Use cases

This page has some notes on the use cases that the ODRS vocabulary has been designed to support:

Allow data re-users to easily identify the license(s) associated with a dataset

Data published to the web should always be accompanied by publication metadata that describes the dataset, its source and the terms under which it can be re-used.

This information needs to be readily accessible to re-users in both human and machine-readable forms to help automated processing, aggregation and discovery of metadata within directories.

Support multiple licenses

The vocabulary should support the association of multiple licenses with a dataset. This will support the marking up of rights associated with the dataset and its contents.

While some licenses can be applied to both of these aspects of a dataset, in some cases a data publisher might choose to use different licenses.

Allow data publishers to clearly indicate their preferred form of attribution

Many data publishers require or ask for attribution when their data is re-used. Regardless of attribution requirements and norms, it is also good practice to cite sources of data used in an application (e.g. to build trust with users). The vocabulary should support data publishers in marking up their preferred form of attribution.

Allow data publishers to publich machine-readable copyright notices with open datasets

Some open licenses require re-users to preserve notices, e.g. copyright notices, that are published alongside a dataset. These notices should be available in a machine-readable form to allow re-users to easily manipulate them using automated tools, e.g. to help construct attribution links.

Support automated generation and formatting of attribution text and links

Attribution and citation of data sources can be made easier for re-users if the necessary information required to create and format an attribution statement is available in a machine-readable form. Tooling could offer simple ways to generate attribution statements, with the goals of: helping re-users meet their commitments to data publishers; encouraging community norms around attribution; converging on common patterns of attribution.

Support publication of rights statement metadata in a variety of different data formats and publication mechanisms.

Data is published in a variety of ways, using a range of data formats, packaging formats and APIs. The vocabulary should support publication and linking to rights information in all of these forms.