Open Publishing

As per usual, Tim O'Reilly is making a strong case. This time it's in favor of thinking about the complexity of free. He's specifically applying his thinking to the world of publishing and noting that he's successfully monetized the attention from free content to:

• Sell books;
• Establish a topic as relevant and credible to then sell books;
• Sell tickets to events, the interest for which was generated by free content.

I've embedded the video below. In the beginning he outlines a role for publishers that is both dead on and inspiring.


Tim O'Reilly makes the argument for Open Publishing @ TOC 2009 from Open Publishing Lab @ RIT on Vimeo.

Medpedia and Incentive to Author

Just learned about a site called Medpedia.com that is intended to be both a deeper dive than Wikipedia provides on a medical topic and infrastructure for social networking, group forming, and discussions in the medical areas. The site is well organized and divides messaging and interfaces for laypersons, medical professionals, and organizations. For example, every article has a view in "Plain English" and a view in "Clinical" language that clearly draws the line between laypeople and those familiar with the medical vernacular.

Of special interest is that Medpedia has taken the stance that it presents an authorship and professional development opportunity for doctors and biomedical professionals. For example, see the various ways they are building recognition into their system and messaging.

This is a site to learn from.