Last week we discussed new means of museum-viewer participation in the digital age. This week\u2019s readings introduce another approach to the same challenge: how can today\u2019s museums engage new generations with their wealth of cultural knowledge? If we understand the web as a fluid, albeit imperfect, medium for information creation and distribution, why not open source the data that forms the backbone of the modern museum?<\/p>\n
In her article \u201cWhere next for open cultural data in museums?\u201d, Mia Ridge argues that although \u201ceach open cultural dataset added to the web of data contributes to the wider network of content and knowledge and creates new possibilities for innovative experiences of our shared cultural heritage\u201d, we have only just begun to unlock the potential of open cultural data. The key to doing so lies in the networked nature of the web: access, usability, and licensing.<\/p>\n
Without easy access, open data on the web is no longer \u201copen.\u201d Although some records may require APIs and sophisticated data structures these containers may stand in the way of the layman and restrict use of the data. Therefore it is important for museums weigh all options in order to determine the best way to share their data on the web.<\/p>\n
Usability is another important concern for open cultural data. I spend a lot of time researching tools, plugins, and libraries on Github when starting a code-based project. It\u2019s amazing how often people publish their work as a gigantic codebase without a proper readme (documentation\/reference). This \u201cit\u2019s all there, trust me\u201d mentality should be avoided at all costs when sharing cultural data because it alienates users. Clear classification, complete datasets, standard formatting, helpful notes, and documentation\/reference make it easy for users to access the data they need to create amazing content.<\/p>\n
Finally, Ridge mentions confusing or incompatible licenses as reason for the under-use of open cultural data. Although museums may wish to restrict usage of data, it is incredibly important that their licenses are clear to users. Github makes it easy to add standard licenses such as Creative Commons or MIT to repositories.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Last week we discussed new means of museum-viewer participation in the digital age. This week\u2019s readings introduce another approach to the same challenge: how can today\u2019s museums engage new generations … Continue reading “W3 \u2013 Challenges of Open Data on the Web”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/dh150w16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/dh150w16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/dh150w16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/dh150w16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/dh150w16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/dh150w16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/dh150w16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/dh150w16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/dh150w16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}