[Gbif-europe] comparing data access position across Europe

Steve.Wilkinson at jncc.gov.uk Steve.Wilkinson at jncc.gov.uk
Thu Nov 21 16:18:39 CET 2013


All,
We have a debate running within the UK at the moment around data access. A lot of the data we have mobilised has come from sources which are not funded. So we have a lot of amateur naturalists who have collated records for a taxonomic group and published these. The issue is that those that collate the records are often reluctant to openly share these (even though the original person who made the record might be happy for this to happen). As a result many are not making it onto GBIF and where they do the providers would like to really limit how the data can be used (through licensing). All this is quite counter to the mission of GBIF.

We are beginning to challenge this a bit but one thing that would be really useful to get a handle on is what the picture is like across Europe - ie. how isolated is the UK. There are obviously some very good examples. Sweden has been very successful through the on-line recording strategy. There are also some examples at the other end where more commercial mechanisms are limiting the publication to GBIF.

Mary Campling has very kindly agreed to take on a role of trying to get a summary of the situation across Europe and will be contacting you individually (we will use the contact details on the GBIF country pages initially). I would be really grateful if you could spare her a few moments just to paint a picture of what is happening in your country. The sorts of things we would like to know are:


-       Whether you are already engaging with the observational networks within your countries (i.e. groups of naturalists with a general interest in a taxonomic group that collate information on where the species have been seen). Is so, which ones and are there any gaps.

-       For these groups what is the general position on access? Are they pretty open or are there concerns, for example, around using the data commercially or for research. Also, are these reasons why more data are not being shared.

-       What if any public investment is there in these networks?

We will probably aim to do this over the next couple of months and then circulate a summary back to this group.
Many thanks in anticipation for any input you can make
Best wishes
Steve

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