[okfn-discuss] ANN: Uberblic.org - Integrating the Web of Data

Fri Jan 29 19:18:45 UTC 2010

Ian,

I think your email came only to me, so I am replying to it, and cc-ing  
to OKFN.

On Jan 29, 2010, at 12:31 PM, Ian Ibbotson wrote:

> I think I kinda raised this concern at OKCon a couple of years ago,
> but never managed to put it into sensible words..

You have described the concern so well below... you should be proud of  
that.

> the worry for me is
> that these data sets are often not like perl modules in one very
> important way: they aren't discrete complete final entities. And I
> worry that OKFN sometimes blurs this versioned-files analogy to better
> fit the CKAN "It's like CPAN but for data" model. These datasets are
> often growing and evolving entities that are (IMNSHO) more correctly
> described as streams than files (Sometimes with versions, often not).

Indeed. I envision CKAN to be a network of mirrored registries  
accessible by, hopefully, RESTful APIs that offer the path to plugging  
into the authoritative data sources. I should be able to query CKAN  
for a dataset by various criteria (nouns, license, provider, etc.),  
get a list of providers, and, if they have made their data available  
programmatically, plug into those streams.

> Harvesting protocols such as OAI allow us to reference those streams
> (Of metadata or discrete RDF graphs) without actually having to move
> the data from one place to another. I'm not against repositories/silos
> per-se but I am worried about an ecology that favours building a
> dependency on one specific hub over using an authoritative source (Or
> synchronised (In some way) mirror of that source). I guess I'd rather
> see CKAN as the "mirror" software of the knowledge age rather than the
> all-knowing oracle. I appreciate there's nothing to stop people
> running copies of CKAN in this way, although it's not clear to me how
> the mirroring side of things would work.

Totally in agreement. Data should not be duplicated, and should remain  
with authoritative providers. CKAN should only be a means to getting  
to the edges. All the intelligence should be in the edges.

>
> It's fine to have many copies of data, but if we do that sooner or
> later we're going to have to face up to the inevitable question "Who
> holds the authoritative copy, and how do I know what I'm looking at is
> up to date". Granted, this isn't much of a problem for wikipedia etc,
> but if we want access to the repository of ofsted inspection reports
> so we can build some mashups of local childcare provision it's going
> to be pretty high on the list :)
>
> But really just random thoughts :)
>
> Have a great weekend all,
> Ian.
>
> On 29 January 2010 17:58, Mr. Puneet Kishor <punkish at eidesis.org>  
> wrote:
>> While I managed to rant a bit below, I neglected to address the  
>> main point
>> squarely --
>>
>> On Jan 29, 2010, at 11:51 AM, Mr. Puneet Kishor wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> On Jan 29, 2010, at 11:07 AM, Jo Walsh wrote:
>>>
>>>> ..
>>>>
>>>> Puneet, I think we just have to get used to overlap.
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> indeed, multiple overlapping services may be inevitable, and  
>> perhaps even
>> welcome from an "ecology" perspective. However, since CKAN is an OKFN
>> production, it might be worthwhile to aim for CKAN to become like  
>> CPAN, say,
>> 5-10 years from now. *The* canonical repository for knowledge.  
>> After all, no
>> point in having the adjective "Comprehensive" in its name, if we  
>> don't mean
>> it, and intend to make it so.
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Puneet Kishor http://www.punkish.org
>> Carbon Model http://carbonmodel.org
>> Charter Member, Open Source Geospatial Foundation http:// 
>> www.osgeo.org
>> Science Commons Fellow, http://sciencecommons.org/about/whoweare/kishor
>> Nelson Institute, UW-Madison http://www.nelson.wisc.edu
>> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Assertions are politics; backing up assertions with evidence is  
>> science
>> = 
>> = 
>> =====================================================================
>>
>>
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>>
>
>
>
> -- 
> Ian Ibbotson
> Director
> Knowledge Integration Ltd
> 37 Paradise Street, Sheffield. S3 8PZ
> T: 0114 273 8271
> W: http://www.k-int.com