Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
A recent trend is the “open access” movement whereby an author or collabora-
tion of authors submits their report to a repository, perhaps on their own campus.
The repository provides open access to the report, and the authors may have the
option of publishing in a journal as described above.
A newspaper or other mass-media outlet has in place a similar review process
before a story is published, aired, or placed on a webpage. An editor reviews the
report by the reporter or staff writer, and with the concurrence of the managing ed-
itor assigns the story to a place in the newspaper so that it can be mass-produced.
A television news reporter, like a newspaper reporter, covers stories assigned by
an editor. Similarly, a news director selects stories that are aired. Most newspapers
and radio and television news outlets now post stories and supplementary inform-
ation on their Web sites and may send brief reports via social media.
In the example of an individual who assembles information and posts an entry
on a Web site, on a blog, or on social media, the mere posting of the information
results in “mass production” of the information. The posting can be done quickly
from one's home computer or while traveling and using a laptop or tablet computer
or smart phone.
Note that scholarly and popular news media have in place an editing or content
screening process. However, technological advances have reduced the cost of
mass production so that desktop publishing and Internet publishing enable in-
dividuals to mass-produce vast quantities of information without benefit of the
screening that has been a common feature in the past. As a result, it is much easier
for unauthenticated information to be mass-produced, and one's opinions can be
easily disseminated for a large audience at little cost.
It is at this reproduction stage that copyright is determined. Copyright is the leg-
al protection granted by U.S. law to creators of publications, music, video and au-
dio productions, and works of art. This protection is available to both published (du-
plicated) or unpublished works, and it gives the creator the right to reproduce the
work, issue derivatives of the work, sell or lease the work, and to display the work
publicly. The author or creator of a work may also give permission to others to use
or reproduce the work. Copyright is an important information policy that protects
those engaged in the process of creating new information in any format. Recent
changes in copyright are discussed in Chapter 5.
Dissemination
After reproduction, information can be distributed to a vast audience. Techno-
logy has created new channels for the dissemination of information more quickly
and more cheaply than ever before.
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