StructuredDataForTheMasses

Notes from the Session: Structured Data for the Masses (RowanNairn)

 

Opens with a discussion about Cory Doctorows (semantic web problems/semantic web is dead) and Clay Shirky (Many 2 Many solution could provide hope for semantic web)

 

Rowan Nairn demo

 

Rowan has a prototype web application that stems from some of the same ideas outlined in Clay's approach:

 

A bookark keeper for anything (not just pages) Wiki database - a general backend database versioned on a micro-level

 

• Spreasheet oriented web page
• Creating a wiki-based database
• Database versioned on a micro level
• Collaborative online spreadsheet
• Generalized bookmarking (like 43places) - but more difficult to make work than specialized ones - but you don't have to create specialized ones for every class of object
• Ability to add any piece of data on a web page and tag it (for example, searching for cameras, you could add the key values (price/zoom/powersource) into the dbwiki

 

RossMayfield discussed vertical information assembly (coding) vs. horizontal (wiki). WM-data coming out of the wikimania event in Frankfurt

 

Popularity vs. trust was discussed in managing or policing the validity of data

 

RossMayfield discussed using social network as a filter - reputation experiment within wiki example: omidyar.net/home explicit reputation system - give out to different people. (see also WikiFeatures:RatedPages, where this feature has recently been cataloged)

 

Chao Lam demo

 

Next we saw a demo from Chao Lam

 

• Open Record 0.1 - a tool for web-based peer production
• open source project - 3 part-time programmers - 1200 hours
• A content management system used for structured wiki applications
• Nav-bar - wiki-like page different views
• Collaboration website
• Editable pages - editable tables - ajaxy interface - open source

 

More info:

 

• http://openrecord.org - very cool - check it out
• http://gumption.org/openrecord/demo/old_2005_08_17/meeting_notes/2005-08-18_notes.pdf

 

To get involved:

 

• http://openrecord.org/dev.html
• send mail to Brian Skinner: [brian.skinner@gumption.org brian.skinner@gumption.org]

 

RossMayfield and WikiWyg demo