Scholarly Communication in a Digital World: A Thought Provoking Symposium To Celebrate the World-Wide Launch of DSpace

MIT Libraries Director Ann Wolpert defines Dspace and explains that "solving the digital problem" is central to the mission of libraries and librarians. She also announces plans for a federation with other research based universities, and explains the critical role of the H-P MIT Alliance. Hal Abelson discusses the dangers of massive "propertization" in academic environments. He offers some chilling, real-world examples of what can happen if all content in academic discourse is seen as "property", and how a student's class notes can become a derivative work, with restrictions on sharing. He argues that universities need a "seat at the table" as new models for scientific publishing take shape.