Sarah Whitcher Kansa
From apc.au wiki
For Growing the Global Information Commons (commissioned paper) and Nailing The Commons (micro-doc).
day02 - Clip 044
APC: What in your understanding are the commons?
Sarah Kansa: In my understanding the commons are global community of people and groups who are trying to share with each other are finding ways to share their ideas, their heritage, their information.
APC: Is there a difference between the information and knowledge commons?
Sarah Kansa: I don't particularly see a difference, no, between information and knowledge. In my organisation we're doing sharing of cultural heritage information and I would actually equate that with knowledge and knowledge creation.
APC: Which issues do you see with the commons and the work to be done around them?
Sarah Kansa: I think communication, identifying the needs of users and of people who are seeking knowledge or information and who are sharing it. I think trying to identify the needs of the consumers and then being able to make information accessible is probably one of the most important things... I think translation is a good term to use that, whether you're translating languages or translating information there's so many cultural factors that you have to take into account when you're trying to share information you can't just put it out there, it takes a lot of work to put it out there and to make it actually intelligible to different people and put it into their context of where they're seeing it from.
APC: In your experience have you come across any groups or regions, particularly developing regions, that require a specific approach in terms of the commons?
Sarah Kansa: I think there's a huge challenge in the part of the world that doesn't have access to the internet and to digital information. So, in my work with sharing heritage information, yeh, there's a huge challenge with much of the developing world that, you know, we're talking about Creative Commons licenses and how do you get your content online and people are asking us, can you give us a digital camera because we don't have the tools to use, to even start doing it.
APC: If it were up to you, what would you start with?
Sarah Kansa: I think trying to look at the needs of different communities and package resources so that they can do what they want with their heritage, with their information. Not imposing, sort of, you should be doing this to them, but actually offering the tools so communities can do things on their own, in their own way, and can share what they want to share in their own way.
