The Earthworm Society of Britain (ESB) actively encourages the use of its data and hopes that it can be used to further the current understanding of earthworms, both nationally and internationally.
At the Society, we are always interested to hear about how others have used our data (whether for use in science, sociology, art or anything else) and are glad to have produced a resource that is being put to use.
Access to ESB earthworm records
The ESB has an open data policy, allowing open access to our earthworm records with no constraints to the use of the data and ensuring records are available at the full resolution they are accepted at.
This is achieved through the submission of our databases to the NBN Gateway, and in future the NBN’s Living Atlas infrastructure projects, starting with the Atlas of Living Scotland. As a Supporter Member of the NBN we are committed to ensuring this data set is updated on a regular basis (and no less than twice per year).
Datasets that are managed by the Earthworm Society of Britain can be found through the organisation page for the ESB on the NBN Gateway:
Furthermore, we allow our records to be made available through the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (an international open data infrastructure, funded by governments) in accordance with their vision: “A world in which biodiversity information is freely and universally available for science, society and a sustainable future.”
Licences and attribution
All data submitted to the Earthworm Society of Britain is assigned a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence as it is recommended for maximum dissemination and use of licensed materials.
It allows others to:
• Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
• Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially
(The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.)
Under the following terms:
• Attribution — Users must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
• No additional restrictions — Users may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Written by the Earthworm Society of Britain
The following note was written by Keiron Brown – “My NBN conference promise in honour of John was to ensure that the ESB records would be submitted to the NBN (for the first time) and that they would always be as open as possible. I’m happy to say that the publishing of this agreement and the submission of our data (plus two subsequent updates) since the conference means that our NBN conference promise has been upheld”.