Rob Pearce presentated at JISC CETIS Conference, Nottingham 2010…Locate, Collate and Aggregate and what I’m doing at the moment #Cetis10lca

1. …Locate, Collate and Aggregate and what I’m
doing at the moment
Rob Pearce, Loughborough University
rob@engsc.ac.uk (rpearce247@yahoo.com)
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2.  OER Pilot release (Phase1)
 DOB codes
 Prototype Aggregated Search
 OER lo-carbon collections
(Phase 2)
 Continuation of DOB code
application
 Multiple OER consultancy roles

3. http://www.engsc.ac.uk/oer

4. • This project will investigate and surface open
educational resources currently in use over a
range of engineering and related subjects
supporting the crucial issue of sustaining a
low carbon economy.
• technical and non-technical teaching
materials, energy efficiency, sustainable
development, renewable energy technology,
waste minimisation, human issues and social
responsibility, product lifecycle, total cost of
ownership and recycling, low carbon
transition for business and education, ethics
and embedding sustainability into the
curriculum.
http://www.engsc.ac.uk/oer/engineeri
ng-a-lo-carbon-future

5. • Stuff on the Internet isn’t described clearly enough and searchers don’t
really know what it is they want – so let’s stop worrying about it.
• It’s my first search system with a ‘philosophy’ rather than a muscular
search algorithm. It’s taken me 12 years to finally accept a little
rectangular search box is too thin a passageway to transfer our complex
aspirations to even the most sentient super-computer search engine.
• NARD – not another resource database – keep it distributed

6. • web site with a collection of linked, expert selected resources enhanced
by a dynamic search system employing real-time data interchange
aggregation of related resources from online services, ensuring the
collection remains up-to-date and connected to the broader community
of practice.
• NARD – not another resource database – keep it distributed
• Features- keep results sets to manageable sizes, “banking facilities”
enhance serendipity , commenting facilities
• will provide re-syndication services such as remote embedding of search
facilities using established technologies such as RSS to raise awareness.

7. We are also working with :
• Business, Management, Accountancy & Finance (BMAF) Subject
Centre - Open for business accredited courses
• Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism (HLST) Subject Centre &
BMAF - 2012: Learning Legacies
• University College Falmouth. Accredited Course 30 credit,
postgraduate module that introduces and builds awareness of IPR
and copyright within course design and development.

8. For the example image in Figure 1, above this Google
search for the code, http://xrl.in/6fri returns the image
on Flickr where it was originally posted, the second entry
shows the image reused on another website.
•As well as drawing together material the collection will
provide re-syndication services such as remote
embedding of search facilities using established
technologies such as RSS to raise awareness.
Fig. 1. An example image released
via the project including a copyright
tracking code. © rcp:140510:a0001
luf:020710:l0000
http://icesculpture.wordpress.com/ma
ke-evolved-oer-discoverable/

9.  Including a dob code in the copyright citation of an
Open Educational Resource (OER) means potential re-
users of an OER can discover similar works, or to see
the 'family tree' of the resource, just by clicking a link,
e.g:
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=140510:a0001
 Re-users or creators of derivative works would benefit
new users, themselves, and ancestral authors by
continuing this linkage as they evolve the material.
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10.  Though not guaranteed, propagation of the code becomes a
simple part of the legal obligation of the user or re-user of the
material under all the Creative Commons (CC) licenses, thus
linking all works incorporating parts or all of the original work
together.
 Due to the penetration and ubiquity of Google’s search tool the
need for a custom resolver service is dispensed with.
(Particularly as Open Resources should be discoverable by
normal means to be properly “open”)
 By adding a Google search URL into the original OER where
possible, perhaps on the legal disclaimer page or the
introductory text in the case of documents e.g
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=240265:rh4xs
 a click on that link will bring up all visible online linked and
derivative works as well as metadata if the resource is cited in a
open repository, for instance, JorumOPEN.

11. • Crap metadata
• Wobbly APIs
• Lack of a shared goal with commercial providers
• Sustainability without curation from the Sub. Centre post-
closedown

12.  Serendipity can you/should you force it?
 Tracking methodologies – DOB Codes?
Cookies? Benign Viruses? Student spies?
Departmental Audits? Penalties for not
OERing?

13.  Provide services to improve metadata quality
 Continue to make sure UK HE remains at the
forefront of practice
 Find ways to simplify and de-technify the
work in order to engage with more people.
 In lean times provide or finance innovative
development work
End of this presentation – epilog is more on DOB codes…

14.  Its not terribly important the code evolves at all. It is sufficient that derived
materials just cite any codes from other materials used because of the legal
obligation of the re-user to do so. Linking all works incorporating other works is
then straightforward. The judgement on whether a derivative work is a significant
departure from the original work(s) to be a new treatment cannot be policed once
“out in the wild”, and any attempt to do so would soon “choke” this approach.
However if this is decided the following happens:
 Any major new work, whether it contains other original works, (and thus still
incorporates the codes) or is a new treatment or merely related to other works by
subject, can be linked to another existing work (and thus its ancestors) by deriving
a new code from one of the existing ones. To get a new code, make a new 3-letter
name and date part of the code, keeping the unique code at the end and adding
the whole new code to the copyright citation of the new work.
 To support this idea the “legal page” of each resource resource could include:
 “It might help other users to find your work if you reference others. If the
copyright of related material contains a code, e.g. man:240205:rh4xs keep the
last bit of the code, change the date part to your release date (dd/mm/yy), then
choose your own 3-letter code at the start. Then add it to your copyright
declaration.”
 But the unique part of the code will ensure the linkage remains and can be
discovered and this “folkhierarchy” can be presented as optional information by
any service resolving this information.

15.  If an OER is new or the author doesn't wish to
link a new work with any existing materials
contained within, a new code should be created.
Choose your own 3-letter code add the
anticipated release date and search as below on
Google with a plus sign prepended:
 +tom:030504
 if nothing comes back citing this code then
create a new 5-letter code of your choice, e.g;
“a0000″ and append it to your resourse. If the
search returns a positive result, either make up a
new 5-letter code and check for that appended
to the previous search, or start again.

16.  This isn’t a resource discovery method: there
are plenty of ways of doing this already, :
Google, Jorum, EngSC, Maths Centre. This is
about linking and following usage of released
OERs.
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17.  http://icesculpture.wordpress.com/make-
evolved-oer-discoverable/
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