The notion of allowing access to your website content and data via API's and other machine readable means is well embedded in geek circles. ...
The notion of allowing access to your website content and data via API's and other machine readable means is well embedded in geek circles.
This presentation aims to look at the non-technical reasons why these approaches are a good idea, arguing that it is time for Machine Readable Data (MRD) approaches to be better communicated to content owners, budget holders and other non-technical stakeholders.
Zak Mensah, e-learning at University of BristolI also really enjoyed this talk. We have been saying about making all of our content available in ways that others can use and have begun this. So its great to be able to point to your work and be one of the telephones without masking tape! your point in the comments about evidence of ROI is crucial too, and that applies to other services like my use of SlideShare and Twitter etc.
*Also loved the iceberg slide - users dont care what lies beneath.
Cheers3 years ago
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Mike Ellis, Director at Thirty8 DigitalThanks Scott - your positive comment is appreciated. I think a lot of the knowledge is starting to build - evidence on ROI, information on what works and what doesn't. It just needs a channeling process to ensure that as many relevant people as possible get to share that information. I did a blog post to hang off these slides over at http://electronicmuseum.org.uk/2009/07/13/pushing-mrd-out-from-under-the-geek-rock/3 years ago
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Scott Leslie, Educational Technologist at BCcampusGreat talk, and fantastic images. The trick, it would seem, is figuring out what the bare minimum conditions for re-use/re-mix are. What do we need to insist on at the outset, even when we don't yet know all the ways in which the data is to be reused, but that aren't such ridiculously high barriers that they needlessly burden early-stage projects. insisting on asking 'where is the api?' when procuring new apps/services is a good one. So is clean XHTML. It will differ for different projects, but I wonder if there are already some simple heuristics to point people at who are starting new projects? In any case, great talk, the non-geeks need to understand this.3 years ago
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)
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”
(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/
Gam Dias
shit 3 years ago
your point in the comments about evidence of ROI is crucial too, and that applies to other services like my use of SlideShare and Twitter etc.
*Also loved the iceberg slide - users dont care what lies beneath.
Cheers 3 years ago