Don't Think Websites, think data

don’t think websites: think data [ the surprising conclusions of someone who prefers content to technology ] www.slideshare.net/dmje

actually, the real title is this: > ten reasons why you should pay attention to the geeks because actually they have something quite important to say which us non-geeky people should be listening to

(you wouldn’t have come along if I’d said that before)

first, the geek snigger test

hardcore geek http://xkcd.com/327/

amateur geek http://www.neologies.net/2007/03/html-tattoo.html

(awake?) http://boingboing.net/2006/11/02/hilarious-piechartvi.html

what will you come away from this talk with?

I want to: 1. Convince you that good content is content that has been set free 2. Demonstrate 10 reasons why machine-readableness is a good thing 3. Give you 5 ideas about how do “do it” 4. Not be technical* * depending on the outcome of the geek snigger test

...simple, really.

consider the value of locked-in content

http://www.ucas.com/instit/i/h60.html locked in = single purpose single purpose = waste http://www.jisc.ac.uk/events.aspx http://unicorn.lib.ic.ac.uk/uhtbin/opac/webcentral http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/single.htm?ipg=8727

why are we here? “..[to decide] the next steps that need to be taken to ensure the sustained integration of digitised content into research and education ”

Catherine Grout, jdcc09: “content needs to be made available quickly, easily, and in a way that suits individual needs”

and the answer is...?

microformats API RDF OpenSearch RSS actually, it’s these: machine-readability RDFa REST JSON iCal

(i.e. stuff that a computer can get at when it comes to your site)

“machine readable” is a bit of a mouthful, so how about.. MRD: “machine readable data”

purists might argue with this but we're going to ignore them

browsers (therefore people) read html <tr> <td colspan="2"> <div class="mxb"> <h1>John Simpson: Secret voices of the new Iran</h1> <p>John Simpson reporting from Tehran before his visa ran out on Sunday... </div> </td> </tr>

non-browsers read non-html <rss version="2.0"> <channel> <title> John Simpson: Secret voices of the new Iran </title> <link>http://bbc.co.uk/.../</link> <description> John Simpson reporting from Tehran before his visa ran out on Sunday...

microformats API RDF OpenSearch RSS these things are the non-html bit RDFa REST JSON iCal

geeks are signed up to MRD

the importance of this isn’t immediately clear and certainly hasn’t been well communicated

now is the time to convince the non-geeks that they should invest* in these approaches * attention, not necessarily money

ten reasons to stop thinking websites ...and start thinking data

1: content is still king, and always will be

MRD is a content concern, not a technical one

2: re-use is not just good, it's essential

3: life is easier when you (everyone) can get at your data "wouldn't it be great if..."

archive? ...? run a report? make it pretty? re-purpose? make it more searchable? have a mobile version? run a kiosk? build a widget?

4: content development is cheaper

launchball www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/launchball

5: things get more visual

http://visibletweets.com/

seattle public library: http://bit.ly/Bmc8N

6: taking content to users, not users to content

your content on other sites

7: it doesn’t have to be very hard

8: you can't hide your content

http://developer.yahoo.com/yql http://hoard.it

Thanks to Tony Hirst: http://bit.ly/8zwEn

9: we really is bigger and better than me

positive externality “ next up are the Network Effects. here’s a classic example: the more people who own telephones, the more useful they become. There is a *positive externality* - a user doesn’t intend for their phone to create value for others, but it does ” 46

10: traffic

but how? 48

if you love it, set it free (you lost control anyway)

don’t ever stop thinking users

microformats API RDF OpenSearch RSS start small RDFa REST JSON iCal

always think: “what if...?” 52

never, ever procure technology again without asking: “where is the [API]?”...

the takeaway thought At some point in the future, you’ll want to do “something else” with your content. Right now, you have no idea whatsoever what that thing is. These techniques allow you to make a worthwhile investment in a future no-one can know.

thanks for listening mike.ellis@eduserv.org.uk twitter.com/m1ke_ellis electronicmuseum.org.uk www.slideshare.net/dmje

thanks to these people, too abstract http://www.flickr.com/photos/toxi/292509986/ empty room http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinkmoose/2355080489/ answer http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrs_logic/3320303076/ components http://www.flickr.com/photos/storm-crypt/2078500698/ sea http://www.flickr.com/photos/ezioman/410307927/ destroy purists http://www.flickr.com/photos/apeology/2335392254/ print screen http://www.flickr.com/photos/p1r/1351558354/ bad communication http://www.flickr.com/photos/shelleygibb/3372412222/ pay attention http://www.flickr.com/photos/subliminal/511527000/ ten http://www.flickr.com/photos/spilt-milk/164145237/ content http://www.flickr.com/photos/p373/2537069802/ re-use http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcusq/3032678489/ just relax http://www.flickr.com/photos/victornuno/205239817/ cheap http://www.flickr.com/photos/project-404/142767581/ visual http://www.flickr.com/photos/danielaguilar/2967187605/ crowd http://www.flickr.com/photos/kalieye/3265551769/ simple http://www.flickr.com/photos/martynf65/3494532917/ hidden http://www.flickr.com/photos/tiggywinkle/54801422/ social network http://www.flickr.com/photos/gustavog/4557105/ traffic http://www.flickr.com/photos/djwudi/268382948/ free birds http://www.flickr.com/photos/frankloohuis/468320896/ freedom http://www.flickr.com/photos/josefgrunig/1732787905/ night fight http://www.flickr.com/photos/strocchi/295280599/

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Don't Think Websites, think data

by Mike Ellis on Jul 13, 2009

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Don’t Think Websites, think data — Presentation Transcript