FAIR principles: 5000 years of common sense
The FAIR acronym stands for Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable. If you are a researcher, certainly you’ve heard about FAIR principles. FAIR data, FAIR software, … It may sound as another extra, new responsibility to take care of. But, is it? We argue it is not extra, and most importantly, it’s definitely not new. Come with us on a journey through the history of knowledge sharing.
By Javier de la Cueva, with Pablo Rodríguez-Sánchez as coauthor.
The seminal paper where the FAIR guiding principles were stated was published in the year 2016. If you are a researcher, most certainly you would have heard about FAIR principles, FAIR data or FAIR research software.
The backronym FAIR stands for Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable. In many forums, FAIR principles are understood as a new added responsibility to take care of by science and data practitioners. Contrary to this idea, we argue that to comply with the FAIR guiding principles is not a novel requirement. Indeed, the ideas behind the FAIR guiding principles are no less than 5000 years old, and can be traced back to the first libraries.
If a name is an acronym, it is likely to be a buzzword. According to Fredric Jameson, postmodernism is characterized by a permanent rebranding of old concepts so they may be commercialized again as new. And, indeed, FAIR is an acronym. It is often applied to research data, research software and even, although less often, to research publications. We argue that, contrary to other acronyms, FAIR is here to stay. Why? Because it is not a rebranding but the logical evolution in the digital realm of the principles that governed the analogical archives.
A FAIR library
Let’s forget about the digital world for a moment and take a walk to the neighborhood’s library. There we are, surrounded by elderly people quietly reading their newspapers, kids attending read-aloud sessions, students… well, studying, and all kind of people borrowing and returning books.
Let’s take a look around with the FAIR principles in mind.
Findable
The materials in the library are certainly findable. A good library contains thousands of volumes, so they better have a system in place. This is as true today as it was in the library of Alexandria. Some of us still remember the times when this system was a set of cardboard boxes. Nowadays, the system is usually digital. You can even browse it from home!
Accessible
Accessibility is also a trademark of public libraries. The building itself usually can be freely accessed by anyone, and memberships are free or, worst case scenario, very affordable.
Furthermore, many libraries have sections with materials for users with special needs. Audiobooks, books typed in Braille or in extra large fonts or simplified-language versions.
Interoperable
Standardized fonts are one of those everyday wonders we don’t even realize anymore. Can you imagine how hard would it be to read if all the content was hand-written, with the unique scripting style of each author?
Even more, think of word separation. Believe it or not, thefactthatwedonotwritelikethis is a relatively late development. We take spaces between written words for granted, but they are an example of technology.
And of course, translations allow readers to operate with books originally written in languages unknown to them.
Reusable
How do you reuse a book’s content? Well, by using the most quintessential library service: borrow and return.
Citing a book is also a form of reusablity. In some cases, you can even go further than citing and create derivatives from it. Think of for instance of encyclopediae and dictionaries. Those are composed works, with many authors and, to a large extent, independent entries. They are, by definition, work in progress.
Conclusion
The attentive reader certainly noticed that some of the features of books and libraries could fit in more than one FAIR concepts. For instance, are standardized fonts improving accessibility or interoperability? What about translations? Please don't take our examples as a matter of rigorous taxonomy, but stick to the spirit of the idea.
When looking back in history, it is tempting to stop too early back in time. Instead of going back only 20 years, let’s explore a bit deeper. Let’s not fall victims of the palimpsestic syndrome, i.e.: attributing the creation of a concept to the first person or institution you heard it from. All of the FAIR principles, with minor adjustments, have been present since literally millenia ago in the world of books.
We also need the FAIR principles to fight the reproducibility crisis that is taking place in science as we speak. And keep in mind that reproducibility is not only desirable, but a defining feature of scientific knowledge.
So no, FAIR principles are not new. And no, FAIR principles are not optional. Not bad for a buzzword!
Acknowledgments
We want to express our gratitude to Lieke de Boer and Carlos Martínez-Ortiz for their excellent feedback.
