[okfn-help] Draft OKF Newsletter 2

[Rufus Pollock]

Jonathan wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> Below is a draft of the second OKF newsletter. I've tried to keep it
> short. Much of the content has been recycled from the OKF blog. Any
> corrections, suggestions or additions would be much appreciated!

Might be better to post this kind of thing on the wiki somewhere and 
then write here with a link as that way edits can be made 
collaboratively. Comments interleaved below. Let's aim to send this out 
monday.

~rufus

> Regards,
> 
> Jonathan
> 
> 
> [okfn-announce] Open Knowledge Foundation Newsletter No. 2
> 
> Welcome to the second Open Knowledge Foundation newsletter. Scroll below
> for information about:
> 
>  * CKAN

I'd use the full title and put the acronym in brackets

>  * A draft guide to Open Data Licensing

Drop the 'draft' in title and use caps throughout i.e. A Draft Guide to 
Open Data Licensing.

>  * Open Text Book
>  * iCommons 2007
> 
> 
> CKAN
> ====

Ditto about full name.

> We've decided that the time has come for the first official release of
> CKAN.  CKAN is the Comprehensive Knowledge Archive Network, a registry of

I don't think there will be multiple official release :) I'd go for 
something simpler as in:

Last week we launched the Comprehensive Knowledge Archive Network (CKAN 
for short) which you can find online at: http://www.ckan.net/.


> open knowledge packages and projects (and a few closed ones). It is the
> place to search for open knowledge resources as well as register your own.
> Those familiar with freshmeat or CPAN can think of CKAN as providing an
> analogous service for open knowledge.

I think we can just stick with what we have from the announce, viz:

CKAN is a registry of open knowledge packages and projects — be that a 
set of Shakespeare’s works, a global population density database, the 
voting records of MPs, or 30 years of US patents.

CKAN is the place to search for open knowledge resources as well as 
register your own. Those familiar with freshmeat (a registry of open 
source software), CPAN (Perl) or PyPI (python package index) can think 
of CKAN as providing an analogous service for open knowledge.

> We've got over 40 items listed already, from a repository of voting
> records of MPs to a global population density database. If you come across
> any useful open knowledge packages, or you maintain an openly licensed
> resource that you would like to share, we hope you consider registering it
> on CKAN.

This is nice and definitely keep it in.

> CKAN <http://www.ckan.net/>
 >
> 
> OPEN DATA LICENSING
> ===================
> 
> Over the last month we’ve been working to produce a Guide to Open Data
> Licensing. As the name should make clear this is a guide to licensing data
> aimed particularly at those who want to make their data open.
> 
> At present it is roughly divided into two sections. The first section
> deals with the practical question of how to license your data. The second
> section discusses what kinds of intellectual property-like rights exist in
> data in various jurisdictions.
> 
> The guide is very much in an ‘alpha’ state and we’d welcome corrections or
> contributions. So please, check it out and feel free to make changes!
> 
> Open Data Licensing <http://www.okfn.org/wiki/OpenDataLicensing>

Great.

> 
> OPEN TEXT BOOK
> ==============
> 
> We recently released Open Text Book, a place to list and keep track of
> news about textbooks that are open in accordance with the Open Knowledge
> Definition — i.e. free to use, reuse, and redistribute.

Good though you might want to put a little more here (maybe the second 
para from http://blog.opentextbook.org/2007/06/22/site-launch/).

> The domain name was kindly donated to us by Steve Coast of Open Street Map.
> 
> Open Text Book <http://www.opentextbook.org/>
> 
> 
> iCOMMONS 2007
> =============
> 
> iCommons 2007 took place last month in Dubrovnik and brought together many
> free culture groups and open knowledge advocates from around the world.
> Our reflections on the conference can be found on our blog.
> 
> OKF blog post
> <http://blog.okfn.org/2007/06/19/icommons-2007-retrospective-reflections/>
> iCommons <http://icommons.org/>

Might want to add a standard footer on here with information on 
participation, link to blog (and maybe notice of next monthly irc 
meeting -- if that is known).