translating databased meaning

October 30, 2015Geographical Names Board of Canada

16 t h Annual Meeting395 Well ington Street

WOOD QUAY VENUE, DUBLIN, 24 APRIL 2015

Dr Tracey P. LauriaultCommunication StudiesSchool of Journalism and [email protected]@TraceyLauriault

Translating Databased Meaning

Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University

TOC1. Critical Data Studies2. Linked Logainm Project3. Ontologizing4. Conclusion

CRITICAL DATA STUDIES


Research and thinking that applies critical social theory to data to explore the ways in which they are never simply neutral, objective, independent, raw representations of the world,

Data are instead understood to be: situated, contingent, relational, contextual, and do active work in the world.

CRITICAL DATA STUDIES

Image Source: A data culture for everyone, Official Microsoft Blog, Posted April 15, 2014 By Satya Nadella - Chief Executive

Officer, Microsoft, http://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2014/04/15/a-data-culture-for-

everyone/


1. Situate data regimes in time and space2. Expose data as inherently political and whose

interests they serve3. Unpack the complex, non-deterministic

relationship between data and society4. Illustrate the ways in which data are never raw5. Expose the fallacies that data can speak for

themselves and that big data will replace small data

6. Explore how new data regimes can be used in socially progressive ways

7. Examine how academia engages with new data regimes and the opportunities of such engagement.

7 PROVOCATIONS

Craig Dalton and Jim Thatcher, 2014, What does a critical data studies look like, and why do we care? Seven points for a critical approach to ‘big data’, The Society and Space, Environment and Planning D:

Society and Space http://societyandspace.com/material/commentaries/craig-dalton-and-jim-thatcher-what-does-a-critical-data-studies-look-like-and-why-do-we-care-seven-points-for-a-critical-approach-to-big-data/

Image Source: Economic Times, Indicators page, 2013 http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-03-13/news/37683866_1_trade-data-interstate-trade-inter-state-trade

(The government is ready with a roadmap to capture interstate trade data,

considered as essential for the proposed Goods and Service

Tax regime, )

http://societyandspace.com/material/commentaries/craig-dalton-and-jim-thatcher-what-does-a-critical-data-studies-look-like-and-why-do-we-care-seven-points-for-a-critical-approach-to-big-data/

http://societyandspace.com/material/commentaries/craig-dalton-and-jim-thatcher-what-does-a-critical-data-studies-look-like-and-why-do-we-care-seven-points-for-a-critical-approach-to-big-data/

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-03-13/news/37683866_1_trade-data-interstate-trade-inter-state-trade

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-03-13/news/37683866_1_trade-data-interstate-trade-inter-state-trade


Unpack the complex assemblages that produce, circulate, share/sell and utilise data in diverse ways; Chart the diverse work they do and their consequences for how the world is known, governed and lived-in; Survey the wider landscape of data assemblages and how they interact to form intersecting data products, services and markets and shape policy and regulation.

CRITICAL DATA STUDIES VISION

Image Source: General Dynamics IT Publish Health Data Whitepapers, 2014, http://www.itwnetworks.com/blog/view/general-dynamics-it-publish-

health-data-whitepapersRob Kitchin and Tracey P. Lauriault, Forthcoming, Toward a Critical Data Studies: Charting and Unpacking Data

Assemblages and their Work, in J. Eckert,, A. Shears & J. Thatcher, Geoweb and Big Data, University of Nebraska Press , Pre-Print http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2474112


Are more than the unique arrangement of objective and politically neutral facts

&they do not exist independently of ideas,

techniques, technologies, systems, people and contexts regardless of them being presented in

that way

DATA – BIG OR SMALL

Tracey P. Lauriault, 2012, Data, Infrastructures and Geographical Imaginations. Ph.D. Thesis, Carleton University, Ottawa, http://curve.carleton.ca/theses/27431

LINKED LOGAINM


PLACE NAMESSpecial instructions, concerning the treatment of Placenames, issued by the officer in charge of the survey Lt. Col. Thomas Colby (1829?) “The persons employed on the survey are to

endeavour to obtain the correct orthography of the names of places diligently consulting the best authorities within their reach.

The name of each place is to be inserted as it is commonly spelt, in the first column of the name book; and the various modes of spelling it used in books, writings &c., are to be inserted in the second column, with the authority placed in the third column opposite to each.

The situation of the place is to be recorded in a popular manner in the fourth column of the namebook.

A short description of the place and any other remarkable circumstances relating to it are to be inserted.

This data was recorded in Namebooks which are now stored in the National Archive.”

http://www.osi.ie/education/third-level-and-academic/history-of-place-names/


TRANSLATIONS Set in Baile Beag, County Donegal, in 1833

Turbulent times in the British Colony.

The British want to map the island and translate Gaelic place names into proper standardized English.

Brian Friel, 1981, Translations: A Play, London: Faber & Faber

Brian Friel, 1981, Translations: A Play, London: Faber & Faber


LINKED LOGAINM Linked Data version of the authoritative bilingual database of Irish place names logainm.ie.

Irish place name data in a structured, computer-readable format which allows its value to be fully exploited by collaborators, web developers, computer scientists, the heritage community and information professionals.

Collaborative project: Digital Repository of Ireland (DRI) INSIGHT @ NUIGalway (Digital Enterprise Research Institute DERI)

Fiontar at Dublin City University National Library of Ireland - Longfield Map Collection Placenames Branch of the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht

http://logainm.ie/

http://www.dri.ie/

http://www.dri.ie/

http://www.deri.ie/

http://www.deri.ie/

http://www.dcu.ie/fiontar/gaeilge/index.shtml

http://www.nli.ie/

http://www.nli.ie/

http://www.ahg.gov.ie/en/Irish/ThePlacenamesBranch/




AUTHORITY


LOGAINM.IE

http://www.logainm.ie


LINKED DATA Data published on the web following a set of principles designed to promote linking between entities:

UI Uniform Resource Identifier (URI)

RDF Resource Description Framework to specify links & type between 2 URIs (w3c)

GLD Geographic Linked Data w/geolocation in Irish Grid Reference & World Geodetic System coordinates

Logainm.ie is the authoritative subdomain in the URI

Data can be reused to build applications SPARQL RDF query language


LOCATION LODER logainm.ie DBpedia

The data held in Wikipedia’s infoboxes are made available as Linked Open Data via DBpedia.org.

Irish Historic Town Atlas Established in 1981 aims to record the

topographical development of a selection of Irish towns both large and small. This dataset tracks changes to streets and street names in Dublin over time, and includes bibliographic references to original sources where present.

National Library of Ireland Longfield map collection consists of 1,671

individual maps bound into twenty-eight volumes. The maps represent all counties in Ireland with the exception of Kerry.

Europeana.eu is an internet portal which acts as a hub for

digitized cultural content across Europe. Content on Europeana includes digitised artworks, books, archival documents, film and audio.

http://apps.dri.ie/locationLODer/


SOURCES

H. B. Clarke and Sarah Gearty, 2013, Maps & Texts: Exploring the Irish Historic Town Atlas. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy


JOHN O'DONOVAN, GLOSSARY, IRISH TOPOG[RAPHICAL] DICT[IONARY] MANUSCRIPT 1830-1832

“A glossary in alphabetical order of various Anglicised placename elements, followed by their Irish forms and a translation.

‘Derivation of all the names of places in Lanigan’s Ecclesiastical History of Ireland [four volumes, 1822] as given by himself, by Vallancey and others with remarks by J. O’Donovan. December 23, 1830’.

‘A list of Irish words that enter into the composition of many names of places in Ireland’. The Irish words are followed by a translation and generally by relevant examples from placenames. Some personal names and surnames are also included.

‘A list of saints’ names to whom Irish church[es] were dedicated’. This short list is on the final verso page and includes toponymic examples of the saints’ names.”

http://www.logainm.ie/en/res/179

John O'Donovan, Ordnance Survey


BIOGRAPHIES

National Database of Irish Biographies with publishers Cló Iar-Chonnacht. This features more than 1,700 people since the year 1560

who have had an involvement with the Irish language. There is an alphabetical listing as well as comprehensive cross-referencing, full-text search for keywords and phrases, timelines, and life attributes such as

works, awards and eventshttp://www.ainm.ie/

.


TERMINOLOGY

National Terminology Database with Foras na Gaeilge. This is a 200,000+ listing of Irish-language terms in specialised and

contemporary subjects.http://www.tearma.ie/


FOLKLORE

The objective is to initiate the digitization of the National Folklore Collection (NFC) so that, by 2016:(i) the public will have access to

material from the Collection on the public website (ii) a data

management system will be available for NFC to which other material can be added in future.

http://www.duchas.ie/en


AUDIO RECORDINGS

+1,200 hours of recordings made in the 1960s and 1970s in 24 counties and placenames were collected from more than 4,000. The audio material

and its catalogue were digitized in 2009 & the database was created in Fiontar as part of an MA Research Fellowship undertaken by Cáit Nic

Fhionnlaoich, 2010–2011, sponsored by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

http://www.logainm.ie/phono/


DOCUMENTATION

http://apps.dri.ie/locationLODer/docs/

linked_logainm_narrative_report_en.pdf

http://apps.dri.ie/locationLODer/docs/

using_linked_logainm_en.pdf

ONTOLOGIZING


THE PROGRAMMABLE CITY

A European Research Council (ERC) and Science Foundation of Ireland (SFI) fundingSH3: Environment and SocietyLed by Dr Rob Kitchin, the Primary InvestigatorBased at the National Institute for Regional and Spatial Analysis (NIRSA)

At the National University of Ireland Maynooth (NUIM)

The Programmable City is funded by a European Research Council Advanced Investigator award (ERC-2012-AdG-323636-SOFTCITY.


MIT Press 2011 Sage 2014

Of the ERC project is to build off and extend a decade of work that culminated in Code/Space book (MIT Press) with a set of detailed empirical studies

AIM


OBJECTIVESHow is the city translated into software and data? How do software and data reshape the city?

Translation:City into Code &

Data

Transduction:Code & Data

Reshapes City

THE CITYSOFTWARE

Discourses, Practices, Knowledge, Models

Mediation, Augmentation, Facilitation, Regulation


SUB-PROJECTSTranslation:

City into code & data

Transduction:Code & data reshape city

Understanding the city

(Knowledge)

How are digital data materially &

discursively supported & processed about

cities & their citizens?

How does software drive public policy

development & implementation?

Managing the city

(Governance)

How are discourses & practices of city

governance translated into code?

How is software used to regulate & govern city

life?

Working in the city

(Production)

How is the geography & political economy of software production

organised?

How does software alter the form & nature of

work?

Living in the city

(Social Politics)

How is software discursively produced &

legitimated by vested interests?

How does software transform the spatiality & spatial behaviour of

individuals? Creating the smart city Dublin Dashboard


SOCIO-TECHNOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION


OSI TECHNOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION


SKIN OF THE EARTH OBJECT MODELLING

5 skin of the earth objects

Ways Water Vegetation Artificial Exposed

Z-Layer Superimposed Networked Grouped GDF1 GDF2 centrelines Sites Locales Boundaries

Seamless, topologically consistent blanket of polygons that covers the entire surface of Ireland w/no holes or

gaps

http://www.osi.ie/OSI/media/OSI/Prime2_Docs/Prime2-V-2.pdf


RE-ONTOLOGIZING THE CITYGEOGRAPHICAL SCOPE: National, Dublin

OBJECTS OF STUDY: Study of the data assemblage of OSi’s PRIME2, examine how Dublin and city things are understood in the new object oriented data model, assess if these change how the city is modelled and then acted upon.

TIME FRAME: 2014-2018

CASE STUDY OUTPUTS: A. 1 Case Study Report B. Data AssemblageC. Tracing the Production of Space

- Making up Dublin - Genealogy from class to objectD. Academic Publications


DATA COLLECTIONAttend OSi & 1Spatial Road shows and public speaking eventsOne day coordinated field trip & group interviews at OSi Sligo (survey data capture unit) examine the Prime & Prime2 flow lines Real-time survey and data update of a building

1.5 months as an embedded researcher, OSi in Phoenix Park One-on-one interviews with key actors (Transcribed audio recordings):

model creation, cartography, production, photogrammetry, map preservation, data re-engineering, budget, procurement and contracting, licencing and law, marketing, CTO, SDI managers, surveyors and gate keeper

Group interview One full day interview with data modeling & data re-engineering team, including

consultants & project managers Document Collection

As discussed in the data assemblage: contract, requirements, specifications, modeling descriptions, flow lines, budgets, org charts, strategy documents, working wiki, historical records, code, instruction manuals, guidebooks, photos of machinery, screen captures of systems

Collection of objects across time for Dublin Places in Dublin as understood in the old and the new model, and as seen or

captured in the new and the old technological systems


1. KITCHIN’S DATA ASSEMBLAGE

“As such, data-driven, networked urbanism is thoroughly political seeking to produce a certain kind of city.” (Kitchin, 2015)

Material Platform(infrastructure – hardware)

Code Platform(operating system)

Code/algorithms (software)

Data(base)

Interface

Reception/Operation (user/usage)

Systems of thought

Forms of knowledge

Finance

Political economies

Governmentalities & legalities

Organisations and institutions

Subjectivities and communities

Marketplace

System/process performs a task

Contextframes the system/task

Digital socio-technical assemblage

HCI, remediation studies

Critical code studiesSoftware studies

Critical data studies

New media studiesgame studies

Critical Social ScienceScience Technology

Studies

Platform studies

Places

Practices

Flowline/Lifecycle


MAPPING OUT THE ASSEMBLAGE


2. GENEALOGY OF A DATA MODEL

Material Platform(infrastructure –

hardware)

Code Platform(operating system)

Code/algorithms (software)

Data(base)

Interface

Reception/Operation (user/usage)

Systems of thought Forms of knowledge

Finance

Political economies Governmentalities &

legalities Organisations and institutions

Subjectivities and communities

Marketplace

System/process performs a task

Contextframes the system/task

Digital socio-technical assemblage

HCI, remediation studies

Critical code studiesSoftware studies

Critical data studies

New media studiesgame studies

Critical Social ScienceScience Technology Studies

Platform studies

Places

Practices

Flowline/Lifecycle


DATA MODEL GENEALOGY

2015

1995

2000

2005

2010

Launch

Prime2

Requirements

Workshop

Award of bid

RMDS

Production

Freeze Prime

Restructuring Prime 1

RMSI data Re-engineer

ing

EU Procurem

ent Directive Ratified

OsiACT

Tender for

Conceptual

Model

Inspire

Contract Awarded,

3 companies

build prototypes

Data modelling discussions w/OSNI,

OS UK


3. MAKING UP SPACES

(Modified Ian Hacking Framework of Making Up People, (Lauriault 2012)


ICONIC CITY THINGSPrime2 Data Model

Iconic Object

Way M50 – Red Cow interchange

Water Docklands – Samuel Beckett Bridge / Gasometers

Vegetation Collins Barracks / Esplanade

Building Observatory, GPO, Liberty Hall, Heuston Station, Connelly Station, Collins Barracks, OSI, Conference Centre, Digital hub Guinness Factory, Ivy trust Guinness – flat complexes, park area beano, public baths, Hilton Hotel / Rowntree Sweets, Kilmainham jail & museum, Croke Park / Lansdowne Road

Artificial Bull Wall island

Z-Order Priority Samuel Becket Bridge,Kings Bridge, Halfpenny Bridge (Way & Structure)

Superimposed Objects - Structure

Nelsons pillar blow up in 1966/Spire? Stiletto in the Ghetto, Wellington monument – obelisk

Divisions City Walls / Antiquity, The Pale, Guinness Walls

Networks – water, rail, roads

Liffey & Grand Canal, M50, North & South Circular, Heuston, Connelly, Luas

Grouped Objects M50 road network Names. N & S Circular Road, Rivers & Canals

Sites, Locals Trinity (Site), Temple Bar (Locale)

Boundaries Dublin, EDs in Dublin, Baronies, County, Parish


Cassini, 6”, 1st ed. Circa?

HEUSTON STATION ACROSS TIME

Cassini 6”, 1943-44

Cassini 25”, 1st ed, Circa?

Cassini25”, 1936Heuston Station, Prime2 MapGenie

Heuston Station, Prime2 SOE


MULTI-SCALED NESTED APPROACH

2015

1995

2000

2005

2010


CONCLUSION We are continuously translating.

The land and the people dynamically change, so do the socio-technological data assemblages, from Gaelic to English in the colonial Survey, back into Gaelic in the post-colonial Linked Logainm Project,

the territory is then translated from the colonial cartographic maps into a post-colonial real-world object database.

The interconnections increase. In each case, the translation technologically mediates places and

culture, with each iteration it remains infrastructure, one that increasingly finds itself interconnected with others.

Databases are augmenting meaning. Our job is to build better systems, but more critical, reflexive, sensitive

and nuanced ones, always thinking of the meaning we are inscribing, cognitive of the material and cultural affect on the world.

translating databased meaning

Internet