Before all of us Librarians 2.0 get our undies in a bunch over what is perceived to be ALA/AASL's overly restrictive copyright protection of its student standards, maybe we ought to see if the rights to use other groups' "standards" are more permissive...
First, from AASL's Standards for the 21st Century Learner pdf booklet:
Permission to use, reproduce, and distribute this document is hereby granted for private, non-commercial, and education purposes only.
Seems pretty positive and friendly to me. But maybe others are more generous?
From the ISTE NETS website:
World rights reserved. No part of this may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system—without prior written permission from the publisher. Contact Permissions Editor, ISTE, 180 W. 8th Avenue, Suite 300 Eugene, OR 97401-2916 USA; fax: 1.541.302.3780; e-mail: permissions@iste.org or visit www.iste.org/permissions/.
Nope.
From the Partnership fo 21st Century Skills:
Permission for use of the Framework for 21st Century Learning or other information produced by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills must be made in writing with a clearly defined request and description of how the material will be used. Permission will be granted provided that the content remain unchanged and that attribution be given to the Partnership for 21st Skills. Please send all requests to eschmidt@eluminategroup.com
Not here either.
Understanding by Design materials are published by ASCD that states:
ASCD recognizes and respects intellectual property rights and adheres to copyright law. The following information will provide you with a better understanding of the rights ASCD exercises in all of its published content and how you can obtain permission for further use of ASCD publications for both academic and non-academic purposes.
Copyright Clearance Center, an authorized agent of ASCD, handles most permission requests to photocopy and for electronic use. However, some requests are handled by other divisions within ASCD, as indicated below.
All permission requests, whether directed to ASCD or Copyright Clearance Center, must be submitted in writing. Please note that using one of our online request forms to submit your request will result in the fastest response time.
Habits of Mind
All materials in the http://www.habits-of-mind.net Web site not specifically identified as being reprinted or secured from other sources are Copyright © 2000–2008 by Arthur L. Costa and Bena Kallick. Permission to download and make copies for classroom or community use is granted. Reproducing or distributing any material from this Web site for commercial use, however, must have written permission from the authors
OK, friendlier. But did you notice that nobody, nobody, puts their work into the public domain, free of any restrictions. (Even Creative Commons users often specify for "non-commercial" use only.)
I don't want to sound like an apologist for AASL, ISTE or other educational groups, but I've served on enough of their boards to know that finances are a real and ever present consideration to these NPO member organizations - national, international and state. Revenue generation generally comes from only a few major sources - member dues, conference profits, vendor sponsorship/donations, and publications. If revenue from one source drops, others, often membership dues, go up if the organization is to keep offering what it's been offering for member services. An ugly truth...
Chris Anderson's article (and now book) Free expressed the philosophy, hopes and perhaps wishful thinking of the "make everything available for nothing" school of business plans. But before you drink Anderson's Kool-Aid, read Malcom Gladwell's response to the concept in the NYT.
The "free" model will work, I'm sure, for some people, for some organizations, and for some purposes. But to date it is largely an untried model of putting bread on the table.
It's OK for my professional organizations to fiscally prudent as well as cuttin' edge and socially responsible.
My dues are high enough already.
Image source: http://jpsinteractive.org/blog/sarah-simkin/theft-knowledge-digital-world
Wednesday, July 22, 2009 at 08:50PM 
