That's where the copyright violation comes in. Copying descriptions from the book is clear copyright violation unless it is so minimal as to be "fair use" and I have no idea where that line is. Even Alan may not be free to add such descriptions. I have no idea what his contract with Wiley says.
So like I said in my original posting, good idea in an alternative universe where copyright law does not exist. On Sun, Jun 28, 2020 at 1:13 PM Jeff Newmiller <jdnew...@dcn.davis.ca.us> wrote: > Just describe the nature of the data sets literally as though the book was > inaccessible. They are not asking you to describe how one should analyze > the the data, so there really shouldn't be any conflict with the book > content that your agreement with the author has not already resolved. > > If you feel you are being held to a higher standard than others have > been... that is life. As a user of packages I agree with the CRAN that > package documention should be usable on its own. > > On June 28, 2020 10:58:15 AM PDT, Charles Geyer <char...@stat.umn.edu> > wrote: > >CRAN did not just ask for an expanded Description field. They > >instructed > >"Tell the users what the datasets are about and what they contain so > >they > >can use them even when they haven't read your book". AFAIK no CRAN > >package > >that goes with a book satisfies that. > > > >On Sun, Jun 28, 2020 at 12:52 PM Max Turgeon <max.turg...@umanitoba.ca> > >wrote: > > > >> Fair enough. But CRAN is clearly asking for a more detailed > >Description > >> field. I simply offered one suggestion for expanding it. Keep in mind > >> that users will typically see the DESCRIPTION file first, and not the > >help > >> pages. > >> > >> > >> Max Turgeon > >> Assistant Professor > >> Department of Statistics > >> Department of Computer Science > >> University of Manitoba > >> maxturgeon.ca > >> > >> > >> ------------------------------ > >> *From:* Charles Geyer <char...@stat.umn.edu> > >> *Sent:* June 28, 2020 12:48:06 PM > >> *To:* Max Turgeon > >> *Cc:* R Package Development > >> *Subject:* Re: [R-pkg-devel] package CatDataAnalysis > >> > >> *Caution:* This message was sent from outside the University of > >Manitoba. > >> The link to Alan's web site is on every help page (in the source > >> section). That's where the source is supposed to be. > >> > >> I have no problem with adding the source to the DESCRIPTION file, but > >that > >> is not what CRAN asked me to do. > >> > >> On Sun, Jun 28, 2020 at 12:16 PM Max Turgeon > ><max.turg...@umanitoba.ca> > >> wrote: > >> > >>> For what it's worth, I'd be inclined to interpreting CRAN's response > >>> *very* literally, i.e. your Description field is not descriptive > >enough. > >>> According to what I can see in the Github repo, you only have > >>> > >>> > >>> "Datasets used in the book Categorical Data Analysis by Agresti but > >not > >>> printed in the book." > >>> > >>> > >>> Which is not much more than what the Title field says. One glaring > >>> omission (IMO) from the Description field is any mention of > >Agresti's > >>> website, where the data comes from. > >>> > >>> > >>> In contrast, looking at the "woolridge" package, I can see from the > >>> Description field that it contains 111 datasets (well, that's in the > >Title > >>> field), it's about econometrics, and the purpose of the package is > >to make > >>> it easier for students to work with these datasets. > >>> > >>> > >>> Max Turgeon > >>> Assistant Professor > >>> Department of Statistics > >>> Department of Computer Science > >>> University of Manitoba > >>> maxturgeon.ca > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> ------------------------------ > >>> *From:* R-package-devel <r-package-devel-boun...@r-project.org> on > >>> behalf of Charles Geyer <char...@stat.umn.edu> > >>> *Sent:* June 28, 2020 11:38 AM > >>> *To:* Neal Fultz > >>> *Cc:* R Package Development > >>> *Subject:* Re: [R-pkg-devel] package CatDataAnalysis > >>> > >>> ******************************************************** > >>> Caution: This message was sent from outside the University of > >Manitoba. > >>> ******************************************************** > >>> > >>> Actually the wooldridge package does not seem to satisfy any of the > >>> specific requests CRAN asked me for. I have checked several other > >CRAN > >>> packages for textbooks and they don't seem to satisfy those > >requirements > >>> either. So this seems to be a new idea from CRAN. > >>> > >>> On Sun, Jun 28, 2020 at 11:32 AM Neal Fultz <nfu...@gmail.com> > >wrote: > >>> > >>> > I'm not sure exactly what cran is asking for, but the wooldridge > >>> > package is a good example of a text book data set package, so > >maybe > >>> > you can use the same format they did. > >>> > > >>> > https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/wooldridge/index.html > >>> > > >>> > Best, > >>> > > >>> > Neal > >>> > > >>> > On Sun, Jun 28, 2020 at 9:08 AM Charles Geyer > ><char...@stat.umn.edu> > >>> > wrote: > >>> > > > >>> > > I have a package that has the datasets for Categorical Data > >Analysis > >>> by > >>> > > Agresti that do not appear in the book. The whole package is a > >github > >>> > repo > >>> > > https://github.com/cjgeyer/CatDataAnalysis. All of the data > >were > >>> > > translated mechanically using the R script foo.R included in the > >repo > >>> > (but > >>> > > not in the package) from Agresti's web site > >>> > > http://www.stat.ufl.edu/~aa/cda/data.html. > >>> > > > >>> > > This package seems to be a useful service to students and > >teachers. > >>> The > >>> > > data > >>> > > are much simpler to use with this package than trying to get the > >data > >>> > from > >>> > > Agresti's web page (foo.R has 277 lines of code). > >>> > > > >>> > > When I submitted the package to CRAN, I got the following > >response. > >>> > > > >>> > > > The Description field of the DESCRIPTION file is intended to > >be a > >>> (one > >>> > > > paragraph) description of what the package does and why it may > >be > >>> > > > useful. Please elaborate. Tell the users what the datasets are > >about > >>> > and > >>> > > > what they contain so they can use them even when they haven't > >read > >>> your > >>> > > > book. > >>> > > > >>> > > > Please fix and resubmit, and document what was changed in the > >>> > submission > >>> > > > comments. > >>> > > > >>> > > In an alternate universe without copyright law this seems a > >reasonable > >>> > > request. In this universe it seems to be asking for trouble. I > >know > >>> > about > >>> > > fair use, but I am not a lawyer and do not want to walk the > >borderline > >>> > > between fair use and copyright violation. > >>> > > > >>> > > The package as it is seems OK because it comes from the author's > >>> public > >>> > web > >>> > > site and these data were never in the book. > >>> > > > >>> > > Please note that I made Alan Agresti (with his acquiescence) the > >>> author > >>> > of > >>> > > the package because it is his book and his data, but I (or > >rather > >>> foo.R) > >>> > > did all the work. > >>> > > > >>> > > I replied to cran.r-project.org, but that was apparently sent to > >>> > /dev/null. > >>> > > > >>> > > This book is IMHO the authoritative textbook on the subject. > >Amazon > >>> > sales > >>> > > rank agrees. The book is used for many courses. So this > >package > >>> would > >>> > be > >>> > > very helpful as is to many students and teachers. > >>> > > > >>> > > So what to do? Is there any way to get this package on CRAN? > >>> > > > >>> > > -- > >>> > > Charles Geyer > >>> > > Professor, School of Statistics > >>> > > Resident Fellow, Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science > >>> > > University of Minnesota > >>> > > char...@stat.umn.edu > >>> > > > >>> > > [[alternative HTML version deleted]] > >>> > > > >>> > > ______________________________________________ > >>> > > R-package-devel@r-project.org mailing list > >>> > > https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-package-devel > >>> > > >>> > >>> > >>> -- > >>> Charles Geyer > >>> Professor, School of Statistics > >>> Resident Fellow, Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science > >>> University of Minnesota > >>> char...@stat.umn.edu > >>> > >>> [[alternative HTML version deleted]] > >>> > >>> ______________________________________________ > >>> R-package-devel@r-project.org mailing list > >>> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-package-devel > >>> > >>> > >> > >> -- > >> Charles Geyer > >> Professor, School of Statistics > >> Resident Fellow, Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science > >> University of Minnesota > >> char...@stat.umn.edu > >> > > -- > Sent from my phone. Please excuse my brevity. > -- Charles Geyer Professor, School of Statistics Resident Fellow, Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science University of Minnesota char...@stat.umn.edu [[alternative HTML version deleted]] ______________________________________________ R-package-devel@r-project.org mailing list https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-package-devel