Re: help with definition of data licence metadata

The notions of dataset and distributions are key to DCAT. They match 
similar ideas in other domains, notably the library world's FRBR 
vocabulary that distinguishes between a Work, such as 'Beethoven's 5th' 
and its Expression, such as a particular recording or performance.

Licences are attached to DCAT Distributions, not Datasets, because it's 
possible that different distributions of the same data will be released 
under different licences. For example, a PDF might be available under an 
open licence, whilst a proprietary format might be under a more 
restrictive licence.

It may be worth noting that dcat:Distribution and dcat:Dataset are not 
disjoint, so if there's just one file that is the dataset then it can be 
both, but we probably shouldn't promote this too heavily as it might 
lead people to lose the distinction between the two classes.

So, bottom line, yes, I think we should distinguish between datasets and 
distributions in our work.

Phil.



On 13/05/2015 21:59, Bernadette Farias Lóscio wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I've been working on the examples for the BP [1] and I am not  sure of how
> to define data licence metadata. In DCAT, licence is defined as a property
> of distribution. However, in our BP we just mention datasets. Should we
> also consider the notion of distribution in our BP?
>
> Cheers,
> Bernadette
>
> [1] http://w3c.github.io/dwbp/bp.html#metadata
>

-- 


Phil Archer
W3C Data Activity Lead
http://www.w3.org/2013/data/

http://philarcher.org
+44 (0)7887 767755
@philarcher1

Received on Thursday, 14 May 2015 07:59:20 UTC