Open Site
Encyclopedia
Open-Site, the Open Encyclopedia Project, is a free internet
encyclopedia
founded in 2002 by Michael J. Flickinger in an effort to build a free categorized community-built encyclopedia, inspired by the Open Directory Project
. The Open Site software is open source
under the Mozilla Public License
and the content is free content
under the GNU Free Documentation License
.
based on that of Open Directory Project
, of which it is a spin-off.
Open-Site has the following main categories, under which most content is organized in several layers of subcategories.
In addition to these major topical English categories, the Open-Site encyclopedia also has the following other top-level categories.
The live pages and an RDF
file are both available for public use, provided an appropriate notation of credit is provided. Open-Site lists nine websites that use its data.
The new encyclopedia aims to provide mostly original content written specifically for children. It is currently in the pre-publication production stage.
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
encyclopedia
Encyclopedia
An encyclopedia is a type of reference work, a compendium holding a summary of information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge....
founded in 2002 by Michael J. Flickinger in an effort to build a free categorized community-built encyclopedia, inspired by the Open Directory Project
Open Directory Project
The Open Directory Project , also known as Dmoz , is a multilingual open content directory of World Wide Web links. It is owned by Netscape but it is constructed and maintained by a community of volunteer editors.ODP uses a hierarchical ontology scheme for organizing site listings...
. The Open Site software is open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
under the Mozilla Public License
Mozilla Public License
The Mozilla Public License is a free and open source software license. Version 1.0 was developed by Mitchell Baker when she worked as a lawyer at Netscape Communications Corporation and version 1.1 at the Mozilla Foundation...
and the content is free content
Free content
Free content, or free information, is any kind of functional work, artwork, or other creative content that meets the definition of a free cultural work...
under the GNU Free Documentation License
GNU Free Documentation License
The GNU Free Documentation License is a copyleft license for free documentation, designed by the Free Software Foundation for the GNU Project. It is similar to the GNU General Public License, giving readers the rights to copy, redistribute, and modify a work and requires all copies and...
.
Category system
The Open-Site encyclopedia uses an ontologyOntology (computer science)
In computer science and information science, an ontology formally represents knowledge as a set of concepts within a domain, and the relationships between those concepts. It can be used to reason about the entities within that domain and may be used to describe the domain.In theory, an ontology is...
based on that of Open Directory Project
Open Directory Project
The Open Directory Project , also known as Dmoz , is a multilingual open content directory of World Wide Web links. It is owned by Netscape but it is constructed and maintained by a community of volunteer editors.ODP uses a hierarchical ontology scheme for organizing site listings...
, of which it is a spin-off.
Open-Site has the following main categories, under which most content is organized in several layers of subcategories.
- Arts – covering creative pursuitsArtArt is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
and entertainmentEntertainmentEntertainment consists of any activity which provides a diversion or permits people to amuse themselves in their leisure time. Entertainment is generally passive, such as watching opera or a movie. Active forms of amusement, such as sports, are more often considered to be recreation...
. - Business – covering businessBusinessA business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
and financeFinance"Finance" is often defined simply as the management of money or “funds” management Modern finance, however, is a family of business activity that includes the origination, marketing, and management of cash and money surrogates through a variety of capital accounts, instruments, and markets created...
. - Computers – covering computerComputerA computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
s and the internetInternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
. - Games – covering video games and various other gamesGameA game is structured playing, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes used as an educational tool. Games are distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more often an expression of aesthetic or ideological elements...
. - Health – covering human healthHealthHealth is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...
and animal health. - Home – covering the homeHouseA house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...
and familyFamilyIn human context, a family is a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity, or co-residence. In most societies it is the principal institution for the socialization of children...
. - Recreation – covering recreationRecreationRecreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for enjoyment, amusement, or pleasure and are considered to be "fun"...
and leisureLeisureLeisure, or free time, is time spent away from business, work, and domestic chores. It is also the periods of time before or after necessary activities such as eating, sleeping and, where it is compulsory, education....
. - Regional – covering countriesCountryA country is a region legally identified as a distinct entity in political geography. A country may be an independent sovereign state or one that is occupied by another state, as a non-sovereign or formerly sovereign political division, or a geographic region associated with a previously...
and localities. - Science – covering social sciencesSocial sciencesSocial science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
, mathematicsMathematicsMathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
and scienceScienceScience is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
. - Society – covering peoplePersonA person is a human being, or an entity that has certain capacities or attributes strongly associated with being human , for example in a particular moral or legal context...
and societySocietyA society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...
. - Sports – covering various sports, including hockeyHockeyHockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...
, soccer and baseballBaseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
.
In addition to these major topical English categories, the Open-Site encyclopedia also has the following other top-level categories.
- International – contains the encyclopedia in several other languages.
- News – updates on current eventsNewsNews is the communication of selected information on current events which is presented by print, broadcast, Internet, or word of mouth to a third party or mass audience.- Etymology :...
. - Kids – a children's internet encyclopedia in several languages.
Using Open-Site data
On the main page of Open Site, it states: "Open-Site is edited by volunteer editors and its content is freely available for everyone under the GNU Free Documentation License."The live pages and an RDF
Resource Description Framework
The Resource Description Framework is a family of World Wide Web Consortium specifications originally designed as a metadata data model...
file are both available for public use, provided an appropriate notation of credit is provided. Open-Site lists nine websites that use its data.
Open Site children's encyclopedia
In August 2004 the Open Site Foundation launched a children's encyclopedia based on the Open Site encyclopedia and the Kids and Teens Open Directory Project. It was formed by a group of editors from both projects. Open-Site Meta Editor and Open Directory Project KCatmv editor lufiaguy originated the idea.The new encyclopedia aims to provide mostly original content written specifically for children. It is currently in the pre-publication production stage.
Open-Site charter
Open Site operates under a charter written by the founders of Open Site when it started in 2002. The key elements of the charter are:- Everyone has the right to apply to become an editor and to become involved in the project.
- Everyone has the right to use Open Site data with few restrictions.
- Everyone has the right to access and discuss policies and guidelines.
- Everyone has the right to hold and express their own personal opinions in discussion.
- The Open Site community will manage itself.
- Everyone has the right to choose when and how they contribute to the project.
- Everyone has the right to propose and submit content to the encyclopedia.