The List Active Businesses provides a data set about active businesses that is registered with the Office of Finance. This data set is updated monthly and keeps in check of the operation of businesses. This week, I would like to explore the ontology of this list.
First, ontology.
This list is comprised of 16 categories: account number, name, location, description of the business, mailing address, start and end date, and more. These categories help to keep in track of the metadata of each organizations.
Second, point of view and use.
As stated before, the business owners themselves register with the Office of Finance and the list is updated every month. It can provide information for those who are working with real estate or law since the list provides business account number and starting and end date. The police can also use for searching nearby areas for investigations. However, this list does not only exist for legal issues, but also exist for business owners and customers to be used for commercial purposes. For example, business owners can search for potential business locations that suit to their needs. Whether they want competition or cooperation, this list can provide necessary information to prospective business owners. For customers, one can look for specific shops or just to see what kinds of shops are in the area.
However, certain informations are left out.
Unlike Yelp or Google Maps, this list only provides the basic information such as location and short description of the business. Yelp and Google Maps help consumers rate the business and share the location via social media. This list also do not provide the hours of the business, which can deter good consumer experiences. It would be unpleasant to travel through LA traffic to visit a store just to find out that it is closed for the day. Nowadays, people seldom visit a new store without looking for the ratings or recommendation from social media. Compared to Buzzfeed, Insiders, and other media that advertises trendy stores, this list fall short from being considered the main source of information about active businesses.
Lastly, additional data collection.
In order for this data set to be used more often, there needs to be information about customer experiences and more detailed description of each location. This can also help other audiences, such as home owners. Active and successful businesses can provide a lively environment for not only businesses but also for residents. Therefore, prospective home owners can decide which neighborhood to choose from.
I completely agree with you Yechan! This archive is one of the last things that I would look at when I look for businesses in LA. I think this archive would benefit a lot from adding more information like pictures, hours, and ratings. However, I do think this archive is more beneficial to apps like Google Maps and Yelp that can derive information from its API.
Hi there!
I also wrote my blog post on this topic! I thought that adding Yelp reviews and possibly links would be beneficial to add to this dataset- something you also mentioned. I didn’t even think about open hours, but I agree that it would be disappointing to go to the business just to realize it’s closed.
Hi Yechan,
I also wrote about the ontology of Active Business in LA. I didn’t consider how the data could be used for legal purposes, which is a really good point. I also agree that the data lacks the user-friendly features of social media, Yelp, and Google Maps. I also thought it would great if there was a way to incorporate the two together!
Hi, what an interesting blog! I specifically liked how you compared the dataset to Yelp and other peer reviewing platforms. It’s interesting how we see the different target audience for different platforms even though content topic is similar.
Hi, I really like how to formatted your blog. A lot of the point you made were clear and concise. Also, you seem to really know what you were looking for when writing your blog.
This is post is great! I didn’t do mine on this topic so I thought it was interesting because you brought a few points that I wouldn’t have thought from the title and how they ontology would be used. Your comparisons were also really great and gave a good visual. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Yechan!
I really enjoyed reading your blog post. I thought your points were very well thought out and executed. I really liked how you compared Yelp and Google Maps and incorporated it into your topic. I too agree that it would be very beneficial to incorporate those two means into your dataset. Thanks for sharing!