From Open Knowledge Foundation

OKFN GLossary

Every good discipline has its own jargon, and OKFN is no different. Below are given some of the more commonly used terms for which some clarity may be helpful:

• Brainstorming: a working session, individually or collectively, to develop ideas around a particular subject. Characterised by a 'free thinking' approach and emphasis on volume of ideas in rough form as a means to identify best solutions for further refining.
• CC-NC / CC-BY: categorisation of publication rights. CC-NC (4iii) permits one 'the right to authorize others to make any non-commercial use of the Article so long as Author receives credit as author and the journal in which the Article has been published is cited as the source of first publication of the Article'. CC-BY is what OKFN is pushing for with regards to publicly-funded scientific articles, which allows one 'to copy, distribute and transmit the work, and to adapt the work, to make commercial use of the work [under the condition that] you must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work)'.
• Lightning Talk: a fast, concise, bare-bones introduction to a particular topic, typically five minutes or less.
• Meet-up: an informal meeting with no particular outcome in mind, to share ideas and develop better understanding of each-other's roles and responsibilities. Alternatively, an excuse for a trip to the pub!
• MOU: Memorandum Of Understanding - a formal legal agreement between organisations prior to engagement, to protect discussions.
• Slidedeck: a collection of helpful slides for use by anyone going to talk on behalf of the OKFN.
• Soap-box Video: short videos for pitching ideas which will be collated in a library for later reference.
• Speed-geeking: a forum for sharing of problems and ideas between technicians, akin to format of speed-dating whereby emphasis is on making connections within a short time-frame.
• Sprint: a focused, insulated hack or discussion around a particular project or problem.
• Stand-up: concise meeting with precise and measured objectives as a means to update project members on broad status of project. Emphasis on communication of key points and allocation of actions.
• Time-box: a rigid time-slot (noun), to allocate an inflexible period of time (verb).