Glossary
per-dataset license field
per-dataset license field is per-record license pointer in Data.gov metadata: because harvested federal, state, county and municipal sources bring differing terms, each dataset's license field must be checked individually before any redistribution. In Datadory's catalog of 1,744 datasets, Data.gov - Utilities Catalog Search terms_notes and Data.gov - Utilities Catalog Search licensing are working examples.
What is per-dataset license field?
The per-record license pointer in Data.gov metadata: because harvested federal, state, county and municipal sources bring differing terms, each dataset's license field must be checked individually before any redistribution.
In this catalog it appears concretely: - Data.gov - Utilities Catalog Search terms_notes — "individual records may carry licence fields pointing to specific terms (one verified record cited delivery terms/)". - Data.gov - Utilities Catalog Search licensing — "Varies by source dataset; US federal works are generally commercial delivery terms, some state/local sets carry their own open licences (e.g. ODC-commercial delivery terms)".
Data.gov - Utilities Catalog Search licensing is the second reference point worth knowing: "Varies by source dataset; US federal works are generally commercial delivery terms, some state/local sets carry their own open licences (e.g. ODC-commercial delivery terms)". Reading the two together shows how much variation sits underneath one shared label.
Why does per-dataset license field matter when choosing a dataset?
License language decides what you may ship to customers. Misreading it has ended product launches, and the gap between free to view and free to redistribute is where most of those failures begin.
The failure mode is concrete: a source can carry the per-dataset license field label while differing from what you need on exactly the dimension that matters — individual records may carry licence fields pointing to specific terms (one verified record cited delivery terms/). Comparing two sources on that line usually settles the choice faster than any feature matrix.
You rarely have to take a vendor's word for it. 82.4% of the 1,744 datasets Datadory catalogs are free to access, and Data.gov - Utilities Catalog Search terms_notes lets you inspect the real artifact before any budget is committed.
How do you evaluate per-dataset license field in a data source?
Treat every claim of this attribute as testable:
- Open Data.gov - Utilities Catalog Search terms_notes and confirm its record — "individual records may carry licence fields pointing to specific terms (one verified record cited delivery terms/)" — against the files you actually receive. 2.
Related terms
Adjacent concepts worth reading next: - commercial delivery terms license - dcat us metadata record - OPEN Government Data Act
Frequently asked questions
What is an example of per-dataset license field?
Data.gov - Utilities Catalog Search terms_notes is the clearest example in this catalog. Its record states: "individual records may carry licence fields pointing to specific terms (one verified record cited delivery terms/)". Across all 1,744 datasets Datadory averages a quality score of 7.81 out of 10, so a named example can be weighed rather than trusted blindly.
Is data described as "per-dataset license field" free to use?
Treat access and permission separately. 82.4% of the 1,744 datasets in this catalog are free to access, but 235 are freemium and 61 are paid outright, so confirm both the price and the license on the exact distribution before building on it.
How do I verify a source really provides per-dataset license field?
Open Data.gov - Utilities Catalog Search terms_notes next to Data.gov - Utilities Catalog Search licensing and compare the promise with the download. Field definitions are verified for 1495 of 1,744 datasets (85.7%), which makes that check fast inside the catalog and manual outside it.
Datasets containing this field
Datasets containing per-dataset license field
6 datasets carry per-dataset license field in the catalog. Open one, count the fields, judge for yourself.
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