The data-set’s ontology I decided to analyze this week was about immigration workshops around the city of Los Angeles. The data is divided and organized by the date of the event, what organization is hosting the event, the name of the place where the event is happening, the address of the place, what time the event will start and end, what language is being used at the events, notes on what the event will cover, if it is free or not, and who to contact for an appointment and reservation.
All this information would be relevant and useful for an immigrant looking for assistance in either obtaining citizenship, becoming financially literate, learning their rights, or attending a naturalization clinic. This information could also help people who are looking to volunteer or help out in these events, or other organizations looking to see how immigrants are being helped and aided in LA.
The data is listed chronologically by the newest and upcoming events starting at the top, and older ones following. This then helps people plan ahead and only look for the information of the event based on when they could attend. The dataset tells us when each of the immigration workshops are taking place and who will be hosting them, while allowing the person to easily navigate as to what fits their schedule best. This data records that these events are mostly being hosted in libraries around Los Angeles, in cities and areas with high immigrant populations. Most, if not all, of the events are being hosted in English and Spanish, with few also including the Chinese, Farsi, Vietnamese, Arabic and other languages. It is also noticeable that these events are frequent and free, meaning that organizations are really trying to help immigrants improve and handle their lives here in Los Angeles, although it comes to my attention that space is really limited and many can get left out of attending these free workshops. What’s missing from the data set is events held before January 2005 and also more information about the organizations hosting these events.
If I were to start over with the data-collection and redesign the ontology, I would change the order of what is listed at the beginning to make both the date and the type of event happening more visible at the start of the chart. This would then make it easier for people who are choosing to use these resources to chose what event to attend, based on wants and availability. I would also make it clear which events have already passed and are no longer available or are at full capacity, which would facilitate the navigation for the person looking at the data-set. All the other information already on the page is all a person really needs to become informed on when the immigration workshops are happening and where they will be held.