SIOC Post profile for "AI3:::Adaptive Information"
type: Document
description: A SIOC profile describes the structure and contents of a weblog in a machine readable form. For more information please refer to http://sioc-project.org/.
primary topic: A Most un-commON Way to Author Datasets
generator agent: http://rdfs.org/sioc/wp-sioc.php

A Most un-commON Way to Author Datasets
type: Post
has container: weblog
has creator: Mike Bergman
maker: Mike Bergman
created: 2009-11-12T02:19:54Z
content: A Case Study of Turning Spreadsheets into Structured Data Powerhouses In a former life, I had the nickname of 'Spreadsheet King' (perhaps among others that I did not care to hear). I had gotten the nick because of my aggressive use of spreadsheets for financial models, competitors tracking, time series analyses, and the like. However, in all honesty, I have encountered many others in my career much more knowledgeable and capable with spreadsheets than I'll ever be. So, maybe I was really more like a minor duke or a court jester than true nobility. Yet, pro or amateur, there are perhaps 1 billion spreadsheet users worldwide [1], making spreadsheets undoubtedly the most prevalent data authoring environment in existence. And, despite moans and wails about how spreadsheets can lead to chaos, spaghetti code, or violations of internal standards, they are here to stay. Spreadsheets often begin as simple notetaking environments. With the addition of new findings and more analysis, some of these worksheets may evolve to become full-blown datasets. Alternatively, some spreadsheets start from Day One as intended datasets or modeling environments. Whatever the case, clearly there is much accumulated information and data value "locked up" in existing spreadsheets. How to "unlock" this value for sharing and collaboration was a major stimulus to development of the commON serialization of irON (instance record and Object Notation) [2]. I recently published a case study [3] that describes the reasons and benefits of dataset authoring in a spreadsheet, and provides working examples and code based on Sweet Tools [4] to aid users in understanding and using the commON notation. I summarize portions of that study herein. This is the second article of a two-part series related to the recent Sweet Tools update. Background on Sweet Tools and irON The dataset that is the focus of this use case, Sweet Tools, began as an informal tracking spreadsheet about four years ago. I began it as a way t…
encoded: A Case Study of Turning Spreadsheets into Structured Data Powerhouses In a former life, I had the nickname of ‘Spreadsheet King’ (perhaps among others that I did not care to hear). I had gotten the nick because of my aggressive use of spreadsheets for financial models, competitors tracking, time series analyses, and the like. However, in all honesty, I have encountered many others in my career much more knowledgeable and capable with spreadsheets than I’ll ever be. So, maybe I was really more like a minor duke or a court jester than true nobility. Yet, pro or amateur, there are perhaps 1 billion spreadsheet users worldwide [1], making spreadsheets undoubtedly the most prevalent data authoring environment in existence. And, despite moans and wails about how spreadsheets can lead to chaos, spaghetti code, or violations of internal standards, they are here to stay. Spreadsheets often begin as simple notetaking environments. With the addition of new findings and more analysis, some of these worksheets may evolve to become full-blown datasets. Alternatively, some spreadsheets start from Day One as intended datasets or modeling environments. Whatever the case, clearly there is much accumulated information and data value “locked up” in existing spreadsheets. How to “unlock” this value for sharing and collaboration was a major stimulus to development of the commON serialization of irON (instance record and Object Notation) [2]. I recently published a case study [3] that describes the reasons and benefits of dataset authoring in a spreadsheet, and provides working examples and code based on Sweet Tools [4] to aid users in understanding and using the commON notation. I summarize portions of that study herein. This is the second article of a two-part series related to the recent Sweet Tools update. Background on Sweet Tools and irON The dataset that is the focus of this use case, Sweet Tools, began as an informal tracking spreadsheet about four years ago. I began it as a way t…
topic: Adaptive Information
topic: irON
topic: Ontologies
topic: Semantic Web
topic: Semantic Web Tools
topic: Structured Dynamics
topic: Structured Web
links to: irON Web site
links to: [1]
links to: [2]
links to: case study
links to: [3]
links to: [4]
links to: update
links to: Exhibit presentation
links to: CSV
links to: [5]
links to: attribute-value pair
links to: [6]
links to: [7]
links to: escaped
links to: irON specification
links to: [8]
links to: instance record examples
links to: [9]
links to: [10]
links to: Search
links to: Browse
links to: View Record
links to: Import
links to: Export
links to: Datasets
links to: Create Record
links to: Update Record
links to: Delete Record
links to: Settings
links to: [11]
links to: Browsing the ontology tree
links to: instance record
links to: Class Type Report
links to: Attribute Report
links to: Searching by facet
links to: multi-value filtering
links to: Exporting stuff
links to: user access and permissions layer
links to: Microsoft estimated
links to: discussion group
links to: code distribution site
links to: common-case-study.pdf
links to: AI3:::Adaptive Information
links to: Sweet Tools (Sem Web)
links to: conStruct site
links to: RFC 4180
links to: The Comma Separated Value (CSV) File Format
links to: ctx.htm
links to: CTC
links to: attribute-value system
links to: associative array
links to: SUB-PART 3: commON PROFILE
links to: structWSF
links to: conStruct SCS

Mike Bergman
type: User

Mike Bergman
type: Person

case study
label: use case
label: Annex: A commON Case Study using Sweet Tools, Supplementary Documentation

update
label: Sweet Tools

discussion group
label: irON