Presented by

  • Hugh Rundle

    Hugh Rundle
    @hughrundle
    https://www.hughrundle.net/

    Hugh is a librarian and advocate for open culture and free software. He co-founded the GLAM organisation newCardigan, is a committee member of VALA: Libraries, Technology and the Future, and has previously spoken at and organised Open GLAM miniconfs at LCA. When not making trouble and writing crappy code, Hugh works at La Trobe University Library.

Abstract

In 2020 I started building an interactive map of Australian public library services, rules, and collections. This involved using open data from multiple sources (states, territories, and library associations) provided in multiple formats. My experience sparked some questions both for people using open data and for those publishing and managing it. Who is open data for? How generously do public data stewards manage this data commons? Does there have to be a tension between maintenance and generous provision? And what can open data maintainers do to make it more accessible and useable by ordinary humans? We'll explore these questions as well as a quick rundown of how to make your own interactive maps using public geodata. Check out the map at https://librarymap.hugh.run