It's been a while since I posted a more personal update here. But, as I announced this morning, I've got a new job! I thought I'd write a quick overview of what I'll be doing and what I hope to achieve. I've been considering giving up freelancing for a while now. I've been doing it on … Continue reading Under construction
Category: The Commons
Bath Playbills 1812-1851
This weekend I published scans of over 2000 historical playbills for the Theatre Royal in Bath. Here are some notes on whey they come from and how they might be useful. The scans are all available on Flickr and have been placed into the public domain under a CC0 waiver. You're free to use them … Continue reading Bath Playbills 1812-1851
We can strengthen data infrastructure by analysing open data
Data is infrastructure for our society and businesses. To create stronger, sustainable data infrastructure that supports a variety of users and uses, we need to build it in a principled way. Over time, as we gain experience with a variety of infrastructures supporting both shared and open data, we can identify the common elements of … Continue reading We can strengthen data infrastructure by analysing open data
Thank you for the data
Here are three anecdotes that show ways in which I've shared data with different types of organisation, and how they've shared data with me. Last year we donated some old children's toys and books to Julian House. When we dropped them off, I signed a Gift Aid declaration to allow the charity to claim additional … Continue reading Thank you for the data
“The Rock Thane”, an open data parable
In a time long past, in a land far away, there was a once a troubled kingdom. Despite the efforts of the King to offer justice freely to all, many of his subjects were troubled by unscrupulous merchants and greedy landowners. Time and again, the King heard claims of goods not being delivered, or disputes … Continue reading “The Rock Thane”, an open data parable
Data is infrastructure, so it needs a design manual
Data is like roads. Roads help us navigate to a destination. Data helps us navigate to a decision. I like that metaphor. It helps to highlight the increasingly important role that data plays in modern society and business. Roads help us travel to work and school. They also support a variety of different business uses. … Continue reading Data is infrastructure, so it needs a design manual
Lunchtime Lecture: “How you (yes, you) can contribute to open data”
The following is a written version of the lunchtime lecture I gave today at the Open Data Institute. I'll put in a link to the video when it comes online. It's not a transcript, I'm just writing down what I had planned to say. https://www.slideshare.net/ldodds/how-you-yes-you-can-contribute-to-open-data Hello! I'm going to talk today about some of the … Continue reading Lunchtime Lecture: “How you (yes, you) can contribute to open data”
Where can you contribute to open data? Yes, you!
This is just a quick post to gather together some pointers and links that were shared in answer to a question I asked on twitter yesterday: https://twitter.com/ldodds/status/867295476151980032 I want to try out a bunch of different services to explore how easy it is for people to contribute to open data project. Because I'm interested in … Continue reading Where can you contribute to open data? Yes, you!
Can you publish tweets as open data?
Can you publish data from twitter as open data? The short answer is: No. Read on for some notes, pointers and comments. Twitter's developer policy places a number of restrictions on your use of their API and the data you get from it. Some of the key ones are: In the Restrictions on Use of … Continue reading Can you publish tweets as open data?
Enabling data forensics
I'm interested in how people share information, particularly data, on social networks. I think it's something to which it's worth paying attention, so we can ensure that it's easy for people to share insights and engage in online debates. There's lots of discussion at the moment around fact checking and similar ways that we can improve … Continue reading Enabling data forensics
Lost Boy 