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Open Metadata Policy

To support the MIT Libraries in fulfilling its mission to provide open and equitable access to information and scholarly communications, staff at the MIT Libraries regularly engage in the acquisition, curation, and production of structured factual data that describe, arrange, identify, classify, or characterize resources collected by or made available to the Institute. This is done as a service to the MIT community to facilitate discovery and access to library collections, for the long-term preservation of the collections, and to record information about these resources for posterity.

While the primary function of these data is to enable timely discovery of, and access to, the Institute’s collections, we recognize that they also have subsequent value as collections of highly structured data about information resources (also known as “metadata”). In a world of emerging data sciences, it is now more possible and valuable than ever for researchers and creators to explore, synthesize, and reuse metadata in novel ways.

While the management of metadata is a vital service that the Libraries provide, which relies on the critical thinking and creativity of a highly skilled and engaged staff, the byproduct of those efforts–the metadata itself, a rich collection of factual information, derived from publicly issued documents and sources– should be freely available for any and all reuse, without the imposition of copyright restrictions.

Therefore, MIT explicitly waives any legal claim to copyright ownership over metadata produced by the MIT Libraries. However, not all metadata used in MIT Libraries systems is created by the MIT Libraries. Metadata incorporated into MIT Libraries systems may be subject to third-party restrictions, as described below:

  • DSpace@MIT: DSpace@MIT includes metadata created by the authors of individual documents and collections and by MIT Libraries staff. Metadata originating from MIT Libraries staff is created under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication. Where individual authors have applied a different license to their content, that license applies to any copyrightable metadata created by that author. For example, abstracts that are written by the authors of a paper, to the extent that they are copyrightable, are owned by those authors and may be licensed by such author.
  • Search Our Collections: Metadata incorporated into Search Our Collections includes metadata created and curated by MIT Libraries staff, as well as metadata obtained from OCLC, Ex Libris, and other third-party sources. Metadata originating from MIT Libraries staff is created under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication. Metadata originating from OCLC is subject to the WorldCat Rights and Responsibilities statement. Metadata originating from the Alma Community Catalog is subject to the Alma Community Catalog terms of use. Most metadata from Search Our Collections will include multiple sources, and we request that you give attribution to MIT Libraries, the OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc., and any other original metadata sources, as appropriate, to the extent it is technologically feasible to do so.
  • MIT ArchivesSpace: Finding aids from the Libraries’ Distinctive Collections in MIT ArchivesSpace are largely created by MIT Libraries staff and are created under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication unless otherwise noted in a specific finding aid. Contact Distinctive Collections for more information.
  • MIT Libraries Dataverse: Metadata in MIT Libraries Dataverse is largely created by MIT Libraries staff and is released under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication unless otherwise noted.
  • Dome: Metadata in Dome is largely created by MIT Libraries staff and is released under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication unless otherwise noted.
  • Archnet: Object metadata and collection descriptions in Archnet are created by MIT Libraries staff and by third parties. Metadata created by MIT Libraries staff is released under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication. Metadata originating from third parties may be subject to copyright. Contact archnet@mit.edu with questions about the origin of metadata.
  • GeoData: GeoData is a system that aggregates and normalizes metadata from multiple MIT and external sources. Metadata discovered through GeoData should be afforded the same rights as those applied to the originating metadata records and systems. To determine from what source the metadata in a particular GeoData result originates, see the provider field, which contains the institution that owns the metadata, and the rights field, which indicates the access rights of the metadata.
  • TIMDEX: TIMDEX is an application protocol interface (API) that aggregates and normalizes metadata from multiple sources. Metadata discovered through TIMDEX should be afforded the same rights as those applied to the originating metadata records and systems. To determine from what source the metadata in a particular TIMDEX result originates, see the source_link field, which contains the URL of the metadata record in the originating system.