[open-bibliography] Openbiblio at OCLC

Wed May 25 20:56:53 UTC 2011

Quoting MJ Ray <mjr at phonecoop.coop>:

> Damn it!  I was getting all optimistic for a few hours there!
>
> So it won't be simply ODC-BY (which I forget what that is) but
> ODC-BY+OCLC-usage-policy... which isn't really ODC-BY then.

That's what I heard Calhoun say. The slide states:

Our preliminary thoughts on Open Data Licensing
?We are considering recommending ODC-BY
?Distinguishes between the database and its contents (or portions of contents)
?[Member DATABASE NAME] would be the name of the member?s or group?s  
catalog, and the member or group = the licensor
?License notice wording in accordance with instructions in ODC licenses
?Still under investigation?your input invited and welcome

I'm not totally discouraged -- there are folks at OCLC who understand  
LOD and there are some interesting LD efforts there (http://dewey.info  
and http://viaf.org). I really think that the LOD "tsunami" will have  
an effect on OCLC, and we'll see movement in that direction. To my  
mind the best approach is to continue to develop LOD and to continue  
to raise awareness.

I had a call this morning with a group of open data advocates in  
Italy, and they report the same issues that many are finding, which is  
that the actual legal status of library data is unknown. Continuing  
that conversation in all available venues is going to be a key  
"consciousness raising" act; the more we understand that issue widely  
in our community the more we will find an expectation of openness.  
That expectation is our strongest weapon.

We also need to educate people about LD -- that linked data  is not a  
database dump but is an interaction between data created by different  
people possibly in different communities. I think this will ease some  
of the fears that people have. I try to explain that letting people  
link to you does not change your data anymore than letting people link  
to your web site changes the site. It's possible that we can reconcile  
business models and linking when this is better understood.

kc

>
> I simply don't understand why a cooperative wants that record use
> policy.  "Co-operatives are based on the values of self-help,
> self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity. In
> the tradition of their founders, co-operative members believe in the
> ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring
> for others." (from www.ica.coop)  OK, it might have been adopted
> democratically, while solidarity and social responsibility are probably
> arguable, but several of the others seem less so.
>
> Of course, I didn't find the ICA values on oclc.org just now!
> The OCLC values and principles that you can download from
> http://www.oclc.org/us/en/about/cooperation/governance/default.htm
> are very different.  If they lose the argument in court over whether
> they are a co-op, I think those unusual values and principles may be
> part of the reason.
>
> Down again...
> --
> MJ Ray (slef), member of www.software.coop, a for-more-than-profit co-op.
> http://koha-community.org supporter, web and LMS developer, statistician.
> In My Opinion Only: see http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html
> Available for hire for Koha work http://www.software.coop/products/koha
>
> _______________________________________________
> open-bibliography mailing list
> open-bibliography at lists.okfn.org
> http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/open-bibliography
>

-- 
Karen Coyle
kcoyle at kcoyle.net http://kcoyle.net
ph: 1-510-540-7596
m: 1-510-435-8234
skype: kcoylenet