Wheeler Declaration compliance: Draft evaluation grid

This is the first draft of the evaluation grid. Comments will be progressively integrated in the text (and then deleted).

To add a comment, please select the relevant part of the text with your mouse and then clic on the "Add" tab on the left of this page.

Note: several comments by Ignasi Labastida have been merged with the original text.

1. The research the University produces is open access;

Is there an institutional repository (IR) open to the public? 

Does a mandatory deposit policy exist? 

-- If there is mandatory deposit, which % of articles enjoys any kind of exceptions (i.e. it is not available in the IR for any reason)? 

-- If there is no mandatory deposit, but an IR is provided, which % of articles is available? (rough) 

-- If there is no mandatory deposit, which % of articles is available in self-archiving? (rough) 

-- If there is no mandatory deposit, are there policies promoting self-archiving (e.g. on the researchers' home page, etc.)? 

--- If there is a policy promoting self-archiving, what kind of incentive does it provide? 

If an IR exists, articles are available only in PDF format, or even in a full-text editable version? 

-- If an editable version is available, in which format(s) are articles available? (DOC, RTF, HTML, ODT, etc.) 

- Are there journals published by the University?

-- If so, are they Open Access?

-- Is there any tool as OJS (Open Journal Systems is a journal management and publishing system)?

-- Is there any policy on data (i.e. on the dissemination of databases used to produce the articles)?

2. The course materials are open educational resources;

- Is there an  institutional repository (IR) of course materials?

-- If yes, is the IR open to the public? 

--- If yes, which % of courses is covered by the publicly visible repository? 

--- If not, are there policies promoting self-archiving (e.g. on the professors' home page, etc.)? 

---- If there are similar policies, what kind of incentive does they provide?

-- Is there any portal as an Open Courseware (i.e. a repository containing also lectures and not only studying materials)?

--- If so, which % of courses are there (i.e. within the Open Courseware)?

--- Which licenses are used for the material within the Open Courseware?

- Is there any policy on textbooks published by the University or the University Press?

3. The University embraces free software and open standards;

Are there courses teaching programming using open source environments? 

Is there a policy of the University to promote free software and open standards? 

% of workstations with GNU/Linux (or other open source) operating system within the University? 

% of dual boot workstations (GNU/Linux and other commercial operating system) in your University? 

If workstations are based on proprietary software, please specify: 

-- Is Firefox (or another free browser) the default browser? % 

-- Is Thunderbird (or another free mail client) the default mail client? % 

-- Is OpenOffice (or another free office suite) the default office suite? % 

-- Is Apache (or other free web server) the default web server for the University's web sites? % 

At administrative level, does the administration use open document standards (e.g. ODT, but also RTF)? 

In communication with students, does the administration use open standards? 

In communication with professors and lecturers, does the administration use open standards? 

In external relations, does the administration use open standards? 

- Platforms or programs used for:

-- learning (virtual campus)

-- repository

-- website

- Are there user groups on FLOSS?

-- Do they have any institutional support?

- Institutional support in general: Investment on FLOSS, use and sharing of tools?

4. If University holds patents, it readily licenses them for free software, essential medicines, and the public good.

Is there an explicit intellectual property (IP) related policy (e.g. a patent related regulation, an internal patent office and/or committee, etc.)? 

If not, is it possible to reach some representatives of the University to have a declaration about the following points? 

Does the University IP policy discourage software patents? 

Does the University IP policy allow exclusive licenses? 

Does the University IP policy provide for the grant of royalty-free patent licenses for free software? 

Does the University IP policy provide for the grant of royalty-free patent licenses for essential medicines?

Is there any statement in the patent regulation of the university making reference to the the grant of royalty-free patent license for the public good, social welfare or similar goals? 

-- If yes, please be more specific... 

-- Is there any reference to the ready licensing of patents when they block subsequent innovations? 

5. The University network reflects the open nature of the Internet.

Are there applications which are freely usable on the Internet, but forbidden (and/or technically blocked) within University network? 

Which applications are forbidden (and/or technically blocked)? Please give examples: / Mail clients (POP/IMAP)? VOIP-based applications (Skype, Ekiga, etc.)? 

Are there any free Internet applications which are controlled/restrained on the University network? 

Are student traffic data (or data of other non-employees) logged or otherwise stored/recorded? 

If yes, what kind of log files are kept? 

How long are these logs kept? 

 

Other comments

[Ignasi Labastida:] Beside the 5 items from the Wheeler Declaration:

- Is there a policy on disseminating the university archives including old documents in the public domain through repositories or institutional portals?

- Is there any unit within the internal structure devoted to these issues?

Notes

Please, notice that – apart from deciding which questions should compose the grid – there are specific issues concerning (at least): 

- - the quantitative definition of answers (absolute numbers; percentages; etc.); 

- - the aggregation of specific “scores” in order to provide a unique aggregate index describing the performance of a university with respect to each point of the Declaration.