More Related Content Similar to Tracking session univ of notts2 (20) 1. Tracking the use of OERs
Open Nottingham Seminar, University of
Nottingham
7th July 2011
Executive summary:
Why bother tracking: its impossible isn’t it?
Yes, short of adding viruses to OERs – but
there are some things we can try now.
© Rob Pearce, Loughborough University.
2. Benefits of tracking OER usage
• funders to measure the value and direction of
their activities
• Creators can have something more tangible
than “number of downloads”
• potential re-users of an OER can discover
similar works, or to see the 'family tree' of the
resource.
• Seeing the „provenance‟ or history of an OER
can add value and credibility to it and may
generate serendipitous discoveries
© Rob Pearce, Loughborough
University.
3. …OER projects
We are 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.
• JISC/HEA Phase 1 OER project released 360 credits of Engineering
related OERs (inc. lots of images)
5. The plan…
• Create a simple tracking method that
could be easily attached to the majority of
OERs
• Release some test OERs with tracking
codes and monitor online progress (if any)
© Rob Pearce, Loughborough
University.
6. Tracking Method
• System had to be as quick and simple to use as OERs
themselves
• Not draconian but users/re-users had to be motivated to
support it
• Not technically complex – text format – easy to add to most
things
• no central regulatory agency (e.g; DOI) or bureaucracy – slow
and expensive (and so not recession proof?)
• potential re-users of an OER can discover similar works, or to
see the 'family tree' of the resource, just by clicking a link.
• Completely new codes must be easy to create by anybody
• Don‟t expect perfection – OERs are about relaxing control, not
tightening it and this is an unregulated system
© Rob Pearce, Loughborough University.
7. Tracking Method
Each Resource should be allocated a code in the following format:
man:240265:rh4xs
man: An (optional) three letter name, no vocabulary, could
be “oer”, “Joe”, “man” (Manchester), oxf (Oxford) etc. If not used remove
the colon that comes after it (a-z, 0-9, A-Z)
240265: the date of the creation or release of the OER in the form DD/MM/YY
rh4xs: a unique 5-letter code, allocated by the project. (a-z, 0-9)
This code would be added to the copyright citation, e.g;
© Poppleton University (ppl:240265:rh4xs) or
© ppl:240265:rh4xs or © 240265:rh4xs
© Rob Pearce, Loughborough
University.
9. How to generate a new unique
code for new OERs.
• If an author doesn't wish to link a new work with any
existing materials contained a new code can 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
resource. 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.
© Rob Pearce, Loughborough University.
© luf:240200:l0002
10. 22 Example Engineering releases
Profile board
© luf:131010:L0014
Yagi antenna system.
© rcp:140510:a0001
Using a dummy frame
© luf:131010:L0012
© Rob Pearce, Loughborough
University.
OER logo
© luf:240111:L0047
11. 29 general images
© rcp:051010:a0021
© rcp:251010:a0029
© rcp:051010:a0024
© rcp:051010:a0013
© Rob Pearce, Loughborough University.
12. 83 results
Fig. 1. An example image released
via the project including a copyright
tracking code. © rcp:140510:a0001
15. Advantages
• (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, Jorum.
© Rob Pearce, Loughborough
University.
16. The future..
• Tracking of OER usage and derivative works and
the ability to easily generate a family tree of
related resources by just using a tamed Google
search
• An indirect way of linking people with similar
interests and areas of expertise
• Usage and reusage data
• How a code propagates
(or doesn‟t), can provide
insights into community
needs and understanding of
proper copyright citation
practices
© Rob Pearce, Loughborough
University.
© luf:240200:l0001
