open is the answer

Having the opportunity to read part of the draft of the new Indiana University IT Strategic Plan, I was pleased to recognize so many instances of the word "open" throughout the document. Without knowing every aspect of the plan, I think I can safely say that IU is going to begin to move some of its efforts in knowledge creation (e.g. teaching, research, publication) toward a more open model similiar to that of MIT's. The most thrilling part of this? The libraries are identified as a true partner for this endeavor as the institution's knowledge repository. I would love to see this open model of education permeate more aspects of higher education, including the ways in which scholars communicate with one another. I think our current mechanisms for facilitating and publishing these conversations will eventually deteriorate, if they do not evolve into more open formats.