[School-of-data] Is data open if you can not create derivatives?

Michael Bauer michael.bauer at okfn.org
Sat Jul 12 08:11:35 UTC 2014 

Both,

Good metadata is something that's incredibly valuable and not commonly
found. If any of you want to write a rant about that - and what kind of
metdata you wished to be there - for the School of Data blog: This is an
explicit invitation.

Michael

On Sat, Jul 12, 2014 at 12:51:18AM +1000, Simon Cropper wrote:
> 
> 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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> >
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> >@timdavies
> >http://www.timdavies.org.uk
> >
> >
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> 
> -- 
> Cheers Simon
> 
>    Simon Cropper - Open Content Creator
> 
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