I'm curious to know if there is an interest in an ODC-BY or ODbL variant that omits the "free to adapt" provision. Such a license would permit data to be redistributed freely in unmodified form, but not in modified form unless it is clear that modifications have been made.
Some of our freely available data sets have been in use for 20 to 30 years, and there is a large literature of published analyses of them that makes them particularly valuable. It's critically important, though, that any researcher who uses them should know that he or she has a complete and unaltered copy of the data that were used in previous studies, and not a version that has been modified, augmented, or abridged. Otherwise, their analyses are not comparable and others may not be able to reproduce them. I would guess that the same considerations would apply to almost any collection of experimental data; the point of sharing such data is to make it possible for others to study them without having to repeat the entire experiment. Our data are digitized physiologic signals and time series, but there must be many others sharing data that have value precisely because they are complete and accurate copies of a known original (even if that original may be flawed). Examples might include astronomical or meteorological observations, historical polls, species surveys -- it's not hard to think of many more. If I've misunderstood the "free to adapt" provision, I would be grateful if someone can clarify it. If not, it would be useful to have a show of virtual hands to gauge interest in an open license for reference data that should not be altered. Any suggestions are welcome! George -- George B. Moody Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology MIT Room E25-505A Cambridge, MA 02139 USA _______________________________________________ odc-discuss mailing list odc-discuss@lists.okfn.org http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/odc-discuss