
Sharing, preservation and licensing: ODC guide
The following excerpts taken from the ODC's 'Making Your Data Open: A Guide' (see recommended reading) are useful to note:
How Can I Make My Data Open?
- Make your data publicly available! If your data isn’t publicly available then you make it hard for others to use it (or even decide whether to use it).
- Apply a suitable open data license. Explicit licensing is essential to provide clarity and certainty to users and reusers (and is needed even if you want your data to be ‘public domain’).
How Do I License My Data?
Open Data Commons have already prepared a set of suitable licenses for you - all you need to do is apply one. The two basic options are:
- Public Domain: Apply the Public Domain Dedication and License - this puts all your material in the ‘Public Domain’
- Share-Alike (plus Attribution): Apply the Open Database License - like CC Attribution Share-Alike this requires public reusers of your data to share back changes (and attribute).