Glyn Moody has a new post responding to a recent article by Larry Lessig. From the post:
Now, I am not so naive as to believe that all will be sweetness and light when it comes to opening up government; nor do I think that open goverment is “done”: this is the beginning or the journey, not the end.
Posted in Open Education
Tagged commons, copy right, copyright, open data, openness, policy
John Wilbanks has a new post on handling large amounts of open data. From the post:
…data is fundamental. We can’t treat it, technically or legally, like higher level knowledge products if we want it to serve that fundamental role.
Posted in Open Education
Tagged copy right, copyright, creative commons, open content, open data, openness
The National Science Foundation is announcing that it will soon begin requiring a data management plan with each grant. From the announcement:
“This is the first step in what will be a more comprehensive approach to data policy,” added Cora Marrett, NSF acting deputy director. “It will address the need for data from publicly-funded research to be made public.”
Posted in Open Education
Tagged higher education, open content, open data, openness, research
David Eaves has a new post comparing US and Canadian open data policies. Eaves suggests that the US government has opened its data further than Canada. From the post:
As a first principle, if Canadians care about open data we will need to begin fostering norms in our government, among ourselves, and in our politicians, that support the idea that what our government creates (especially in terms of research and data) is ours and that we should not only have unfettered access to it, but the right to analyze and repurpose it. The point here isn’t just that this is a right, but that open data enhances democracy, increases participation and civic engagement and strengthens our economy.
Joss Winn has a new post on using WordPress Multi-User to share library catalog data. The idea comes as part of a proposal to the Talis Incubator grant (reported by OEN). From the post:
I proposed that WordPress Multi User2 and Scriblio, a set of plugins for WordPress which allows you to import an OPAC library catalogue and benefit from all the advantages of the WordPress ecosystem, would together allow libraries to host independently branded catalogues on an open, union platform.
Gavin Baker at Open Access News is reporting that the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has posted a draft document on publishing open government data. The W3C is responsible, in part, for development of HTML, XML and other web standards. From the post:
Although the reasons may vary, the logistics and practicalities of opening government data are the same. To help governments open and share their data, the W3C eGov Interest Group has developed the following guidelines. These straightforward steps emphasize standards and methodologies to encourage publication of government data, allowing the public to use this data in new and innovative ways.
Rufus Pollock, via Open Knowledge Foundation blog, emphasizes the virtues of open data and licensing, and the significance of having a definition of openness in facilitating the advancement of human knowledge. Snippet:
Why bother about openness and licensing for data? After all they don’t matter in themselves: what we really care about are things like the progress of human knowledge or the freedom to understand and share.
However, open data is crucial to progress on these more fundamental items. It’s crucial because open data is so much easier to break-up and recombine, to use and reuse. We therefore want people to have incentives to make their data open and for open data to be easily usable and reusable — i.e. for open data to form a ‘commons’.
A good definition of openness acts as a standard that ensures different open datasets are ‘interoperable’ and therefore do form a commons. Licensing is important because it reduces uncertainty. Without a license you don’t know where you, as a user, stand: when are you allowed to use this data? Are you allowed to give to others? To distribute your own changes, etc?
Together, a definition of openness, plus a set of conformant licenses deliver clarity and simplicity. Not only is interoperability ensured but people can know at a glance, and without having to go through a whole lot of legalese, what they are free to do. (For more see this article and this post).
Thus, licensing and definitions are important even though they are only a small part of the overall picture. If we get them wrong they will keep on getting in the way of everything else. If we get them right we can stop worrying about them and focus our full energies on other things.
