Open Data Manual › Practical open data guides
Practical open data guides
The Open Data Manual explains why to open up data, what "open" means and how to do it. These guides go deeper into specific questions publishers and reusers face today: which file format to use, which licence to choose, how databases are protected in law, and how to describe datasets so that people and software can find them. Each guide cites the standard, licence text or official guidance it relies on.
Formats and metadata
- CSV vs JSON: Choosing a Format for Open Data
CSV vs JSON for publishing open data: how each format works, where each one fails, what the standards say, and when to publish both side by side.
- Metadata Standards for Open Data
A guide to metadata standards for open datasets: W3C DCAT and its versions, DCAT-US and data.json, DCAT-AP, Dublin Core, schema.org Dataset and CSV on the Web.
- The FAIR Data Principles Explained
The 15 FAIR data principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) explained one by one, with how FAIR differs from open data and how to apply it.
Licences and legal rights
- The CC0 License Explained for Data Publishers
What the CC0 public domain dedication does for datasets: the waiver, the fallback licence, database rights, what CC0 does not cover, and CC0 versus CC BY.
- Using the CC BY 4.0 License for Open Data
How CC BY 4.0 works when applied to datasets: database rights, what attribution must include, the 30-day cure period, and how it compares with OGL and ODbL.
- The Open Database License (ODbL) Explained
How the Open Database License (ODbL) works: attribution, share-alike and keep-open conditions, produced works, collective databases, and OpenStreetMap.
- Database Rights Explained for Open Data Publishers
How databases are protected: copyright in selection and arrangement, the EU and UK sui generis database right, the US Feist rule, and the effect on open data.
Related chapters in the manual
Table Of Contents
Related Topics
Practical guides
- CSV vs JSON
- Metadata standards (DCAT)
- FAIR data principles
- The CC0 license
- CC BY 4.0 for data
- Open Database License (ODbL)
- Database rights
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