[okfn-announce] Open Knowledge Foundation Newsletter No. 7

Wed Aug 20 14:08:44 UTC 2008

Welcome to the seventh Open Knowledge Foundation newsletter!

Contents:

   * Open Software Service Definition (OSSD) launched
   * New release of CKAN - and over 240 packages registered!
   * Mapping the public domain
   * Science Commons interview with Rufus Pollock
   * OKF on Identi.ca and LinkedIn
   * Other news in brief
   * Thanks to our volunteers!
   * Support the Open Knowledge Foundation
   * Further information

OPEN SOFTWARE SERVICE DEFINITION (OSSD) LAUNCHED
================================================

For more than a year we've been working with a variety of groups and 
individuals to fashion a clear definition of 'openness' in relation to 
online, software-based, 'services' (think: search engines, webmail, 
online spreadsheets, etc).

The Open Software Service Definition was officially launched in 
mid-July, to correspond with the Franklin Street Declaration - to which 
we are party, and which explicitly encourages those producing network 
software services to take an open approach.

In the past few months we have witnessed the launch of several services 
which are OSSD compliant, including ur1.ca - a URL shrinking service, 
and Identi.ca - a microblogging service.

Open Software Service Definition
http://www.opendefinition.org/ossd/

'Open Software Service Definition Launched'
http://blog.okfn.org/2008/07/14/open-software-service-definition-launched/

'Identi.ca and ur1.ca - two new open services!'
http://blog.okfn.org/2008/07/03/identica-and-ur1ca-two-new-open-services/

NEW RELEASE OF CKAN - AND OVER 240 PACKAGES REGISTERED!
=======================================================

We were pleased announce the release of version 0.6 of the Comprehensive 
Knowledge Archive Network (CKAN) software in July. As many of you will 
know, CKAN is a registry of open knowledge packages - 'from sonnets to 
statistics, genes to geodata'.

Major developments include the autocompletion and suggestion of tags 
when adding a package, and a RESTful machine API for package access, 
update, listing and creation.

There are now over 240 packages registered - with more than 100 of these 
added this year. We are currently planning several workshops which will 
take a closer look at CKAN's support for and coverage of resources in 
different domains.

CKAN
http://ckan.net/

'Over 200 Packages on CKAN!'
http://blog.okfn.org/2008/06/17/over-200-packages-on-ckan/

'CKAN 0.6 Released'
http://blog.okfn.org/2008/07/08/ckan-06-released/

'CKAN and Finding Open Data in the Life Sciences'
http://blog.okfn.org/2008/07/29/ckan-and-finding-open-data-in-the-life-sciences/

MAPPING THE PUBLIC DOMAIN
=========================

In June we solicited for assistance in building a series of public 
domain calculators - to start to trace the contours of the public domain 
in different jurisdictions. The calculators will help determine whether 
or not a given work is in the public domain in a given country - and 
whether it is free to be re-distributed, integrated into other 
resources, and so on.

There are now a handful of groups around the world starting to work on 
this. If you or someone you know might be interested in contributing - 
please let us know!

'Mapping the Public Domain - Call for Assistance!'
http://blog.okfn.org/2008/06/05/mapping-the-public-domain-call-for-assistance/

Public Domain Calculators - Wiki Page
http://okfn.org/wiki/PublicDomainCalculators

SCIENCE COMMONS INTERVIEW WITH RUFUS POLLOCK
============================================

Donna Wentworth of Science Commons interviewed Rufus Pollock of the Open 
Knowledge Foundation as part of their series on "Voices from the Future 
of Science". He talks about what we can learn from the open source 
movement, the current status and future plans for CKAN, and why we 
shouldn't rely on Google to 'take care of everything'.

'Interview with Science Commons for their Voices from the Future of Science'
http://blog.okfn.org/2008/08/19/interview-with-science-commons-for-their-voices-from-the-future-of-science/

OKF ON IDENTI.CA AND LINKEDIN
=============================

The OKF is now on Identi.ca - a new micro-blogging service, and we've 
started an OKF group on LinkedIn. If you use either of these, we'd love 
to hear from you!

'OKF on Identi.ca and LinkedIn!'
http://blog.okfn.org/2008/08/15/okf-on-identica-and-linkedin/

OKF on Identi.ca
http://identi.ca/okfn

OKF Group on LinkedIn
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=159750

OTHER NEWS IN BRIEF
===================

   - Versioned Domain Model v0.2 released
http://blog.okfn.org/2008/05/30/versioned-domain-model-v02-with-support-for-sqlalchemy-released/

   - Italian Translation of the Open Knowledge Definition (OKD)
http://blog.okfn.org/2008/06/03/italian-translation-of-the-open-knowledge-definition-okd/

   - Second Open Visualisation Workshop
http://blog.okfn.org/2008/06/13/second-open-visualisation-workshop-saturday-21st-june-2008-trampoline-systems/

   - Talks at Open Tech
http://blog.okfn.org/2008/06/26/open-tech-2008/

   - Moving forward with open science in Europe: Science Commons ESOF 
Satellite Event
http://blog.okfn.org/2008/07/24/moving-forward-with-open-science-in-europe/

   - Mike Linksvayer of Creative Commons joins Open Definition Advisory 
Board
http://blog.okfn.org/2008/08/04/mike-linksvayer-of-creative-commons-joins-open-definition-advisory-council/

THANKS TO OKF VOLUNTEERS!
=========================

As usual, a big thank you to our volunteers and to our extended virtual 
community for their help with our projects and activities!

SUPPORT THE OPEN KNOWLEDGE FOUNDATION
=====================================

A donation to the Open Knowledge Foundation would greatly help us with 
our overhead costs, including hosting (currently around £1000/year) and 
project development. To find out more about supporting our work, please 
visit:

     http://www.okfn.org/support

FURTHER INFORMATION
===================

If you would like to know more about what we are up to, please take a 
look at our active projects page.

     http://www.okfn.org/projects/

If you are interested in participating in any of the OKF's projects, 
please see our participate page, or join the OKF discuss list.

     http://www.okfn.org/participate/
     http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/okfn-discuss

For further news and comments, see our blog:

     http://blog.okfn.org

The Open Knowledge Foundation is a not-for-profit organization. It is 
incorporated in the United Kingdom as a company limited by guarantee 
with company number 5133759. The registered office is 37 Panton Street, 
Cambridge, CB2 1HL, UK.