How do policies help?

In chapter two of the NSF publication we read this week, The Elements of the Digital Data Collections, the NSF says that policy needs to be developed in order to support the life of digital data. This chapter does not exactly explain why policies for data collections are needed or what exactly they hope to accomplish with policies. Within the document the NSF mentions that "a “one-size-fits-all” approach to policy development is inadequate". So why are they still asking for people to work on creating policies?

Also this week I read the short blog entry William Uricchio and the object/subject in participatory media, which is about a talk from William Uricchio last week. This a cursory look at participatory culture and how our culture has developed systems based on the participation of millions of people. Two of the examples Uricchio provides are SETI and iPhone apps. Systems of participation exist without models for how they should operate, instead these tools rely simply on what was possible when they were being created and based on what the needs of the users and developers were. This is very much the case for the cyberinfrastructure tools we've seen this semester.

One difference between the NSF document and the Uricchio talk is that the NSF is continually looking for a monolithic answer to cyberinfrastructure while Uricchio provides examples of working systems that could inspire the cyberinfrastructure. In particular, there's Photosynth, a tool from Microsoft that creates 3D "experiences" based on collective digital photography. It is definitely worth downloading Silverlight to see how the photos have been crowdsourced and curated in a meaninful way. About this example, the blog author says "Rather than building a space by building a model, the model emerges from the production of thousands of amateur photographers". This is certainly something I've been thinking about in terms of the cyberinfrastructure - before deciding what it will be and what it should be called, the cyberinfrastrcuture should emerge as a production of collaborative effort. After all, there is no working model for the cyberinfrastructure.

After all the discussion in class about building the cyberinfrastructure and reading about the alledged need for policies that will shape the cyberinfrastructure, I'm a bit skeptical that focusing on the end result of policy is helpful. Any work that's done on developing policy may be premature until there are more applicable cyberinfrastructure tools. Also, I'm afraid of what kinds of developments could potentially be stifled by inadequate policies. And again, there is no "one-size-fits-all" answer to all digital curation projects, these projects arise based on very specific needs of the people who use the data.

The one policy issue that I think will be the most difficult to tame long-term is copyright. I have been thinking lately that the best way to shape these policies is to simply participate in fair use activities. My hope is that if enough people are asserting their right to fair use, policies will be developed and strengthened that reflect those behaviors.

Ultimately, I wonder what policies will actually do for cyberinfrastructure. Why do the people involved want these policies? Do they simply desire a map to follow because that is the model they are familiar with?