Information as of October 2009
Socrata (http://www.socrata.com)
At a glance…
· Socrata www.socrata.com is a free, web-based tool for creating databases (also called “datasets”), similar to something you could create with Microsoft Excel or Access.
· Setting up a database in Socrata is an easy process.
· Socrata databases may be made private for internal use, or made public.
· Buttons for easy sharing on Facebook, Twitter, Delicious and Digg link 4 to glossary are available.
· Free accounts offer 1 GB of storage.
· Fee-for-service plans are also available.
· To put information into your database, you can enter it directly, or import existing data.
· Used by fewer than 8,000 people per month in the United States, and just over 12,000 globally.
What is it?
Socrata (formerly blist.com), founded in 2007, is a place where non-technical users can upload, view and/or share data.
Some examples of how people are using Socrata include:
· Listing locations offering H1N1 vaccination.
· White House nominations and appointments.
· Directory of social networks for women
· CDC map of suspected swine flu cases.
Socrata received a great PR boost when President Obama used Socrata (then known as Blist) to publish a list of campaign donations, but this boost has not yet translated into increased usage.
Currently, Socrata is used primarily by the government, but anyone can use the website.
Usefulness
If you’ve ever needed to create a database of information but didn’t know how to use database software (such as Microsoft Access), or if you’ve ever wanted to easily share a database with others, then Socrata may be a good tool for you.
Makes Data User Friendly
Socrata provides a space to upload, view, and analyze data, while displaying that data in a viewer-friendly format and making it available to multiple users who can review it with you or manipulate it on their own.
Makes Data Social
In addition to manipulating datasets, users can comment on the data, give it a star rating, a thumbs up or down, and even post it to selected social media sites, including Delicious, Digg, Twitter and Facebook (www.delicious.com, www.digg.com www.Twitter.com www.facebook.com ).
Socrata’s idea is not only to make the data available and usable, but to give users a place to talk about the data and its meaning. You cannot currently receive email notification when someone comments on your dataset, but this is a feature that Socrata plans to add.
You can “friend” people on Socrata, but at this time, friending is really more like “following” on Twitter – that is, you can see the information they are posting, but they may or may not “friend” you in return.
Makes Data Portable
Socrata provides a widget (link to glossary.doc) to embed any public dataset into a blog, website, or wiki link 3 to glossary. This helps to promote conversation among web users outside of Socrata. Users can also subscribe to datasets through RSS <link to glossary.doc> feeds, so they will receive updates to the data whenever it is posted.
Makes Data Collaborative
You can invite an unlimited number of people to contribute to your database/dataset. You can also “friend” other Socrata users. You cannot at this time, however, send messages to other users.
Getting Started
Anyone can view public datasets on Socrata, but in order to create or interact with data, you’ll need an account. The following are steps to registering for an account on Socrata:
· Socrata allows you to sign in using one of the following IDs that you may already have.
o Facebook
o Google
o Yahoo!
o Window Live ID
o Open ID
· Or, you can create a new User ID and password specific to Socrata
o Click “no account yet”
o Create a username
o Create a password
o Enter your email address
o Check the box stating that you have read and agree to Socrata’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
o Click “Sign Up”
If you have data to share that’s already in a spreadsheet or database format, the following are steps for uploading data to Socrata:
· From the “My Socrata” tab, click “Datasets” and then “Upload Data”
· Complete the “General Information” section, by
o Submitting a title
o Browsing for a file to upload (supports .csv, .tsv, .xml, and .kml)
o Include a short description of the data
o Select data type from the dropdown menu
· No category
· Business
· Education
· Fun
· Government
· Personal
· Complete the “Licensing and Attribution” section by specifying:
o No licenses
o Creative commons license
o Public Domain
· Data provider
· Source link
· Privacy level
o Public—data is viewable by the public, but only you can modify it.
o Private—no one can view it except yourself and other Socrata users you allow to access your data.
If you want to create new data on Socrata, the following are steps to creating a database and adding fields:
- Click on “My Socrata” and then under “Welcome back…,” click on “Design a Dataset.”
- Fill in the same information as you would for importing a dataset (see above) and click “Create Dataset.”
- Next you’ll want to add some columns to your dataset. Click “+ ADD COLUMN” to choose the first type of column you want. Repeat as necessary. You can find most of the controls for your dataset under the “MENU” button at the upper left corner of your dataset.
Best Practices
· If you invite other users to contribute to your dataset, sign up for the RSS <glossary> feed for your datasets to easily monitor changes/additions to your dataset.
· Log in periodically to check comments.
· Place the data widget on your website to link to and publicize your datasets.
· Visit the Socrata homepage periodically and sort the datasets by date to see the newest additions.
· Follow data posted by specific users by “friending” them.
Time Management
In 15 minutes, you can do one of the following:
· Create and customize your account profile
· Set up/import a dataset
· Input numerous items into a dataset
· Read comments, view the newest datasets, and add friends
Please see our video <link> for more on using Socrata.