Thing #21 – Document Sharing

WHAT

Document sharing online. We’ll also explore creative commons and attribution some more.

With Scribd and Slideshare you can upload, share, read, print and download documents of all kinds. Word documents, pdf files, PowerPoint presentations and other documents may easily be shared with the click of a button. Scribd and Slideshare are also social networking sites because you can connect with other users by “following” them and rating or commenting on their uploaded documents.

Sharing doesn’t always come for free, as we learned in Thing #20. Creative Commons is an amazing evolution in copyright, but it does not magically erase the need for proper citation and ethical use.

In Thing #20 you learned a little about proper citation of Creative Commons works. Below are a couple of examples you can follow. You would replace the underlined text with specific works and authors you are attributing.

If you’re reproducing the work:

Name of an Original Work by Author’s Name, licensed under Creative Commons License Type

If you’re modifying the work:

This Name of the Modified Work is based on Name of an Original Work by Author’s Name, licensed under Creative Commons License Type

At the very least, you should provide links to:

The place where you found the work
The exact license type

Also, the CC license type should be linked to the web page that describes the specific license type in the CC site, like we’ve done in the side bar. You can see that our formatting is a little different, and that is OK because all of the information is there!

WHY

Document sharing, like image sharing, is a perfect example of how the web can be used to create communities and encourage the creation of content.

Knowing how to attribute shared material is important if you create publications for the library, like presentations, flyers or any kind of promotional material. Be sure to attribute shared material properly in your blogs, too!

HOW

Create a Slideshare presentation using Creative Commons images.

Use one of these sites to find images.
- Compfight searches flickr images, and you can select Creative Commons options.
- flickr Advanced Search Scroll to the bottom and select an option for Creative Commons
- Google Images advanced search Select an option for Usage Rights.
Put the images into a Word document OR a PowerPoint presentation. Make sure you attribute the images appropriately.
Upload the final product to Slideshare.
You’ll have to get a Slideshare account to do this. If you have a Facebook account, you can use that to sign in. If not, you may sign up using your gmail or other email account.
Embed your Slideshare presentation into your blog.

In your blog post, write about your discovery. How do you feel about so many people sharing their pictures and documents so freely? Do you see a way our library could make use of document sharing?

Name this blog post Thing #21.