University of Glasgow

Roderic Page

Paulo Nuin, not the biggest fan of [Mendeley](http:/www.mendeley.com)
wrote a blog post entitled [Mendeley is going to be open
source](http://blindscientist.genedrift.org/2010/08/27/mendeley-is-going-to-be-open-source/),
in which he wrote:  
  

> After extensively researching some material online, analysing many
> blog posts and statements made by people linked to Mendeley, checking
> my sources, I reached the conclusion that soon Mendeley is going to be
> open source.

  
Among the essays Paulo read is Jason Hoyt\'s post on the Mendeley blog:
[Dear researcher, which side of history will you be
on?](http://www.mendeley.com/blog/open-access/researcher-which-side-of-history/).
In response to a question about open sourcing the Mendeley client,
[Jason
replied](http://www.mendeley.com/blog/open-access/researcher-which-side-of-history/#comment-107022):  

> I get asked a lot about open sourcing Mendeley when I go to speaking
> events. I always state that we are open to the possibility, but then
> ask how many people know how to type a URL verus how many know how to
> program in C++? That's why we went with the Open API first instead of
> open sourcing the desktop software. If you can type a URL, which is
> what the API is based upon, then you can build on top of Mendeley. You
> don't need to know how to program.

  
Despite the fact that open sourcing the desktop client is the [second
most requested feature for
Mendeley](http://feedback.mendeley.com/forums/4941-mendeley-feedback), I
think Jason is right. I also think Paulo\'s [campaign to make Mendeley
open
source](http://blindscientist.genedrift.org/2010/08/27/campaign-were-open-mendeley/)
is misguided. The client doesn\'t matter. OK, yes, it\'s probably the
reason most people use Mendeley, but there are lots of competing clients
(EndNote, Zotero, Papers, etc.), and there are several bibliographic
data formats (RIS, EndNote XML, BibTeX) and essentially one document
format (PDF) that they support, so individual users don\'t have to worry
about locking their individual bibliographies into a proprietary format.
Couple this with the existence of an API (albeit a pretty crap one), and
whether an individual software client is closed or open source doesn\'t
matter much.  
  
**Will the data be open?**  
  
However, what makes Mendeley different is the aggregation of
bibliographic data (35 million references and counting).  
  

::: {style="text-align:center;"}
![privacy_1264073462.jpg](http://lh3.ggpht.com/_Gct8lVAxKqQ/THjVZZXV3JI/AAAAAAAAAuo/Z-uAO9ko1Og/privacy_1264073462.jpg?imgmax=800){border="0"
width="400"}
:::

  
  
I\'d argue it\'s the fate of this aggregation that matters. In a comment
on the Guardian\'s piece [Mendeley \'most likely to change the world for
the
better\'](http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2010/jul/05/mendeley-activate),
Jane Good
[wrote](http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2010/jul/05/mendeley-activate?showallcomments=true#CommentKey:af541d26-232f-49d3-a22d-ec7f104ca573):  

> \"World-changing potential\"? This utopian fantasy stuff is a little
> much, no? After all, we\'re talking about a for-profit corporation
> using closed-source software to monitor private usage habits for
> monetary gain. And how exactly is this company meant to sustain its
> millions of dollars of annual burn on a few measly storage
> subscriptions? At some point the data will have to go up for sale to
> the highest bidder, plain and simple. The API, as it exists now, does
> not provide access to that data, and it probably never will, right,
> DrGinn\[sic\]?

  
Toning down the rhetoric, the question is [Mendeley, Scopus, Talis --
will you be making your data
Open?](http://wwmm.ch.cam.ac.uk/blogs/murrayrust/?p=2576):  
  

> But how can a company create an income stream from Open Scientific
> content? That's the a question for me for this decade. If we can solve
> it we can transform the world. If however the linked Open data are all
> going to be through paywalls, portals, query engines then we regress
> into the feudal information possession of the past. I hope the
> companies present in this session can help solve this. It won't be
> easy but it has to be done. So I now ask Mendeley, Elsevier/Scopus,
> Talis: Are your data Openly available for re-use?

  
For me the question of whether the source code for the Mendeley desktop
will be made open source is a red herring, and ultimately a distraction
from the real question --- will the data be open?  


Paulo Nuin, not the biggest fan of Mendeley wrote a blog post entitled Mendeley is going to be open source, in which he wrote:Among the essays Paulo read is Jason Hoyt's post on the Mendeley blog: Dear researcher, which side of history will you be on?. In response to a question about open sourcing the Mendeley client, Jason replied:Despite the fact that open sourcing the desktop client is the second most requested feature for Mendeley, I think

On being open: Mendeley and open data versus open source

Cameron Neylon

Euan Adie has [asked for some
help](http://blogs.nature.com/wp/nascent/2009/02/user_generated_content_survey.html)
to do further analysis on the comments made on [PLoS
ONE](http://www.plosone.org/home.action) articles. He is doing this via
crowd sourcing through a [specially written app at
appspot](http://ploscomments.appspot.com/) to get people to characterize
all the comments in PLoS ONE. Euan is very good at putting these kind of
things together and again this shows the power of
[Friendfeed](http://friendfeed.com) as a way of [getting the message
out](http://friendfeed.com/e/fd730fe9-8e90-4d44-b02f-09e0cca7ad3b/Got-a-sec-If-you-can-read-and-understand-a/).
Dividing the job up into bite sized chunks so people can help even with
a little bit of time, providing the right tools, and getting them in the
hands of people who care enough to dedicate a little time. If anything
counts as Science2.0 then this must be pretty close.


Euan Adie has asked for some help to do further analysis on the comments made on PLoS ONE articles. He is doing this via crowd sourcing through a specially written app at appspot to get people to characterize all the comments in PLoS ONE. Euan is very good at putting these kind of things together and again this shows the power of Friendfeed as a way of getting the message out.

Rogue Scholar Beiträge

On being open: Mendeley and open data versus open source

Euan Adie asks for help characterising PLoS comments