[School-of-data] Is data open if you can not create derivatives?
Simon Cropper
simoncropper at fossworkflowguides.com
Fri Jul 11 14:51:18 UTC 2014
Thanks Tim.
I'll follow up your suggestions.
Cheers Simon
On 11/07/14 20:00, Tim Davies wrote:
> Hello Simon,
>
> As Michael mentions, the Open Definition, which offers criteria for
> judging the openness of the dataset as an artefact would judge these
> non-open, as license restrictions, or incompatibilities, would limit the
> ability to combine, work with and redistribute the results.
>
> The wider issues you mention of data description and quality don't
> feature in the Open Definition - but are important elements of
> 'openness' more broadly - and well worth documenting.
>
> You might want to share your findings on the difficulty of re-using this
> data with the currently-developing Global Initiative on Open Data for
> Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN - http://godan.info/) which has some
> strong backing, and is currently setting out an agenda / workplan for
> future projects. Highlighing to them the importance harmonising licenses
> in this space could be a good move.
>
> All the best
>
> Tim
>
>
> On Fri, Jul 11, 2014 at 9:06 AM, Michael Bauer <michael.bauer at okfn.org
> <mailto:michael.bauer at okfn.org>> wrote:
>
> Simon,
>
> According to the OpenDefinition (http://opendefinition.org/) these
> datasets
> are _not_ open.
>
> Michael
>
> On Fri, Jul 11, 2014 at 12:44:18PM +1000, Simon Cropper wrote:
> > Hi Everyone,
> >
> > I am currently collating some public datasets on nutrition as
> fodder for
> > some community data wrangling projects and events I am planning.
> >
> > https://github.com/SimonChristopherCropper/Food_Data_Analysis
> >
> > Interestingly I have discovered that most datasets are released
> under a
> > limited license -- put simply, the custodian agencies allow for
> > redistribution of the dataset with attribution but derivatives of
> any kind
> > are not allowed or allow you to look at their data but not even
> download
> > them. Most nutritional datasets released worldwide fall into this
> > category[1].
> >
> > To me this data is not open. Open data, in my mind, should allow for
> > derivatives to be created and redistributed. I understand that
> agencies wish
> > to be attributed and in some cases disclaimers included with any
> derivatives
> > as means of indemnifying the source agency, but having constraints on
> > 'working [2]' on and 'working' with the data makes the dataset of
> no real
> > value.
> >
> > For the record -- the only datasets I have confirmed allow
> derivatives is
> > the Australian, USA and Swiss Datasets, and maybe the UK dataset
> (still
> > waiting for official confirmation of the ambiguous license
> documentation on
> > the UK website).
> >
> > What is your opinion regarding 'openness'?
> >
> > When looking at licenses or terms of use statements, what
> attributes are you
> > looking for? Do you have a preferred license type?
> >
> > Open Data in my mind has the following attributes:
> > - freely downloadable/accessible in a common data format
> > - the data is clearly described so other people can understand
> > what they are seeing (e.g. no undefined acronyms)
> > - the methodology and sources of the information presented,
> > and any inherent problems, are clearly described and this document
> > freely available
> > - there are no restrictions on working with the data and
> redistributing
> > your results (attributing the source and including disclaimers are
> > not considered to be restrictions in this definition)
> >
> > [1] This statement is based on inspection of the term of use for
> all the
> > database identified from General Internet Searches using Google
> and all the
> > databases specified in the list of Food Composition Databases
> managed by
> > EuroFin (http://www.eurofir.org/?page_id=96)
> > [2] Definition of 'working' -- cleansing, standardizing,
> wrangling, munging,
> > coding, geocoding, summarizing, graphing, analyzing, etcetera.
> >
> > --
> > Cheers Simon
> >
> > Simon Cropper - Open Content Creator
> >
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--
Cheers Simon
Simon Cropper - Open Content Creator
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