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MCG  November 2010

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Subject:

Re: Open data / content

From:

Claire Welsby <[log in to unmask]>

Reply-To:

Museums Computer Group <[log in to unmask]>

Date:

Thu, 25 Nov 2010 17:48:28 +0000

Content-Type:

text/plain

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Hi everyone,

Like Nick I'm trying again as I didn't see my note publish to the group. Apologies if you've received this already.

Claire
________________________________________
From: Claire Welsby
Sent: 25 November 2010 17:28
To: Museums Computer Group
Subject: RE: Open data / content

Hi everyone,

This is a timely conversation from my point of view, having published a new blog post about open data and related issues on the Kew Digital Media blog earlier this week.
http://digitaladventures.wordpress.com/

Kew hasn't done many/any real open data projects in the terms that we're talking as far as I'm aware. But we do have lots of scientific data sets about different kinds of plant, fungal and conservation information some of which link up to the various collections that we hold at Kew. All our data sets are used by scientists at Kew on a day to day basis, and many are also used by scientists around the world because they are also available online. So in a sense we have taken an open approach to our data for a while now, in terms of making it available for use.

Like Richard, the area we haven't dipped our toe in yet is publishing open data via a web service that enables 'people to use it' in the way that they want too and link it up with other data sets. As a result we have little first hand experience of the benefits that these more collaborative open data projects can bring. As I understand it, this is something that we hope to address in the next 12 months by running one or two  small open data projects.

In terms of internal stakeholders, my feeling is that there is certainly a journey to go on in terms of bringing colleagues up to speed. While some departments are across open data and very supportive of it, particularly in terms of improving access to Kew's work adn expertise, others have a low awareness and understanding of the benefits, opportunities and risks that open data projects can bring. As a result, some are understandably anxious about adopting new approaches to information sharing and citizen empowerment before they understand these aspects more fully.

Also, as a scientific organisation, there are often issues raised around timing - because science only becomes 'fact' once it's been published in a scientific journal. The other area where we often hear issues raised is 'losing control' of the use of Kew's data 'once it's out there'. How can we ensure that the quality and integrity of our data and information (and its limitations) is retained once its opened up for public use and interpretation? How can we ensure that we 'don't take things too far too soon?' So for us, issues of provenance are crucial too. I've write about this in more detail here too - http://digitaladventures.wordpress.com/

I hope this is useful. I will follow this discussion with interest.

Claire

________________________________________
From: Museums Computer Group [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Richard Light [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 25 November 2010 16:14
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Open data / content

In message
<[log in to unmask]>, Ridge
Mia <[log in to unmask]> writes
>Mike Ellis wrote:
>
>> Have museums won the open data argument with their stakeholders? (and
>I
>> guess the shadowy question behind that is "if not, why not?")
>>
>> Be interesting to hear of your experiences / thoughts..
>
>I suspect that the wider case for museums publishing open data - the
>case that 'people will use it *and* the museum will benefit' still
>hasn't been proven, or proven in the right ways and to the right people.
>I'm even wondering whether 'publishing open data is the right thing to
>do' is axiomatic among museum technologists.

In my view, people will only start using museum information in a
measurable way when it is available either as a single, massive, set of
consistent data (a "useful silo") or in the form of data which can link
out to, and mesh with, non-museum data.

Culture Grid and Europeana are examples of the first approach, and the
forthcoming Hack Day on 3 December will give us more of a sense of how
effectively Culture Grid is fulfilling that requirement.

I think the second approach - which requires you to turn much of your
stringy data into URLs and implement a Linked Data strategy - makes more
sense for a single institution, since users can then get value from the
relationship between the museum's data and the rest of the world's data.
However, I don't see more than a handful of pioneer museums even
attempting to follow this route.

So one might ask, even where museums think they are publishing open
data, whether they are doing so in a manner which will make any
difference to the public they are trying to serve.

Richard
--
Richard Light

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