[open-bibliography] More needed to define "open"

[Karen Coyle]

On 4/23/13 9:01 AM, Peter Murray-Rust wrote:

> if it's CC0 then it is possible for someone to extract the data and copy
> it and mount it publicly. So if that is disallowed it is not CC0.

Peter,

I find this eminently logical, although this isn't addressed in CC. PDDL 
does address this:

"1. Access

The work shall be available as a whole and at no more than a reasonable 
reproduction cost, preferably downloading via the Internet without 
charge. The work must also be available in a convenient and modifiable 
form."  (http://opendefinition.org/okd/)

We could reference this in our policy.


>
> Statics dumps are much easier to create than continually updated
> resources and if they are of high quality can be very valuable. They are
> much easier to work with.

Yes, but unless the data itself is fairly static, they are quickly out 
of date. For example, if you want to show library users which items are 
checked out and which are on the shelf, you need to access that info in 
real time. If you are giving access to the periodic table of the 
elements, updates are less frequent.


>
>
>     2. The data owner provides an open interface that allows searching
>     and linking. Linking needs to be bi-directional -- that the data can
>     link out, but also that others can "link in."
>
>
> The main requirement IMO is that it is possible to know the extent of
> the data and *if necessary* download it systematically. That's the only
> way that it is truly open - it can be forked.

"download it systematically" is a great way to put this

>
> I am not sure that link-in is always valuable. Can you explain? would
> all consumers link in?

Often, I believe, to make connections. For example, Library of Congress 
has its subject headings in linked data format. OCLC uses those subject 
headings in its linked data. From an OCLC record display you can link to 
the LC URI and see further info. However, one cannot link FROM LC TO 
OCLC because there is no API that allows that link. Therefore there 
isn't a way to create an app that pulls up OCLC records based on the LC 
subject heading URI. To cite an opposite case, Ed Summers has created a 
web site that uses your current location and pulls up Wikipedia articles 
related to that area. [1] This is a link IN to Wikipedia. "In" and "out" 
are relative, of course -- it depends on where you start, but you should 
be able to start anywhere and go anywhere.

kc
[1] http://inkdroid.org/ici/


>
>
>     I've probably expressed this poorly, but that should just give
>     others an incentive to develop this thought further. :-)
>
>     kc
>     --
>     Karen Coyle
>     kcoyle at kcoyle.net <mailto:kcoyle at kcoyle.net> http://kcoyle.net
>     ph: 1-510-540-7596 <tel:1-510-540-7596>
>     m: 1-510-435-8234 <tel:1-510-435-8234>
>     skype: kcoylenet
>
>     _________________________________________________
>     open-bibliography mailing list
>     open-bibliography at lists.okfn.__org
>     <mailto:open-bibliography at lists.okfn.org>
>     http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/__listinfo/open-bibliography
>     <http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/open-bibliography>
>     Unsubscribe:
>     http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/__options/open-bibliography
>     <http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/options/open-bibliography>
>
>
>
>
> --
> Peter Murray-Rust
> Reader in Molecular Informatics
> Unilever Centre, Dep. Of Chemistry
> University of Cambridge
> CB2 1EW, UK
> +44-1223-763069

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