevor to the core group yesterday. The text of the e-mail is shown below. The responses from core group members are currently being collected (some my also wish to put their reply in this thread).

If you don't know who is in the SuSanA core group please see here:
www.susana.org/en/about/governance-structure/susana-core-group

So, please stayed tuned.

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Dear core group colleagues,

In our last core group meeting Elisabeth had made the proposal that SuSanA should move to an open access licence for its future (and past) publications. She promised to write a short memo so that you could think about this issue.

Please note that this memo is only about the publications by SuSanA, not about publications that you, as a SuSanA member might put out, like a journal article.
As a reminder: the SuSanA publications so far include:

• 13 SuSanA factsheets: www.susana.org/en/resources/library/details/1229
• 1 vision document: www.susana.org/en/resources/library/details/267
• 84 SuSanA case studies: www.susana.org/en/resources/case-studies
• 1 WASH in schools publication: www.susana.org/en/resources/library/details/2077
• 1 Synthesis report about sanitation ladder webinar: www.susana.org/en/resources/library/details/2220
• 1 Compilation of 25 case studies: www.susana.org/en/resources/library/details/1623
• 1 Standard set of powerpoint slides: www.susana.org/en/resources/library/details/1302

Overview of the Memo’s contents below
1. What is the difference between “free access” and “open access”?
2. What does the open access licence type allow people to do?
3. What is the advantage of “open access” for SuSanA publications?
4. What is the current licence term of SuSanA publications?
5. What would be the proposed new licence statement?
6. Should we use CC BY or CC BY SA as a licence type?
7. What link could we provide to explain our chosen licence type?
8. Who else has moved to open access?
9. Is it possible to make an existing publication open access, i.e. in retrospect?
10. What are added benefits for SuSanA?
11. What would be our next steps?
12. What do we need from you?

We would like from you an endorsement of this proposal. If by the 29 May 2015 we have a response from you with a “yes” or no answer we take this as an endorsement. Otherwise please write back before 29 May 2015 with the reason you object or raising your concerns.

If you have questions or concerns please e-mail Elisabeth (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or alternatively participate in the open discussion by sending an e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and your e-mail will then be moved to this thread where open access is already being discussed (i.e. this present one).

Kind regards,
Trevor and Elisabeth

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The memo

1. What is the difference between “free access” and “open access”?

The SuSanA publications are currently available as “free access” but not as open access. This means that anyone can download them from the internet, but they cannot easily build on them and they cannot use them for commercial purposes – such as courses where people pay a fee to attend. The difference between free access and open access is also explained here:
forum.susana.org/forum/categories/166-de...licies-cc-by-licence

2. What does the open access licence type allow people to do?

The proposed new open access licence type that we could use is called CC-BY SA which means (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/):

You are free to:
Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.

3. What is the advantage of “open access” for SuSanA publications?

• People could more easily utilise and adapt what they read in our publications in their own work.
• I (Elisabeth) first came across this issue through my work on Wikipedia pages. To use something in Wikipedia it is most helpful if it’s open access, in which case one can directly copy and paste (in reality, copying and pasting does not always work because the language has to be simplified for Wikipedia anyhow). Don’t worry, the source would always be acknowledged – in fact Wikipedia is very big on providing citations!
• Another example is the use in teaching and courses, where lecturers could more easily incorporate information that they find in our documents – this includes courses where people have to pay a fee to attend, i.e. potentially “commercial” activities
• It would generally mean that the content that we produce is more widely used, adapted and built upon.

4. What is the current licence term of SuSanA publications?

So far, the SuSanA publications are under a different kind of licence (at the time when this was set up, people were not yet familiar with the "open access" concept).On all SuSanA publications and in the Imprint of the SuSanA website it says (I have highlighted in red the parts that indicate that our current copyright statement is not open access):

© Sustainable Sanitation Alliance
All SuSanA materials are freely available following the open-source concept for capacity development and non-profit use, so long as proper acknowledgement of the source is made when used. Users should always give credit in citations to the original author, source and copyright holder.

The second sentence is in fact superfluous as it's just a repeat of the first sentence.

5. What would be the proposed new licence statement?

The proposed new licence statement at the end of each SuSanA document (and on the imprint of the website) would be:

All SuSanA materials are available under the open access licence CC-BY SA. Proper acknowledgement of the source should always be made when used.

6. Should we use CC BY or CC BY SA as a licence type?

James Heilman (Wikipedia administrator) advised that “You can use either CC BY or CC BY SA. I like the later one as it requires those who reuse your materials to also keep what they produce open access. CC BY however is what much of the publishing world uses.”

7. What link could we provide to explain our chosen licence type?

We could put this hyperlink behind the CC-BY SA):

www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Which means:

You are free to:
Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.

8. Who else has moved to open access?

Lots of organisations (especially many journals in the medical field in the US and UK) have moved to open access, but let me just give you two examples from the sanitation field:
ADB: www.adb.org/news/adb-adopts-open-access-...development-research
Gates Foundation: www.gatesfoundation.org/How-We-Work/Gene...n/Open-Access-Policy

9. Is it possible to make an existing publication open access, i.e. in retrospect?

Yes, ADB has for example done it with theirs:

“The open access website was launched today with more than 2,000 publications from ADB’s current publications and archive. It will eventually include the complete back catalog of ADB research—well over 5,000 publications—dating back to 1966, the year ADB was established.”(Excerpt from their website: www.adb.org/news/adb-adopts-open-access-...development-research)

James Heilman (Wikipedia administrator) also advised:
“We at Wikipedia years ago changed the license we use from GDFL to CC BY SA. We had a very large vote and with greater than 66% the license for all the text was changed. I am happy to put Elisabeth in touch with a lawyer at the "Creative Commons" if your group is wanting further guidance.”

10. What are added benefits for SuSanA?

We could make a nice announcement on all the available channels (Sanitation Updates, Twitter, etc.) and therefore generate renewed interest in existing SuSanA publications and demonstrate the open-ness and modern-ness of SuSanA. It could also mean that SuSanA, our work, ideas and vision will get better known – also outside of the inner circle of sanitation experts (e.g. via the work with Wikipedia).

11. What would be our next steps?

If a general agreement is reached in the core group, then we would inform all the authors of the existing factsheets and case studies of this intention to make these documents open access. We could give them 2-3 weeks to object. If they don’t object, then the licence statement on those documents will simply be changed to make them open access. If needed, images that are included in the documents can be treated separately from text. But most of the images are already available under open access licence in our flickr database. The documents with their new licence clause would then be replaced in the SuSanA library.

12. What do we need from you?

We would like from you an endorsement of this proposal. If by the 29 May 2015 we have a response from you with a “yes” or no answer we take this as an endorsement. Otherwise please write back before 29 May 2015 with the reason you object or raising your concerns.

There new license is CC BY

If you look at this link openaccess.adb.org/

and than click on one of the publications

openaccess.adb.org/handle/11540/2367

And click on the license you get

creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/

Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material
for any purpose, even commercially.

ADB's version is as follows:

ADB encourages printing or copying information exclusively for personal and noncommercial use with proper acknowledgment of ADB. Users are restricted from reselling, redistributing, or creating derivative works for commercial purposes without the express, written consent of ADB.

F H Mughal

We at Wikipedia years ago changed the license we use from GDFL to CC BY SA. We had a very large vote and with greater than 66% the license for all the text was changed. I am happy to put Elisabeth in touch with a lawyer at the "Creative Commons" if your group is wanting further guidance.

J

As for pictures under a separate non open access license: it is possible to state something like "all content, unless otherwise explicitly noticed, is available under the CC-by" and have a separate copyright notice in the caption of the photos.
But obviously having them available as open access too would be much preferable.

Dear Elisabeth,

I am fully on board with open access.I agree that in the old version the second sentence was technically redundant. However, I could also see how people think it is a good idea to gently remind people of acknowledgements.

I would suggest something like:

"All SuSanA materials are available under open access license (CC-BY).
Feel free to use any of the information, but acknowledge this document as the source."

The CC-BY bit, could me made to be the hyperlink. As long as the link is static and will not break if a version 4.0 comes out.

Regards

Marijn