PerSpectIves launched

OPSI launch the PerSpectIves blog and publish Crown Copyright User Testing survey results

London: 5 June 2009

The UK Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) has launched a new blog titled PerSpectIves as a further step to raise the awareness and to connect with a wider audience with respect to the public sector information and its re-use. OPSI continue to lead with respect to the implementation of the framework established by the EU Directive 2003/98/EC. PerSpectIves is a further example of OPSI innovation in reaching out to the vast number of people that may have an interest in public sector information. The European Public Sector Information Platform wish OPSI GOOD LUCK with the PerSpectIves initiative. (refer to the announcement below)

The first item to be published on PerSpectIves are the results of a survey OPSI recently commissioned with respect to Crown copyright user testing in response to the Power of Information Task Force report.

The PerSpectIves announcement states:

“PerSpectIves (or should that be PSI perspectives?) is the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) blog. OPSI is part of The National Archives, but here we are only really focussing on re-using public sector information or the “PSI” stuff. The National Archives, of course, has a huge agenda – and enough material for dozens of blogs!

Why launch PerSpectIves? We wanted to find a way of sharing our work with a wider audience, in a more conversational style. You won't find any major policy announcements here, or official guidance, just useful background information about what we're doing and the chance to engage in a conversation. It's the web equivalent of the type of things you might hear from us at a conference or presentation – not from a Ministerial announcement or an official press release.

There will be a number of contributors to PerSpectIves, all of us civil servants, all working to the government's principles for participation online. This, and the Civil Service Code, provide the parameters within which we're all working. Those are the ground rules but we will also be learning as we go.

Quite a bit of the content will be fairly technical, as the web is so important to enabling the re-use of public sector information – and we're doing some interesting work. We will also try to surface those things that we think others will find most helpful or interesting, or where we'd really like comment and feedback.

That's it. Wish us luck! (gulp).”

Crown copyright user testing

The results of a survey that involved 1500 people have also been published. The publication announcement states:

“One of the key findings of the Power of Information Taskforce is that Crown copyright needs to be easier for people to understand. With recommendation 12 of their report the taskforce called on OPSI to “begin a communications campaign to re-present and improve understanding of the permissive aspects of Crown Copyright along the lines of creative commons by end June 2009”. In particular we were asked to give consideration to the use of symbols and other visual ways of representing re-use conditions. The idea of a “Crown Commons” brand was also mooted in discussion on the draft report as the government equivalent to creative commons.”

The Report

Bunnyfoot User Testing Report – OPSI Crown Copyright. 30 March 2009
66 pages ( Format PDF )

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