The traits of an 'open' dataset -- factors like accuracy, geographic scope and copyright entanglements -- shape the development process in profound ways. I'll share what I've learned building projects around heritage trees, public art and poetry posts in Portland, and extrapolate a blueprint for evaluating and planning open data projects.
7. “A poetry post (or poetry pole or poetry
box) is a wooden pole, usually, mounted on
private property, so that it faces
pedestrians. On top of the pole is a box,
with a glass or clear face and a lid. Inside the
box is a sheet of paper containing a poem
(or, sometimes, prose or a photograph).
Sometimes the pole is absent, the box
mounted to a tree. That’s it.”
– Laura O. Foster
12. Project History
• Started: June 2010
• An idea without
much data
• Only 11 locations
until October
• Various iterations...
13. Project Goals
• Map the poetry posts
• Promote the idea of sharing poetry in a
neighborhood context
• Encourage people to get out and walk,
interact with each other
24. Project History
• Started: November 2010
• Built with data from the Regional Arts &
Culture Council (aka RACC)
• Geo-coded by City’s Bureau of Technology
Services for portlandmaps.com
52. If it exists in digital form:
• Screen-scrape
• Repurpose feeds or reporting systems
• Google Refine
• Convince governments/stakeholders to
release it
62. Data Sources (Nov 2010)
• PDX API: 279 works of art
• Civic Apps CSV file: 366 works of art
• BTS: 300ish works of art (no direct access)
• RACC.org: 1800+ works or art
63. PDXAPI
RACC.org
Civic Apps
BTS?
Where to start?
64. RACC.org
Civic Apps
PDXAPI
And BTS = Civic Apps?
76. RACC.org Murals
TriMet
Convention
Center
Public Art
77. RACC.org Murals
TriMet
Metro
Convention
Center
Public Art
78. RACC.org Murals
Port of
TriMet
Portland
Metro
Convention
Center
Public Art
79. Fountains
RACC.org Murals
Port of
TriMet
Portland
Metro
Convention
Center
Public Art
80. Fountains
RACC.org Murals
Parks
& Rec
Port of
TriMet
Portland
Metro
Convention
Center
Public Art
81. Fountains
RACC.org Murals
Parks
& Rec
Port of
TriMet
Portland
Beaverton?
Metro
Convention
Center
Public Art
82. Fountains
RACC.org Murals
Parks
& Rec
Port of
TriMet
Portland
Beaverton?
Hillsboro? Metro
Convention
Center
Public Art
83. Fountains
RACC.org Murals
Parks
& Rec
Port of
TriMet
Portland
Beaverton?
Hillsboro? Metro
Clark Convention
County? Center
Public Art
84. Fountains
RACC.org Murals
Parks
& Rec
Port of
TriMet
Portland
Performance
Beaverton?
Hillsboro? Metro
Clark Convention
County? Center
Public Art
85. Fountains
RACC.org Murals
Parks
& Rec
Port of
TriMet
Portland
Performance Temporary
Installations
Beaverton?
Hillsboro? Metro
Clark Convention
County? Center
Public Art
86. Fountains
RACC.org Murals Graffiti?
Parks
& Rec
Port of
TriMet
Portland
Performance Temporary
Installations
Beaverton?
Hillsboro? Metro
Clark Convention
County? Center
Public Art
89. Fountains
RACC.org Murals Graffiti?
Parks
& Rec
Port of
TriMet
Portland
Performance Temporary
Installations
Beaverton?
Hillsboro? Metro
Clark Convention
County? Center
Community?
Public Art
93. Intersection
Repair
photo by City Repair (via Flickr)
94. Julian Voss-
Andrae’s
Alpha Helix
(at the Linus Pauling House)
photo via julianvossandrae.com
95. Fountains
RACC.org Murals Graffiti?
Parks
& Rec
Port of
TriMet
Portland
Performance Temporary
Installations
Beaverton?
Hillsboro? Metro
Clark Convention
County? Center
Community?
Public Art
96. Fountains
RACC.org Murals Graffiti?
Parks
& Rec
Available
Port of
Data
TriMet
Portland
Performance Temporary
Installations
Beaverton?
Hillsboro? Metro
Clark Convention
County? Center
Community?
Public Art
97. A Community-wide
Database
Build an inter-agency superset of public art
99. Yes, it’s complicated.
Yet Portland has some of the best
public art data in the country.
100. Data Source Tips
• Start small
• Find allies and set an example
• Don’t wait for the perfect dataset
• Plan for chaos
• But be ambitious in the long-term!
102. Each source has its own:
• metadata
• schema
• volatility
• level of accuracy and currency
• messes to clean up
103. A dynamic mix of...
• noisy data
• shifting standards
• unexpected restrictions
• adapting to community requests
• addressing data provider concerns
• ambiguities of project 'ownership'
135. “While the map makes class and race
differences all the more evident, it's great to
learn about the few murals where I live and
I look forward to using this app on a walking
tour downtown soon.”
– Marshal Kirkpatrick, Read Write Web
156. Public Art
{ "docs": [{
"addrCity": "",
"addrState": " ",
"addrStreet": "",
"addrZip": "",
"artists": "Dan Corson",
"date": "2009",
"dateModified": "2011-04-18 00:00:00",
"description": "Mercurial Sky is an ever-changing array of light played on LED
tubes integrated into the Director Park Canopy. The digital video only emits from the
lighted bars, and provides a sense of movement through an abstract tapestry of light
and color. If you stand farther away, or look in nearby reflections, the images are
compressed and give a clearer view of the video. nn"I filmed images and patterns of
natural phenomena like waves, clouds, fire, earthworms, and jellyfish to bring the
movement and randomness of nature into this mostly hardscaped park."",
"detailPageURL": "http://racc.org/public-art/search/?recid=2909.101",
"dimensions": "duration: 1:23:10",
"discipline": "video",
"fundingSource": "Percent for Art - City of Portland",
"thumbnailURL": "http://data.racc.org/pa_inventory/1844/1844thumb.jpg",
"location": "Director Park Canopy",
"mappableDiscipline": "other",
"medium": "Digital video on DVD",
"recordID": "2909",
"title": "Mercurial Sky",
"dataSource": "RACC",
"collection": "None",
"photoCredit": "RACC",
"artCopyright": "TBD",
"locationVerified": "YES",
"geometry": {
"coordinates": [
-122.681124,
45.518759
],
"type": "Point"
}
}
157. Public Art
{ "docs": [{
"addrCity": "",
"addrState": " ",
"addrStreet": "",
"addrZip": "",
"artists": "Dan Corson",
"date": "2009",
"dateModified": "2011-04-18 00:00:00",
"description": "Mercurial Sky is an ever-changing array of light played on LED
tubes integrated into the Director Park Canopy. The digital video only emits from the
lighted bars, and provides a sense of movement through an abstract tapestry of light
and color. If you stand farther away, or look in nearby reflections, the images are
compressed and give a clearer view of the video. nn"I filmed images and patterns of
natural phenomena like waves, clouds, fire, earthworms, and jellyfish to bring the
movement and randomness of nature into this mostly hardscaped park."",
"detailPageURL": "http://racc.org/public-art/search/?recid=2909.101",
"dimensions": "duration: 1:23:10",
"discipline": "video",
"fundingSource": "Percent for Art - City of Portland",
"thumbnailURL": "http://data.racc.org/pa_inventory/1844/1844thumb.jpg",
"location": "Director Park Canopy",
"mappableDiscipline": "other",
"medium": "Digital video on DVD",
"recordID": "2909",
"title": "Mercurial Sky",
"dataSource": "RACC",
"collection": "None",
"photoCredit": "RACC",
"artCopyright": "TBD",
"locationVerified": "YES",
"geometry": {
"coordinates": [
-122.681124,
45.518759
],
"type": "Point"
}
}
158. Public Art
{ "docs": [{
"addrCity": "",
"addrState": " ",
"addrStreet": "",
"addrZip": "",
"artists": "Dan Corson",
"date": "2009",
"dateModified": "2011-04-18 00:00:00",
"description": "Mercurial Sky is an ever-changing array of light played on LED
tubes integrated into the Director Park Canopy. The digital video only emits from the
lighted bars, and provides a sense of movement through an abstract tapestry of light
and color. If you stand farther away, or look in nearby reflections, the images are
compressed and give a clearer view of the video. nn"I filmed images and patterns of
natural phenomena like waves, clouds, fire, earthworms, and jellyfish to bring the
movement and randomness of nature into this mostly hardscaped park."",
"detailPageURL": "http://racc.org/public-art/search/?recid=2909.101",
"dimensions": "duration: 1:23:10",
"discipline": "video",
"fundingSource": "Percent for Art - City of Portland",
"thumbnailURL": "http://data.racc.org/pa_inventory/1844/1844thumb.jpg",
"location": "Director Park Canopy",
"mappableDiscipline": "other",
"medium": "Digital video on DVD",
"recordID": "2909",
"title": "Mercurial Sky",
"dataSource": "RACC",
"collection": "None",
"photoCredit": "RACC",
"artCopyright": "TBD",
"locationVerified": "YES",
"geometry": {
"coordinates": [
-122.681124,
45.518759
],
"type": "Point"
}
}
207. Fountains
RACC.org Murals Graffiti?
Parks
& Rec
Available
Port of
Data
TriMet
Portland
Performance Temporary
Installations
Beaverton?
Hillsboro? Metro
Clark Convention
County? Center
Community?
Public Art
212. Advocacy
Why are we doing this?
Why should you release this data?
213. Public Art PDX 1.0:
Essential Collaborators
• Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC)
• The Office of Mayor Sam Adams
• City of Portland’s Bureau of Technology
Services
• City Attorney (and pro bono attorneys)
• Bud Clark! (see the video)
214. Public Art PDX 1.0
Collaborators Helped With:
• Graphic Design • Communication
• Metadata Design • Data Collection
• Data Entry/Import • Data Scrubbing
• Testing • Authority
• Marketing • Advocacy
215. Evolving Roles for the
Community Collection
• Metadata Design • Curation
• Data Entry/Import • Photography
• Research and Verification • Communication
216. Public Art PDX 1.x:
Community Collection
Different Phases, Different Roles, New Participants