October 30, 2015 Geographical Names Board of Canada16th Annual Meeting 395 Wellington Street

1. October 30, 2015
Geographical Names Board of Canada
16th Annual Meeting
395 Wellington Street
WOOD QUAY VENUE, DUBLIN, 24 APRIL 2015
Dr Tracey P. Lauriault
Communication Studies
School of Journalism and
Communication
Tracey.Lauriault@carleton.ca
@TraceyLauriault
Translating Databased Meaning

2. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
TOC
1. Critical Data Studies
2. Linked Logainm Project
3. Ontologizing
4. Conclusion

3. CRITICAL DATA STUDIES

4. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
Research and thinking that applies critical social theory to data to explore
the ways in which they are never
 simply neutral,
 objective,
 independent,
 raw representations of the world,
Data are instead understood to be:
 situated,
 contingent,
 relational,
 contextual, and
 do active work in the world.
CRITICAL DATA STUDIES
Image Source: A data culture for everyone, Official Microsoft Blog, Posted April 15,
2014 By Satya Nadella - Chief Executive Officer, Microsoft,
http://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2014/04/15/a-data-culture-for-everyone/

5. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
1. Situate data regimes in time and space
2. Expose data as inherently political and whose
interests they serve
3. Unpack the complex, non-deterministic relationship
between data and society
4. Illustrate the ways in which data are never raw
5. Expose the fallacies that data can speak for
themselves and that big data will replace small data
6. Explore how new data regimes can be used in socially
progressive ways
7. Examine how academia engages with new data
regimes and the opportunities of such engagement.
7 PROVOCATIONS
Craig Dalton and Jim Thatcher, 2014, What does a critical data studies look like, and why do we care? Seven points for a critical approach
to ‘big data’, The Society and Space, Environment and Planning D: Society and Space http://societyandspace.com/material/commentaries/craig-dalton-and-
jim-thatcher-what-does-a-critical-data-studies-look-like-and-why-do-we-care-seven-points-for-a-critical-approach-to-big-data/
Image Source: Economic Times, Indicators page, 2013 http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-03-13/news/37683866_1_trade-data-
interstate-trade-inter-state-trade
(The government is ready with a
roadmap to capture interstate trade
data, considered as essential for the
proposed Goods and Service Tax
regime, )

6. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
Unpack the complex assemblages that produce, circulate, share/sell and
utilise data in diverse ways;
Chart the diverse work they do and their consequences for how the world
is known, governed and lived-in;
Survey the wider landscape of data assemblages and how they interact to
form intersecting data products, services and markets and shape policy
and regulation.
CRITICAL DATA STUDIES VISION
Image Source: General Dynamics IT Publish Health Data Whitepapers, 2014,
http://www.itwnetworks.com/blog/view/general-dynamics-it-publish-health-data-whitepapers
Rob Kitchin and Tracey P. Lauriault, Forthcoming, Toward a Critical Data Studies: Charting and Unpacking Data Assemblages and their Work, in J. Eckert,, A. Shears
& J. Thatcher, Geoweb and Big Data, University of Nebraska Press , Pre-Print http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2474112

7. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
Are more than the unique arrangement of
objective and politically neutral facts
&
they do not exist independently of ideas,
techniques, technologies, systems, people and
contexts regardless of them being presented in
that way
DATA – BIG OR SMALL
Tracey P. Lauriault, 2012, Data, Infrastructures and Geographical Imaginations. Ph.D. Thesis, Carleton University, Ottawa,
http://curve.carleton.ca/theses/27431

8. LINKED LOGAINM

9. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
PLACE NAMES
Special instructions, concerning the treatment
of Placenames, issued by the officer in charge
of the survey Lt. Col. Thomas Colby (1829?)
 “The persons employed on the survey are to endeavour to
obtain the correct orthography of the names of places
diligently consulting the best authorities within their reach.
 The name of each place is to be inserted as it is commonly
spelt, in the first column of the name book; and the various
modes of spelling it used in books, writings &c., are to be
inserted in the second column, with the authority placed in
the third column opposite to each.
 The situation of the place is to be recorded in a popular
manner in the fourth column of the namebook.
 A short description of the place and any other remarkable
circumstances relating to it are to be inserted.
This data was recorded in Namebooks which are now
stored in the National Archive.”
http://www.osi.ie/education/third-level-and-academic/history-of-
place-names/

10. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
TRANSLATIONS
Set in Baile Beag, County Donegal, in
1833
Turbulent times in the British Colony.
The British want to map the island
and translate Gaelic place names
into proper standardized English.
Brian Friel, 1981, Translations: A Play, London: Faber & Faber

11. Brian Friel, 1981, Translations: A Play, London: Faber & Faber

12. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
LINKED LOGAINM
 Linked Data version of the authoritative bilingual database of
Irish place names logainm.ie.
 Irish place name data in a structured, computer-readable
format which allows its value to be fully exploited by
collaborators, web developers, computer scientists, the
heritage community and information professionals.
 Collaborative project:
 Digital Repository of Ireland (DRI)
 INSIGHT @ NUIGalway (Digital Enterprise Research Institute DERI)
 Fiontar at Dublin City University
 National Library of Ireland - Longfield Map Collection
 Placenames Branch of the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht

13. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
AUTHORITY

14. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
LOGAINM.IE
http://www.logainm.ie

15. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
LINKED DATA
Data published on the web
following a set of principles
designed to promote linking
between entities:
UI
 Uniform Resource Identifier (URI)
RDF
 Resource Description Framework to
specify links & type between 2 URIs
(w3c)
GLD
 Geographic Linked Data
w/geolocation in Irish Grid
Reference & World Geodetic System
coordinates
Logainm.ie is the authoritative subdomain in the
URI
Data can be reused to build applications
SPARQL
 RDF query language

16. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
LOCATION LODER logainm.ie
DBpedia
 The data held in Wikipedia’s infoboxes are made
available as Linked Open Data via DBpedia.org.
Irish Historic Town Atlas
 Established in 1981 aims to record the
topographical development of a selection of Irish
towns both large and small. This dataset tracks
changes to streets and street names in Dublin over
time, and includes bibliographic references to
original sources where present.
National Library of Ireland
 Longfield map collection consists of 1,671
individual maps bound into twenty-eight volumes.
The maps represent all counties in Ireland with the
exception of Kerry.
Europeana.eu
 is an internet portal which acts as a hub for digitized
cultural content across Europe. Content on
Europeana includes digitised artworks, books,
archival documents, film and audio.
http://apps.dri.ie/locationLODer/

17. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
SOURCES
H. B. Clarke and Sarah Gearty, 2013, Maps & Texts: Exploring the Irish Historic Town Atlas.
Dublin: Royal Irish Academy

18. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
JOHN O'DONOVAN, GLOSSARY, IRISH
TOPOG[RAPHICAL] DICT[IONARY]
MANUSCRIPT 1830-1832
 “A glossary in alphabetical order of various Anglicised
placename elements, followed by their Irish forms and a
translation.
 ‘Derivation of all the names of places in
Lanigan’s Ecclesiastical History of Ireland [four volumes,
1822] as given by himself, by Vallancey and others with
remarks by J. O’Donovan. December 23, 1830’.
 ‘A list of Irish words that enter into the composition of
many names of places in Ireland’. The Irish words are
followed by a translation and generally by relevant examples
from placenames. Some personal names and surnames are
also included.
 ‘A list of saints’ names to whom Irish church[es] were
dedicated’. This short list is on the final verso page and
includes toponymic examples of the saints’ names.”
http://www.logainm.ie/en/res/179
John O'Donovan, Ordnance Survey

19. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
BIOGRAPHIES
National Database of Irish Biographies with publishers Cló Iar-Chonnacht. This features
more than 1,700 people since the year 1560 who have had an involvement with the Irish
language. There is an alphabetical listing as well as comprehensive cross-referencing, full-text
search for keywords and phrases, timelines, and life attributes such as works, awards and events
http://www.ainm.ie/
.

20. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
TERMINOLOGY
National Terminology Database with Foras na Gaeilge. This is a 200,000+ listing
of Irish-language terms in specialised and contemporary subjects.
http://www.tearma.ie/

21. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
FOLKLORE
The objective is to initiate the digitization of
the National Folklore Collection (NFC) so
that, by 2016:
(i) the public will have access to material from
the Collection on the public website (ii) a data
management system will be available for NFC
to which other material can be added in future.
http://www.duchas.ie/en

22. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
AUDIO RECORDINGS
+1,200 hours of recordings made in the 1960s and 1970s in 24 counties and placenames were
collected from more than 4,000. The audio material and its catalogue were digitized in 2009 & the
database was created in Fiontar as part of an MA Research Fellowship undertaken by Cáit Nic
Fhionnlaoich, 2010–2011, sponsored by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
http://www.logainm.ie/phono/

23. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
DOCUMENTATION
http://apps.dri.ie/locationLODer/docs/linked
_logainm_narrative_report_en.pdf
http://apps.dri.ie/locationLODer/docs/usi
ng_linked_logainm_en.pdf

24. ONTOLOGIZING

25. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
THE PROGRAMMABLE CITY
A European Research Council (ERC) and Science
Foundation of Ireland (SFI) funding
 SH3: Environment and Society
 Led by Dr Rob Kitchin, the Primary Investigator
 Based at the National Institute for Regional and Spatial
Analysis (NIRSA)
 At the National University of Ireland Maynooth (NUIM)
 The Programmable City is funded by a European Research
Council Advanced Investigator award (ERC-2012-AdG-
323636-SOFTCITY.

26. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
MIT Press 2011 Sage 2014
Of the ERC
project is to build
off and extend a
decade of work
that culminated
in Code/Space
book (MIT Press)
with a set of
detailed
empirical studies
AIM

27. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
OBJECTIVES
How is the city translated into software and data?
How do software and data reshape the city?
Translation:
City into Code &
Data
Transduction:
Code & Data
Reshapes City
THE CITYSOFTWARE
Discourses, Practices, Knowledge, Models
Mediation, Augmentation, Facilitation, Regulation

28. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
SUB-PROJECTS
Translation:
City into code & data
Transduction:
Code & data reshape
city
Understanding
the city
(Knowledge)
How are digital data materially
& discursively supported &
processed about cities & their
citizens?
How does software drive public
policy development &
implementation?
Managing
the city
(Governance)
How are discourses & practices
of city governance translated
into code?
How is software used to
regulate & govern city life?
Working
in the city
(Production)
How is the geography & political
economy of software production
organised?
How does software alter the
form & nature of work?
Living
in the city
(Social Politics)
How is software discursively
produced & legitimated by vested
interests?
How does software transform
the spatiality & spatial
behaviour of individuals?
Creating the
smart city
Dublin Dashboard

29. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
SOCIO-TECHNOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION

30. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
OSI TECHNOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION

31. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
SKIN OF THE EARTH OBJECT MODELLING
5 skin of the earth objects
 Ways
 Water
 Vegetation
 Artificial
 Exposed
Z-Layer
Superimposed
Networked
Grouped
GDF1 GDF2 centrelines
Sites
Locales
Boundaries
Seamless, topologically consistent blanket of polygons that
covers the entire surface of Ireland w/no holes or gaps
http://www.osi.ie/OSI/media/OSI/Prime2_Docs/Prime2-V-2.pdf

32. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
RE-ONTOLOGIZING THE CITY
GEOGRAPHICAL SCOPE:
National, Dublin
OBJECTS OF STUDY:
Study of the data assemblage of OSi’s PRIME2, examine how Dublin and city things are understood in the
new object oriented data model, assess if these change how the city is modelled and then acted upon.
TIME FRAME:
2014-2018
CASE STUDY OUTPUTS:
A. 1 Case Study Report
B. Data Assemblage
C. Tracing the Production of Space
- Making up Dublin
- Genealogy from class to object
D. Academic Publications

33. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
DATA COLLECTION
Attend OSi & 1Spatial Road shows and public speaking events
One day coordinated field trip & group interviews at OSi Sligo (survey data
capture unit)
 examine the Prime & Prime2 flow lines
 Real-time survey and data update of a building
1.5 months as an embedded researcher, OSi in Phoenix Park
 One-on-one interviews with key actors (Transcribed audio recordings):
 model creation, cartography, production, photogrammetry, map preservation, data re-
engineering, budget, procurement and contracting, licencing and law, marketing, CTO, SDI
managers, surveyors and gate keeper
 Group interview
 One full day interview with data modeling & data re-engineering team, including consultants
& project managers
 Document Collection
 As discussed in the data assemblage: contract, requirements, specifications, modeling
descriptions, flow lines, budgets, org charts, strategy documents, working wiki, historical
records, code, instruction manuals, guidebooks, photos of machinery, screen captures of
systems
 Collection of objects across time for Dublin
 Places in Dublin as understood in the old and the new model, and as seen or captured in the
new and the old technological systems

34. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
1. KITCHIN’S DATA ASSEMBLAGE
“As such, data-driven, networked urbanism is thoroughly political
seeking to produce a certain kind of city.” (Kitchin, 2015)
Material Platform
(infrastructure –
hardware)
Code Platform
(operating system)
Code/algorithms
(software)
Data(base)
Interface
Reception/Operation
(user/usage)
Systems of thought
Forms of knowledge
Finance
Political economies
Governmentalities & legalities
Organisations and institutions
Subjectivities and communities
Marketplace
System/process
performs a task
Context
frames the system/task
Digital socio-technical assemblage
HCI, remediation studies
Critical code studies
Software studies
Critical data studies
New media studies
game studies
Critical Social Science
Science Technology
Studies
Platform studies
Places
Practices
Flowline/Lifecycle

35. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
MAPPING OUT THE ASSEMBLAGE

36. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
2. GENEALOGY OF A DATA MODEL
Material Platform
(infrastructure –
hardware)
Code Platform
(operating system)
Code/algorithms
(software)
Data(base)
Interface
Reception/Operation
(user/usage)
Systems of thought
Forms of knowledge
Finance
Political economies
Governmentalities &
legalities
Organisations and institutions
Subjectivities and
communities
Marketplace
System/process
performs a task
Context
frames the system/task
Digital socio-technical assemblage
HCI, remediation studies
Critical code studies
Software studies
Critical data studies
New media studies
game studies
Critical Social Science
Science Technology Studies
Platform studies
Places
Practices
Flowline/Lifecycle

37. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
DATA MODEL GENEALOGY
20151995 2000 2005 2010
Launch
Prime2
Requirements
Workshop
Award
of bid
RMDS
Production
Freeze
Prime
Restructuring
Prime 1
RMSI data
Re-
engineering
EU
Procurement
Directive
RatifiedOsi
ACT
Tender for
Conceptua
l Model
Inspire
Contract
Awarded,
3 companies
build
prototypes
Data
modelling
discussions
w/OSNI, OS
UK

38. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
3. MAKING UP SPACES
(Modified Ian Hacking Framework of Making Up People, (Lauriault 2012)

39. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
ICONIC CITY THINGS
Prime2 Data
Model
Iconic Object
Way M50 – Red Cow interchange
Water Docklands – Samuel Beckett Bridge / Gasometers
Vegetation Collins Barracks / Esplanade
Building Observatory, GPO, Liberty Hall, Heuston Station, Connelly Station, Collins Barracks, OSI,
Conference Centre, Digital hub Guinness Factory, Ivy trust Guinness – flat complexes, park area
beano, public baths, Hilton Hotel / Rowntree Sweets, Kilmainham jail & museum, Croke Park /
Lansdowne Road
Artificial Bull Wall island
Z-Order Priority Samuel Becket Bridge,
Kings Bridge, Halfpenny Bridge (Way & Structure)
Superimposed Objects
- Structure
Nelsons pillar blow up in 1966/Spire? Stiletto in the Ghetto, Wellington monument – obelisk
Divisions City Walls / Antiquity, The Pale, Guinness Walls
Networks – water, rail,
roads
Liffey & Grand Canal, M50, North & South Circular, Heuston, Connelly, Luas
Grouped Objects M50 road network Names. N & S Circular Road, Rivers & Canals
Sites, Locals Trinity (Site), Temple Bar (Locale)

40. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
Cassini, 6”, 1st ed. Circa?
HEUSTON STATION ACROSS TIME
Cassini 6”, 1943-44
Cassini 25”, 1st ed, Circa?
Cassini25”, 1936
Heuston Station, Prime2 MapGenie
Heuston Station, Prime2 SOE

41. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
MULTI-SCALED NESTED APPROACH
2
0
1
5
1
9
9
5
2
0
0
0
2
0
0
5
2
0
1
0

42. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
CONCLUSION
We are continuously translating.
The land and the people dynamically change, so do the socio-
technological data assemblages, from Gaelic to English in the
colonial Survey, back into Gaelic in the post-colonial Linked Logainm
Project, the territory is then translated from the colonial
cartographic maps into a post-colonial real-world object database.
The interconnections increase.
In each case, the translation technologically mediates places and
culture, with each iteration it remains infrastructure, one that
increasingly finds itself interconnected with others.
Databases are augmenting meaning.
Our job is to build better systems, but more critical, reflexive,
sensitive and nuanced ones, always thinking of the meaning we are
inscribing, cognitive of the material and cultural affect on the world.