Commons of knowledge in libraries of universities in Curitiba (PR), Brazil

Rodrigues, Ana Paula da Silva; Favorito, Andressa Rando; Figueiredo, Maria de Lourdes Alves

doi:10.20396/rdbci.v18i..8661538/25524

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RDBCI: Revista Digital de Biblioteconomia e Ciência da Informação

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ARTICLE • RDBCI : Rev. Digit. Bibl. e Cienc. Inf. 18 • 2020 • https://doi.org/10.20396/rdbci.v18i..8661538/25524 copy

Commons of knowledge in libraries of universities in Curitiba (PR), Brazil

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

ABSTRACT

In the context of the discussions on the hegemony of knowledge, a diverse view emerges aiming to show the plurality of knowledge and the necessity of sharing. In the scope of the development and dissemination of knowledge, prerogative of higher education institutions, libraries are characterized as a channel of access. Knowledge is considered in this research as a Commons, as proposed by Charlotte Hess and Elinor Ostrom. Commons of knowledge, from this perspective, is being considered a resource shared by a group of people and submitted to rules of self-governance. Thus, the present article aims to identify the university library as a commons of knowledge. Data was collected with the aid of semi-structured interviews conducted with librarians responsible for a public and a private library in the Brazilian capital of the state of Paraná - Curitiba, both of which run different management styles. The results indicate that the digital library of the public library conforms to the principles of commons of knowledge governance, regarding the rules of governance. On the other hand, the availability of the collection within the physical spaces at the libraries under evaluation, does not satisfy all the requirements, being, therefore, impossible to classify the university libraries analyzed in the present research as commons of knowledge.

KEYWORDS:
Commons of knowledge; Library; University library; Curitiba (PR)

Principles	Definitions
1) Well defined borders	Definition of limits through clear rules that encourage cooperation between the users of the good (knowledge) and avoid externalities.
2) Consistency between the rules of appropriation and provision with local conditions	Be careful to maintain the equivalence between costs and benefits, that is, that the benefits associated with the resource of use of the common good are effected in accordance with the contributions made and appropriate to local conditions and needs.
3) Arrangements for collective decision	Decisions and definitions of rules must be operationalized and approved by the majority, and therefore the participation and co-production of users is recognized and practiced.
4) Monitoring	It is essential that there is an agreement for monitoring the actions of the commons, in order to create and maintain the trust of users, as well as the evaluation of rules, processes and behavior of users.
5) Gradual Sanctions	The rules should cover sanctions typified according to the seriousness of the violation, always seeking to encourage compliance with the rules, even by those who have broken them and suffered sanctions.
6)Conflict resolution mechanisms	Conflicts must be exposed in the community, debated, mediated and resolved, following low-cost mechanisms.
7) Minimum recognition of organizational rights (autonomy)	The creation or revision of the rules themselves by the commons users and their managers must be recognized by the State and other external authorities.
8) Alignment and intersectional articulation in management	Principle of alignment and intersectional articulation in management, recognizing that the common use goods of the commons is part of a larger system and, therefore, may suffer the interference of the State when necessary, in order to coordinate the interdependence between larger and smaller units. It is the so-called "sweetness", that is, governance in a structure of multiple layers of responsibility.

	ISSUES	PUBLIC HEI	PRIVATE HEI
1	Dissemination of knowledge?	Library as something of extreme importance; it works with the internal and external community; library's role is to bring information to the user.	Library as a link between the user and all possible services to offer; responsibility to offer the information that is important to the user.
2	Knowledge values as a common good?	The library stimulates knowledge values as a common good; the library seeks out the user and captures students, teachers and administrative staff.	The library stimulates the values of knowledge as a common good; it is a means of interaction between people; in the exchange it improves information.
3	Are there rules, library management?	The library has rules; there is no user participation at all, but the user has some channels, such as the internal management system, to suggest, besides the personal contact; it is important to know what the user thinks.	The library has rules; there is no user participation at all, but we try to listen and serve him.
4	Actions to modernize access to the collection	There are actions to modernize access: commissions for cataloguing and external community; and improvement of the loan between campuses via the internal system.	There are actions to modernize access: allocation of resources to priority demands.
5	How are the rules for access and use of the collection developed and shared?	The rules are made available on the library page and presented in the classroom when there is training in the database; they were prepared jointly by the employees.	The rules are made available on the library link; an exhibition is held at the students' entrance; they have been prepared in agreement with other libraries.
6	Rules of "protection of the common good x broad sharing of knowledge?	The rules of access and use were elaborated aiming to promote the protection of the common good and the sharing of knowledge; campaigns for the preservation of the collection have already been carried out; guidelines in printed material and in the training courses held in the classroom; the National Library Book Week was held, promoting the collection and exchange of books.	The rules of access and use were designed to promote the protection of the common good and the sharing of knowledge; meeting the demands expressed by the students: increase in the number of materials and days of loan.
7	Promotion of events aimed at production and dissemination of knowledge?	There are no specific actions or events for users focused on the production and dissemination of knowledge; focus on the collection, dissemination and training in databases.	There have already been some actions that were interrupted due to lack of employees and resources; priority in the maintenance of the collection.
8	Action for production and dissemination or incentive to research?	There are no specific actions for the local community focused on production and dissemination or incentive to research; the training in the use of databases is the closest, because it will be the tool in the production of knowledge by students.	The library space can be used by students from other Higher Education Institutions.
9	Do you understand that the knowledge shared by the library may have a common good bias?	The knowledge shared by the library presents a bias of common good, being an instrument to stimulate the sharing of knowledge; relation of the library to the professional formation of the student and his relationship with society.	The knowledge shared by the library presents a common good bias, being an instrument to stimulate knowledge sharing; the more information is shared it will circulate better.

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E-mail: rdbci@unicamp.br

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[TFN3] Source: Adapted from Ostrom (1990OSTROM, Elinor. Governing the commons: the evolution of institutions for collective action. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990., p. 90 - 102).