Transcript Web 2.0 Numeric Data Visualisation Tools

Open Data, Open Minds - Web 2.0 Data
Visualisation Tools
Stuart Macdonald
DISC-UK Datashare
EDINA National Data Centre & Edinburgh University
Data Library
Edinburgh Repository Fringe – Friday 1 August
2008
Context
• DISC-UK DataShare Project – funded by JISC (March 2007 – March
2009) - a collaborative project led by the University of Edinburgh,
with the University of Oxford, the University of Southampton and the
London School of Economics (Associate Partner).
• Investigate the legal, cultural and technical issues surrounding
research data sharing within UK tertiary education community
• Explore new pathways to assist academics wishing to share their
data over the Internet via Institutional Repositories (IRs)
Edinburgh Repository Fringe – Friday 1 August
2008
Data Visualisation:
The set of techniques used to turn a set of data into visual insight.
It aims to give the data a meaningful representation by exploiting
the powerful discerning capabilities of the human eye*.
* Edinburgh Online Graphics Dictionary – http://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/rbf/GRDICT/grdict.htm
Edinburgh Repository Fringe – Friday 1 August
2008
Spatial Data Visualisation
• Programmableweb http://www.programmableweb.com/tag/mapping - map or spatial
mash-up ‘resource discovery tool’
• GeoCommons – http://geocommons.com/ - ‘brings intelligence
to the GeoWeb, unleashing tools and data’ (downloadable as CSV,
KML, Shape) – see also Platial, Mapbuilder, Mapufacture
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BODC
SRON & KMNI
U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center
USGS Earthquake Hazards Program
• UNHCR layer in Google Earth – mash together news, images,
video, statistical databases relating to refugees across the globe
via the “Google Earth Outreach programme” http://www.unhcr.org/events/47f48dc92.html
Edinburgh Repository Fringe – Friday 1 August
2008
• UCL Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis – develop computing
technologies in several disciplines which deal with geography, space, location and the
built environment http://www.casa.ucl.ac.uk/
• GeoVUE – one of the 7 nodes of the National Centre for e-Social Science set up to
develop ‘new kinds of virtual urban environments’ (VUEs) through which users can
participate in furthering their understanding of cities
• London Profiler - link publicly available datasets such as Population Census
to non-proprietary mapping e.g. visualising a neighbourhood's geodemographic
profile using different area classifications through Google Maps http://www.londonprofiler.org/
• MapTube – a free resource for viewing, sharing, mixing and mashing maps
online created by GMapCreator.
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Engage in other forms of collaboration e.g. Virtual London (via Second Life)
Edinburgh Repository Fringe – Friday 1 August
2008
• …and there’s more
• John Hopkins University’s Interactive Map Tool
• Supports digital field assignments allowing users to create custom mashups using a
variety of digital media, text and data – http://www.cer.jhu/index.cfm?pageID=351
• Minnesota Interactive Internet Mapping Project
• A mapping application that provides maps and imagery similar to Google Maps – claims
to be data rich, interactive, secure, easy to use, have analytical capabilities http://maps.umn.edu/
• Research at Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona
• Researchers mining spatial-temporal data provided by geotagged Flickr photos of urban
locations – http://www.giradin.org/fabien/tracing/
• Thematicmapping.org
Thematic Mapping Engine (TME) enables you to visualise global statistics on Google
Earth. The primary data source is UNData - http://blog.thematicmapping.org/
Edinburgh Repository Fringe – Friday 1 August
2008
Numeric Data Visualisation Tools:
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‘Open’ ethos – anyone can upload/download or use data
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Commercial Services embracing Web 2.0 business models
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Collaborative and participatory – “harnessing collective
intelligence”
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Easy to use
Edinburgh Repository Fringe – Friday 1 August
2008
But …
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Ephemeral nature of web
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Not trusted repositories / archives
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If it’s computer generated and looks good it must be
right!
Palimpsest Project - http://research.google.com
Edinburgh Repository Fringe – Friday 1 August
2008
Numeric Data Visualisation Tools
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Upload data file
Comparison of 8 Web 2.0 numeric data visualisation tools
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2008
Horizontal Bar Chart
Pie Chart
Edinburgh Repository Fringe – Friday 1 August
2008
Macro-data Visualisation
• OECD Country Statistical Profiles – OECD statistics in SDMX
(Statistical Data Mark-up eXchange) http://stats.oecd.org/nawwe/csp/default.html
• IMF Data Mapper - http://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/index.php
• Stat@tlas Europe - An online atlas of European statistical themes
hosted by the Federal Statistical Office of Switzerland
• Eurostat Tables Graphs Maps (TGM) - an interactive user interface
to Eurostat data
• UNData – http://data.un.org/ & UNEP Global Environment
Outlook (GEO) Data Portal - http://geodata.grid.unep.ch/ - spatial and
numeric data visualisation tools
Edinburgh Repository Fringe – Friday 1 August
2008
Food for thought ….
• Are such utilities a flash in the pan or here to stay?
• Are they more appealing for researchers than IRs?
• Is such functionality desirable in IRs?
• Do they lack gravitas for academic purposes?
• Can/should institutions support the use of these tools?
• Do such ‘open data’ resources contribute to the ‘Global
Database’?
Edinburgh Repository Fringe – Friday 1 August
2008
Thank You
DISC-UK DataShare
[email protected]
Edinburgh Repository Fringe – Friday 1 August
2008