[ckan-discuss] s/package/data set/g

Tue Jul 26 10:10:05 BST 2011

> Would renaming from "package" to "dataset" be confusing?

I can't answer the question because I don't know about the users, yet.
FYI: in the context of the Linked Data world and in special of VoID we  
simply call it a 'dataset description' ;)

Cheers,
	Michael
--
Dr. Michael Hausenblas, Research Fellow
LiDRC - Linked Data Research Centre
DERI - Digital Enterprise Research Institute
NUIG - National University of Ireland, Galway
Ireland, Europe
Tel. +353 91 495730
http://linkeddata.deri.ie/
http://sw-app.org/about.html

On 26 Jul 2011, at 09:23, Jindřich Mynarz wrote:

> Michael,
>
> I'm not aware of any study of CKAN users: my belief that using the
> term "dataset" instead of "package" would confuse users stems only
> from a personal experience, which tells me that "dataset" in the
> context of CKAN is quite prone to misinterpretation. For instance,
> when we announced that we have added over hundred packages to Czech
> CKAN [1], there was a blog post saying that we have released
> "datasets" themselves (instead of their mere description). Also, I
> remember that I needed to explain a couple to times to various people
> that CKAN does not contain the data, but only metadata.
>
> I agree with Rufus that the distinction between a "dataset" and a
> "pointer" to a dataset is getting a bit blurry, since there are links
> to direct download in CKAN and also, in some cases, data are stored in
> the CKAN web store [2]. I guess there is no "right" answer to this and
> I think we need a pragmatic decision based on how the terms "dataset"
> and "package" are being used in the context of CKAN. Do the users have
> hard time grasping what "package" is? Would users be confused if CKAN
> used "dataset" instead (would they expect to find data in CKAN instead
> of metadata)? Would renaming from "package" to "dataset" be confusing?
>
> Best,
>
> Jindrich
>
> [1] http://cz.ckan.net
> [2] http://wiki.ckan.net/Webstore
>
> On Tue, Jul 26, 2011 at 9:37 AM, Michael Hausenblas
> <michael.hausenblas at deri.org> wrote:
>>
>> I'm still +1 re dataset but if the majority thinks that package is  
>> the
>> 'better' term (for whatever 'better' means in this context) I guess  
>> I'll
>> just shut up.
>>
>>>>> I'm certainly -1 on this because I think it might confuse the  
>>>>> users.
>>
>> Jindra, that's an interesting question. Who *are* the users? Can  
>> anyone
>> point me to a precise definition of what we consider a profile of a  
>> typical
>> and maybe a not-so-typical (aka power user), please? Maybe I've  
>> missed this
>> one ...
>>
>> Cheers,
>>        Michael
>> --
>> Dr. Michael Hausenblas, Research Fellow
>> LiDRC - Linked Data Research Centre
>> DERI - Digital Enterprise Research Institute
>> NUIG - National University of Ireland, Galway
>> Ireland, Europe
>> Tel. +353 91 495730
>> http://linkeddata.deri.ie/
>> http://sw-app.org/about.html
>>
>> On 26 Jul 2011, at 08:27, Tim McNamara wrote:
>>
>>> I personally prefer 'package' also. My thinking was that dataset  
>>> would
>>> be less confusing. From Jindřich's comments, that assumption may  
>>> not
>>> be valid and there are probably more important tickets to work on.
>>>
>>> Have we had any direct complaints? If not, I suggest that we focus  
>>> on
>>> other areas.
>>>
>>> 2011/7/26 Pablo Mendes <pablomendes at gmail.com>:
>>>>
>>>> Have you guys discussed what to do with "resources" when package  
>>>> becomes
>>>> dataset? Datasets continue containing resources? Or datasets  
>>>> contain
>>>> datasets?
>>>>
>>>> I didn't really have anything against package. Does "data  
>>>> package" please
>>>> greeks and trojans?
>>>>
>>>> Cheers
>>>> Pablo
>>>>
>>>> On Jul 25, 2011 10:45 AM, "Jindřich Mynarz" <mynarzjindrich at gmail.co 
>>>> m>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm certainly -1 on this because I think it might confuse the  
>>>>> users.
>>>>> The package is not the dataset, it's a *description* (metadata)  
>>>>> of the
>>>>> dataset [1]. Maybe it's not the best term to use, but it's  
>>>>> better than
>>>>> to lead users to expect they can find the datasets themselves at  
>>>>> the
>>>>> Data Hub.
>>>>>
>>>>> Best,
>>>>>
>>>>> Jindrich
>>>>>
>>>>> [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MagrittePipe.jpg
>>>>>
>>>>> On Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 10:10 AM, Rufus Pollock <rufus.pollock at okfn.org 
>>>>> >
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On 25 July 2011 05:17, Michael Hausenblas <michael.hausenblas at deri.org 
>>>>>> >
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> I think that the term "package" should be removed from  
>>>>>>>> thedatahub.org
>>>>>>>> and replaced with "data set" or "dataset". While CKAN is to  
>>>>>>>> be the
>>>>>>>> Debian of data, I think "dataset" would lead to fewer mental  
>>>>>>>> steps
>>>>>>>> for
>>>>>>>> new comers.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> +1
>>>>>>
>>>>>> This has already been discussed quite a lot (e.g. it's one of the
>>>>>> items on the UX refactor page: <http://wiki.ckan.net/UX>) and I  
>>>>>> think
>>>>>> there is general agreement on this. The issue here is that it  
>>>>>> is a
>>>>>> (relatively) costly refactor so we are waiting for the right  
>>>>>> time to
>>>>>> do it (we can try doing it slightly 'hackily' by just using  
>>>>>> i18n but I
>>>>>> think this is a short term approach).
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Rufus
>>>>>>
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