Comments on: Free our Data?

By: admin

admin — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 16:52:08 +0000

Thanks for the great comment, Dave. I agree with what you’re saying – that data needs to be reliable, or at least we need some measure of it’s reliability. This does relate to my concerns in my next post about openstreetmap being suggested as superior to the Ordnance Survey.

Also- that’s why we (at Oxford Archaeology) decided to release our data as web mapping services. We can then ensure that whoever uses it gets up to date information. We are trying to deal with the issue of opening up our sites to the risk from looters- partially by removing the actual grid references from the datasets before they make it as far as the server, and possibly obfuscating the positions slightly, but this is all a work in progress.

By: Free Our Data: the blog » Blog Archive » ESRC events and Open Knowledge day: podcasts/transcripts available

Tue, 20 Mar 2007 11:57:52 +0000

[...] an interesting writeup from an archaeologist’s point of view. [...]

By: Dave Smith

Dave Smith — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 16:43:52 +0000

I have always been a proponent of free access to data, but have learned since that there are a number of instances where access to data can pose significant problems. Some of these are genuinely security-related (certainly the Archaeology community has concerns about sites which might stand risk of looting or being otherwise compromised), some regard confidential business information, and some may relate to pending litigation, enforcement or cost recovery. In some instances, it may relate to potential misuse of data. For example, if a third party stands up a site using governmental data, how well are we assured that the data is complete, that it is refreshed in a timely fashion, and so on?

I think the trend for the future will be better served with free live data services published out by governmental agencies, as opposed to free data as flat files ready for abuse and misuse. Archival data should also be made available – this could certainly be downloadable files – clearly documented and associated with proper metadata denoting its scope and timeframe.

I do also agree that in most instances much of the cost of developing the dataset has already been incurred by the agencies and funded via taxpayer investment, however with many budget-strapped agencies, in many instances sustainability or scalability to support external demand is difficult. The question of cost is a tricky one.

Many great points, I enjoy your blog!