Mashups

Ideas and inspiration for Libraryhack

RLS Project 5 – Community Created ContentJune 2010

Mashups - an exciting genre of interactive Web applications that draw upon content retrieved from external data sources to create entirely new and innovative services. They are a hallmark of the second generation of Web applications informally known as Web 2.0.

Duane Merrill

Library Mashups - taking library data, such as metadata from catalogues, or digital content from collections, and data from other sources and using it to create entirely new tools, services or content.

Making library data freely available to anyone releases our communities of users to create, collaborate and innovate.

Digital collections

Creating new works using digital content from library collections and original content of the creator.

Can be as simple as re-colouring an historic photograph or as complex and multi-layered as the creation of digital stories of excellence.

The results can be inspiring, creative and innovative.

A blended heart made from the art of 1000 Visual Mashupshttp://www.flickr.com/photos/qthomasbower/3470650293/

The "Birthday Party" shows a composite of images from the National Library of Australia showing a children’s birthday party; windsurfers on Sydney Harbour; Old Darling Point Ballroom; and part of the Pineapple Estate map, Brisbane. Images I have included are the wading birds, and a road train on the Nullarbor.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24399640@N08/4006704119/in/pool-re-pictureaustralia

Mug shot of Hazel McGuinness, Central Police Station, Sydney (1929) Murder of Alice and Morris Anderson, Waverley, NSW (1944) 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/44005034@N05/4054416977/in/pool-re-pictureaustralia

A work combining historic footage, photos and audio from the State Library of Queensland collections set to music by Topology, a new music ensemble. Performed live at the Brisbane Music Festival in 2009.

Queensland at home http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Vt94Rl_cJY

This upcycled purse features an image from the Smithsonian Institution's uploads in the Flickr Commons project.Mildred Adams Fenton (1899-1995), geologist and paleontologist.http://www.flickr.com/photos/11418107@N02/3462896759/in/pool-flickrcommons

A thrifted brown purse, with an image from from Australia, 1932, and is in the Powerhouse Museum's uploads to Flickr Commons.http://www.flickr.com/photos/11418107@N02/4037131683/in/pool-flickrcommons

Data sets

Using data sets from various sources, and making something new; re-interpreting, contextualising information or creating visualisations to transform data in ways that expand meaning.

More and more data sets from government are being made available for re-use through data.australia.gov.au.

In their honour is a mashup dedicated to the service men and women who fought and died for Australia. Over 100,000 service records have been indexed and linked to their burial location in one of over 3000 War Cemeteries in Europe and around the world.

In Their Honour http://www.cannonade.net/honour.php

Other datasets used: National Archives of Australia with assistance from The Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Flickr stream from the Australian War Memorial. Google Geocoding API

ABS In Motion consumes data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics from 1982 until 2008 for each Australian state. The data is displayed as a Motion Chart providing a multi-dimensional, over time analysis of 20 ABS data dimensions. The Motion Chart provides a powerful way to visualise data in five dimensionsABS in motion http://www.absinmotion.org/

Datasets used from the Australian Bureau of Statisitics

ABS In Motion data categories for visualisation include: Population, Life Expectancy, Eduction Levels, Income, Employment & Unemployment levels, CPI Inflation, Retail Turnover, GDP, Export & Imports.

The data used to generate the interactive treemap visualisation come from a draft of the June 2010 TOP500 Supercomputing list. This ranks most of the world's fastest supercomputers twice a year.

Supercomputing in graphics http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/10187248.stm

Collections data

Re-purposing or re-presenting collections data for adding meaning, contextualisation or interpretation.

Flip Explorer combines an interactive online search interface, 3D tagcloud, and timeline widget, with a natural and familiar reading environment for mashups of digital knowledge collections. The user interface has been designed to present as a ‘book’, where pages displaying parts of a collection can be read and easily browsed as you would any physical book.

Flip Explorer - http://128.250.230.47:8080/FlipExplorer/FlipExplorer.html

data.australia.gov.au datasets used Powerhouse Museum CollectionOther datasets used Powerhouse Museum Collection Search 2.5

“Typically, a large dataset has a search box as it’s main interface. I wanted to get right away from that approach and create an engaging interface. This uses a map interface to allow the user to freely explore the content.” Paul Hagon on his blog http://www.paulhagon.com/category/mashup/

DigitalNZ Location search http://www.paulhagon.com/playground/digitalnz/

McMaster University Library uses the Google maps API to search digitised maps by time and location.

McMaster University Library http://library.mcmaster.ca/maps/airphotos/1919.htm

Then and Now takes geocoded historical images from the Powerhouse Museum and the State Library of New South Wales and combines them with Google street view to give a modern day then and now comparison.

Then and now http://www.paulhagon.com/thenandnow/

Dream big and set your content free.

Jenny LevineThe Shifted Librarian