As we learned about within this weeks article, ‘Imagining: Creating Spaces for Indigenous Ontologies’ the study of ontology is when large amounts of information are divided into separate entities in a data format. The dataset I decided to study was the ‘Building and Safety Permit Information’. Within this ontology, it included all the different permits that were admitted by the Department of Building and Safety, with an in-depth analysis on location, what exactly the permit required and what remodeling was required to take place. The permits were further categorized into building, electrical, plumbing, fire-sprinkler, grading, elevator etc. Not only does this ontology state the permit but it also explores further details about the complexity, therefore providing us with information about which areas within LA are under the most construction. This particular ontology would benefit and make most sense to construction workers, as well as building management and architects. This is because it relates to their field of work and would provide great insight as to which buildings require the most work and why, as well as providing a certain geographic location. This would be illuminating to these workers as they would be able to further prevent these faults within the construction and create a safer building there for the future.
This dataset tells us that permits can be issued within the same day if it isn’t complex or it may have to be reviewed in further detail. The phenomenon this ontology is describing is that electrical permits are by far the most popular permits which is not surprising. Along with this, as previously mentioned I was able to see the exact geographic location of where the permits were required. I thought that is was cool that there was an interactive map which allowed me to click on any circle within LA and it provided me with the case details and the year it occurred.
I felt that within this ontology, the process of how to apply for a permit was left out. This would of been helpful to see as I am quite the rookie regarding this topic and I felt like this wasn’t very user friendly. Along with this, it didn’t mention the type of building that the permit was required for and if there was any trends within these buildings. For example, how old the building was. If I was to start over with this ontology, I would like to see this from the point of view from an environmental engineer. It would be interesting to see the different implications of the new environmentally friendly technology that has been created in the past few years.
Hi Teagan! I really enjoyed reading what you had to say about this particular dataset. I also am a rookie about this kind of stuff, so I would agree that the topic wasn’t very user friendly. Even though you may have had a though time with this topic, I still think you did a good job.
Hi! I think it is interesting that you want the dataset to include how to apply for a permit. But how would this information fit within a dataset? This seems more like background info, than info we would see in a spreadsheet per say. But I agree with you, that it would be helpful if the data set was user friendly.
Hello Teagan,
This is a really well put together blog! I really liked your breakdown of the database and the information it contained. I agree that i t was a little odd that the how to apply for a permit was left out and agree that it would be something helpful to add. Good job!