[open-bibliography] Openbiblio at OCLC

Thu May 26 09:43:08 UTC 2011

Hello,

I don't see it necessarily as a problem that the "policy" should
co-exist with an open data recommendation. The policy isn't legally
binding anyway but a "social contract".

Obviously, it would be contradictory to recommend open data and forbid
single libraries to publish their data under an open license as OCLC
tried to do through the policy. Actually, the answers OCLC gave to my
questions on open data in the community forum in 2010[1] should then
be invalid and superseded by a recommendation for open data (in the
case this recommendation is really made by OCLC.)

2011/5/25 Karen Coyle <kcoyle at kcoyle.net>:
> 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 read this like OCLC may choose a similar approach that the hbz and
another German library service center (BSZ) have chosen to open up a
union catalog: OCLC basically would recommend open licensing for parts
of WorldCat. If a member library or group wants to follow the
recommendation, OCLC publishes the data with holdings from the member
or member group as Open Data under an ODC-BY license. This is my take
on interpreting these slides. Roy, it would be good if you could bring
some more clarity into this...

Cheers
Adrian

[1] http://www.oclc.org/worldcat/recorduse/policy/forum/forum.pdf

> 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
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> open-bibliography mailing list
> open-bibliography at lists.okfn.org
> http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/open-bibliography
>