Good Intentions report

I *finally* got around to finishing reading this report:

Good Intentions: improving the evidence base in support of sharing learning materials by Lou McGill, Sarah Currier, Charles Duncan, Peter Douglas (December 2008). Available at http://ie-repository.jisc.ac.uk/265/

It makes very interesting, hopeful reading for those of us keen on truly sharing our learning materials, improving the quality of IL RLOs and reducing duplication of effort. The report looks at how sharing takes places and learning from the good practice that's out there in the RLO/repository community. The authors focus on different models that are particularly successful, including the subject-based sharing model and the open sharing model.

The subject-based model is of interest to us in libraries as the authors explain that disciplines with a strong professional identity (librarians) and shared curricula (we're all teaching referencing, plagiarism, evaluation of information and search strategies at least) are more successful than, say, institutional sharing models.

They conclude that evolving attitudes to IPRs (Creative Commons etc, Open Jorum) and technology (Web 2.0 sharing tools) mean that sharing is becoming more widespread. The report also includes some really useful tables and business model charts.