Latest report on the Open Data entry on Wikipedia – we are starting to get contributions. Remember always that WP is ours, not mine. And that it”s an encyclopedia, not a platform. This post is just to show how things develop – it’s not judgemental in any way.
I added a section on Relation to Other Open Activities. This was not specifically about Open Data but things that were similar but different or at least distinct. So Open Access is not Open Data although the BOAI implies part of it (that data in fulltext should be Open); however it says little or nothing about non-fulltext. Open Source may have similar ideals but is not really about data. And so on. After a robust real-life discussion with Rufus Pollock (founder of the Open Knowledge Foundation) I included a short link to the OKFN (making it clear that I believe that OK is not the same as OD).
Shortly afterwards Jean-Claude Bradley added an entry to Open Notebook Science in WP and edited the OD entry to point to it. Then a Wikipedian tagged the Open Notebook Science as a neologism. This is tough, but I think fair. I believe that J-C has an important, courageous, approach and I support him. However the actual term is only a month or two old and so is probably unsuitable for WP. It also comes close to NOR (no original research) which deprecates the development of new ideas on Wikipedia.
Because of NOR I have tried to cut down any personal ideas in the OD entry. Obviously since I have started it there is a lot of emphasis from me, but I have tried to address the objective aspects (history, definition, current usage, etc.). I have tried to keep the material related to the actual term “Open Data” or at least the co-occurrence of Data and Open in the same sentence. I have mentioned my own use of the term and given references (as I must), but not elaborated any details.
After J-C was tagged, he moved the definition of Open Notebook Science to OD. At the same time a significant amount of extra definitive material on Open Knowledge was added. At this stage the “Relation to Other Open Activities” was becoming larger than most other sections, and could invite more contributions, perhaps violating NOR.
So I thought it was a good idea to prune this section. I reiterate that I am not a special editor and that anyone can re-edit this. The Open Data page (like all pages) has a Talk page, so I left messages with my thoughts there.
I’ll keep you up to date with progress. I’m hoping that some of the Open Data mailing list will start helping with definitions.
-
Recent Posts
-
Recent Comments
- pm286 on ContentMine at IFLA2017: The future of Libraries and Scholarly Communications
- Hiperterminal on ContentMine at IFLA2017: The future of Libraries and Scholarly Communications
- Next steps for Text & Data Mining | Unlocking Research on Text and Data Mining: Overview
- Publishers prioritize “self-plagiarism” detection over allowing new discoveries | Alex Holcombe's blog on Text and Data Mining: Overview
- Kytriya on Let’s get rid of CC-NC and CC-ND NOW! It really matters
-
Archives
- June 2018
- April 2018
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- November 2016
- July 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- September 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
-
Categories
- "virtual communities"
- ahm2007
- berlin5
- blueobelisk
- chemistry
- crystaleye
- cyberscience
- data
- etd2007
- fun
- general
- idcc3
- jisc-theorem
- mkm2007
- nmr
- open issues
- open notebook science
- oscar
- programming for scientists
- publishing
- puzzles
- repositories
- scifoo
- semanticWeb
- theses
- Uncategorized
- www2007
- XML
- xtech2007
-
Meta
This experience just reminded me of how important it is to be able to bypass gatekeepers to communicate effectively in a rapidly changing environment. The important thing is that anyone who wants to understand the concept of Open Notebook Science can just Google it, quickly learn then contribute their own ideas using some type of social software. Since only established terms are eligible and no new research allowed, this will limit the usefulness of Wikipedia for clarifying evolving concepts surrounding Open Data and Open Science.