Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

How Does Free Help Me? Useful Things Like Gps Software, Open Access Week Committee, Ucf Libraries

Open Access Week

How does free help me? Useful things like GPS Software

Once upon a time the only way to find an address was to look at a paper map. Remember your first day at UCF? How hard it was to find the right building? Did you get lost? That used to be true going pretty much any place new.

Now with GPS, you can have someone tell you how to get somewhere step by step. You can even select a British or Australian narrator. Like many conveniences in our lives, this is a result of the …

How Does Free Help Me? Mind-Blowing Things Like The Mapping Our Dna, Open Access Week Committee, Ucf Libraries

Open Access Week

How does free help me? Mind-blowing things like the mapping our DNA

Posted: October 24th, 2019

Ever hear of a little company called 23andMe? For around $100, you can get a breakdown of your global heritage. You can even get it for your dog or cat.

The availability to learn more about our own ancestry or genetic health markers is a result of the Human Genome Project. The original mapping of human DNA took thirteen years to complete, and involved 20 institutions around the globe. It is considered the world’s largest collaborative biological project, with a price tag of …

How Does Free Help Me? Funny Things Like Throwing Shade On Florida, Open Access Week Committee, Ucf Libraries

Open Access Week

How does free help me? Funny things like throwing shade on Florida

Posted: October 23rd, 2019

Florida is called the sunshine state for more than just the weather. It has one of the broadest public record laws in the nation, with origins dating back to 1909. On the bright side, this wide interpretation of public records provides transparency in state public agencies.

It could also be considered a factor in the creation of the internet meme “Florida Man.” This meme is based on strange news stories or crimes that take place in our home state and is …

How Does Free Help Me? Cool Things From Nasa, Open Access Week Committee, Ucf Libraries

Open Access Week

How does free help me? Cool things from NASA

Posted: October 22nd, 2019

Yesterday we talked a little bit about the Open Access movement to share research. Today we are going to focus on the benefits of having research freely available. Let’s look at a government agency right in our own backyard — NASA. You may not realize this, but NASA research and technology has contributed to the development of everything from LED lighting to temper foam mattresses. Unlike Area 51, NASA likes to share what it knows, and collaborates with industry partners in all kinds of ways. Here …

How Does Free Help Me? Informative Things Like Wikipedia, Open Access Week Committee, Ucf Libraries

Open Access Week

How does free help me? Informative things like Wikipedia

Posted: October 21st, 2019

We use it for everything – historical information, explaining movie endings, and biographies of our favorite celebrities. Wikipedia began in 2001, which is roughly the same time as a movement called Open Access, which we are celebrating this week.

Before Wikipedia, hard cover books with a collection of facts were printed. These encyclopedias were expensive and it was hard to keep the information current. Just as Wikipedia makes facts more easily available to everyone using the Internet, Open Access hopes to do the same thing. However, it …