Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
4.1.1.3.
“Raw” data
As opposed to the previous example, the data used in
The
Guardian
's “Datablog” map (Table 4.1, map no. 6) result
from “leaks” rather than conscious disclosure to the public
through an open data initiative. However, the data were
processed in a similar way to open data. While open data
have different structuring levels
6
, “raw data”
7
such as
Wikileaks files usually show a lack of structure due to their
origins in the gray literature, and to the fact that they are
not meant for re-use.
Some tools facilitate both the processing and mapping of
data. This is the case for the Google Fusion Table application
used by the journalists of
The Guardian
's “Datablog”
(Table 4.1, map no. 6 being an example of their work):
The main advantage is the flexibility - you can
upload a kml file of regional borders, say - and
then merge that with a data table. […] You don't
have to be a coder to make [a map] - and this
Fusion layers tool allows you to bring different
maps together or to create search and filter
options, which you can then embed on a blog or a
site.
8
Simon Rogers, “Datablog”,
The Guardian
, 28
March 2010
The journalists behind the “Datablog” use tools that do
not require much technical knowledge to emphasize their
claim that anyone can do the same: “For our day-to-day
6 The successive structuring stages are formalized by the five stars of the
open linked data: www.w3.org/DesignIssues/LinkedData.html.
7 Several authors have rightly stressed the fact that data is never raw but
is the product of a number of choices that need to be made explicit, see
[EDW 10, GIT 13]. For lack of more precise indications, the term is used to
differentiate public data from data resulting from “leaks”.
8 See: www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2012/mar/28/data-visualisation-
tools-free.
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