Connecting to state data using OpenMissouri.org

David Herzog Reynolds Journalism Institute 2010-2011 Donald W. Reynolds Fellow @OpenMissouri

Inform Missourians about public data held by government agencies
Inspire journalists, citizens, web developers, entrepreneurs, businesses and non-profits to access and use public data in ways that enhance their civic, professional and personal lives
Serve as a platform that connects people who are using data from state and local government agencies
Educate Missourians about how they can access and use public data

U.S. government transparency
Culture of sharing

How do we use simple, freely available technology to connect people with state and local data?

Catalog: More than 250 data sets listed
Department listing: 20 state agencies
User community: 105 registered users

Sunshine request generator
Suggest a data set
Sample data
Commenting
Social-media sharing tools

Built in Rails, an open-source web framework
Other open-source or Web 2.0 components
WordPress for blogging
MailChimp for email campaigns
Disqus for commenting
AddThis social bookmarking

Pilot with Spring 2010 computer-assisted reporting class
Two master’s graduate research assistants canvassed top-level state agencies 2010-2011 school year for offline database inventories

Agencies
Sunshine contact info
Data sets

Database name
Description
Format in which data is stored
Time span covered by data
Update frequency
Cost

Before posting
Verified all information about agencies
Reviewed information about databases
After posting
Sent links to agency staff after data sets listed
Work in progress. Update as needed to maintain accuracy and timeliness

Generate Sunshine request letters
Suggest data that we should add

Add cities and counties
Add links to data
Files
Live feeds (XML, APIs)

Made platform available open source
Initiatives in other state
Software as a service (SAAS) model
Exploring funding to grow

Contact David Herzog
[email_address]
Twitter: @davidherzog
Twitter: @openmissouri
(573) 882-2127

Connecting to state data using OpenMissouri.org

by David Herzog

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