Linked Data & Open Data in the LLD-XG draft report

Hello,
 
I had the time to read through the LLD-XG draft report. First, I am
very happy that this work is going on and hope this is the start of a
broader involvement of libraries and related institutions in the W3C
efforts. Thanks to all the people involved for their efforts. 

While reading the draft report, what struck me most was the lack of
differentiation between Linked Data and Open Data. Though "Linked Data"
is defined in the "Scope" section, the term "Open Data" isn't explained
anywhere. In the further report both concepts get mixed up and it is
even implicitely said in section 6.4 [1] that linked data implies being
open data which isn't necessarily the case (and which isn't part of the
"Linked Data" definition in the "Scope" section).

I think the report has to be reworked in this regard, as I comment in
[2] "I suggest adding a paragraph or section to the report which
clarifies the two terms, "open data" being about open access, open
standards and open licenses in the first place and "linked data" being
about a specific set of standards or best practices for publishing data
on the web recommended by the W3C. An important aspect of open data is
legal compatibility of data while linked data deals with technical
compatibility of data."

Also, in 6.4 copyright on individual records is assumed only after
referring a few lines above to Raymond Bérard's article on open library
data[3] in which he explicitely writes that "[c]opyright ... does not
apply to individual records". I think it is important to make clear that
we don't talk about single records but about collections of records when
we discuss copyright issues regarding library data. I suggest adding
some clarification about this in the final report.

I posted some more comments on the blog[4].

All the best
Adrian

[1]
http://www.w3.org/2005/Incubator/lld/wiki/DraftReportWithTransclusion#Data_may_have_rights_issues_that_prevent_open_publication


[2]
http://blogs.ukoln.ac.uk/w3clld/2011/06/26/implementation-challenges-and-barriers-to-adoption-2/#comment-47-143

[3]
http://liber.library.uu.nl/publish/issues/2010-3_4/index.html?000512

[4] http://blogs.ukoln.ac.uk/w3clld/comments-by-contributor/Adrian/

Received on Wednesday, 3 August 2011 12:31:33 UTC