open

Not only is freedom of access to information a basic human right, it is also a precondition for informed public participation in governance, i.e. for democracy. Open and transparent governance is also considered a precondition for preventing and revealing corruption and maladministration.
Consequently knowledge about openness and access to information is a crucial element in the implementation and promotion of human rights and democratic principles.

Elke belangrijke wetenschappelijke ontdekking wordt gevolgd door een cruciale stroom informatie en onderzoeksgegevens die resulteert in verificatie, weerlegging of nadere uitwerking van het idee of de nieuwe theorie. Om dit proces mogelijk te maken worden abstracte ideeën of theorieën niet beschermd door auteurs- of octrooirechten.

... zeigt, worum es bei Archiven, diesen «Gedächtnissen des Staates», immer auch geht: um die Macht über die Geschichte - und damit letztlich um die Macht über die Köpfe.

The message is that there are no knowns.
There are things we know that we know.
There are known unknowns.
That is to say there are things that we now know we don't know.
But there are also unknown unknowns.
There are things we don't know we don't know.

Negative evidence is when the very act of redaction is evidence in itself, when the absence of evidence operates as evidence in its own right.

Citizens are entitled to know in a democracy, what is done in their name for their benefit and with their money.

• It is a challenge to a culture of unnecessary official secrecy
• It promotes accountability in a democracy for policies, operational activities and (very importantly) public expenditure
• It is deterrent to corruption, impropriety, maladministration and so on
• It improves the quality of decision-making
• It improves confidence and trust in government
• It brings knowledge to th people

... [dat het] bij open source software om veel meer gaat dan om louter kosten.Voor een deel is dat zo, omdat de open source beweging aansluit bij traditionele academische waarden.

Ja, das Erbe der Gesammtheit
Wird dem Einzelnen zur Beute
Und von Rechten des Besitzes
Spricht er dann, von Eigenthum!

Eigenthum! Recht des Besitzes!
O des Diebstahls! O der Lüge!
Solch Gemisch von List und Unsinn
Konnte nur der Mensch erfinden.

The information you have is not the information you want.

The information you want is not the information you need.

The information you need is not the information you can obtain.

The information you can obtain costs more than you want to pay

(6) De archivaris dient het gebruik van archieven zo breed mogelijk te bevorderen en onpartijdig aan alle gebruikers diensten te verlenen.

Zoals de kracht van het internet in de chaos ligt, zo is de kracht van onze vrijheid afhankelijk van de chaos en kakofonie van vrije meningen.