Category: Open Access

The importance of sharing data in KML format

October 5, 2009 / / 0 Comments

The KML file is an important format in which to share locational data. KML was developed by a company called Keyhole, which Google purchased in 2004, and subsequently released Keyhole’s flagship product: Earth.

A Keyhole Markup Language file is a way to display on a map (particularly a 3D globe of Earth) a collection of points with a defined style. Google has added more functionality and style to the KML format, expanding the styles that can be applied and the information that can be embedded.

KML, like XML (eXtensible Markup Language), is extremely web-friendly. For a web application at work I developed, I included this PHP class that creates an KML file on-demand based on a predefined database query. The file contains locations and attributes of recently installed bike racks in Chicago. EveryBlock imports the file and its information into their location-based service, aggregating many news types around your block.

But a KML file is more important than being the native file for use within Google Earth. It’s an open source text file that can be manipulated by a number of software programs on any computer system on earth (or read on a printed page). It’s not encoded, like shapefiles, so I can read the file with my own mind and understand the data it would present in a compatible map viewer. I see lines of organized syntax describing points and polygons, listing their attributes in plain language.

Have you ever tried to see the “inside” of a shapefile? Only GIS programs can read them for you. KML provides data producers and consumers the opportunities to keep data open, available, and easy to use. We need locational data for our work, and we need tools to help us use it, not hide it.

Midtown Greenway at Chicago Avenue in MPLS

September 10, 2009 / / 0 Comments

Open space advocates and planners should investigate the development, design, and construction of the Midtown Greenway in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Greenway opened up acres of green space to residents, and created new spaces, like this ramp to the multi-use trail between Chicago and 11th Avenues.

Sorry, I won’t do the research for you, because the bicycling facilities component of the multi-use trail and corridor interest me more. Start here: http://www.midtowngreenway.org/

I will continue sharing photos of my trip to “trail city.”

Obama’s promise for open government

February 12, 2009 / / 0 Comments

I’m excited about Obama’s memorandum he wrote in his first week of office, on January 21st, 2009. In it, he calls for federal agencies to stop looking for legal ways to say no to requests for data, or in response to Freedom of Information Act requests.

He will help usher in a new American government, where “[a]ll agencies should adopt a presumption in favor of disclosure.” 

And the agencies shouldn’t be so passive about the distribution of their data. President Barack Obama continues with:

“…agencies should take affirmative steps to make information public. They should not wait for specific requests from the public. All agencies should use modern technology to inform citizens about what is known and done by their Government. Disclosure should be timely.”

The United States Government is probably the world’s largest collector and holder of data. It probably stores more data and information than the internet (minus what the government publishes there). I hope I can expect an onslaught of data, but it must be accessible in multiple formats and in ways we can use. Saving spreadsheets is NOT distributing data. That’s protecting it and trying to make it harder to manipulate. It means providing raw access to tables and databases, providing APIs for custom queries, and XML feeds for simple and broad presentation.

Perhaps we’ll need a White House Office of Data to coordinate with agencies about the formats and presentation and distribution methods they choose or will choose.

I’m glad Obama’s transition team took the advice from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) on this one – they fight for, among many things, the rights of the internet and information and how access to both should be equalized and open. Read the EFF’s news article about this about-face from George Bush’s archaic information policies.

To Obama: When you create that office, please consult the geniuses at EveryBlock for the Office’s “Public Consumption” division. They know how to package data for quick and informative understanding.