diff --git a/html/faq.html b/html/faq.html index 49155413..7c0231ba 100644 --- a/html/faq.html +++ b/html/faq.html @@ -46,10 +46,12 @@
-Initially we set out just to capture and release numerical data relating to age -and land use relevant to energy and demolition related research within -academia, but we soon realised that the opportunity existed to capture many -more types of data for use in multiple applications. +Initially we set out to collect and share numerical and categorical data +relating to the age and land use of buildings for research into energy use and +demolition, but we soon realised that the opportunity exists to capture many +more types of data for use in all sorts of areas: from local history and +heritage to building conservation, sustainable urban planning, architecture and +the built environment.
@@ -57,43 +59,48 @@ more types of data for use in multiple applications.
-Anyone interested in London and its buildings, or in cities and in large-scale -building attribute data sets +Anyone interested in London and its buildings and anyone interested in cities +and large-scale building attribute datasets.
-
How is the data going to be used?
+
How will the data be used?
-Our main job is to facilitate the collection, collation, visualisation and -dissemination of the data. We are very excited to see how they are used. To -help simulate discussion and ideas we are including a data showcase which will -allow anyone to upload examples of how they are using Colouring London data, or -how the same data categories are being used in other areas of the world. +We have some ideas, but we also hope to be surprised! Our main task is to +enable the collection, collation, visualisation and dissemination of the data. +We are very excited to see how they are used. To help stimulate discussion and +ideas we will include a data showcase which will allow anyone to share examples +of how they use Colouring London data, and to provide examples of how similar +datasets are being used elsewhere in the UK and around the world.
-
Is there nowhere else you can access this type of information at building level?
+
Is there anywhere else you can access this type of information at building level?
-Not for London as a whole. The Valuation Office Agency holds the most -comprehensive records for tax purposes, but these are restricted at building -level, even to academia. +No, not for London as a whole. The Valuation Office Agency holds the most +comprehensive records for tax purposes, but these are restricted at the building +level, even for research within academia.
-
Why aren’t you crowdsourcing text-based information on a building’s history?
+
Why aren’t you crowdsourcing textual information on the history of buildings?
-Our remit is to collect numerical data for statistical analysis. However we -will also include an area where a link can be added to take you to any web site -page/pages where text based information on the building can be accessed. IHS’s -‘Layers of London’ project http://alpha.layersoflondon.org/ and The Survey of -London/CASA’s Whitechapel project https://surveyoflondon.org/map/. We are -working closely with both HIS and The Survey. +Our main focus is to collect data for modelling and statistical analysis, where +numerical and categorical data tends to be most useful. However, we will +collect links to other sites where text based information on a building can be +created and shared. The Layers of London project by the Institute for Historical +Research and the Histories of Whitechapel project by the Survey of London +and the Bartlett Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA) both have an +interest in text (and audio and photographs). We are working in close +collaboration with both projects.
@@ -101,11 +108,12 @@ working closely with both HIS and The Survey.
-We asked many groups, ranging from academics and teachers to community groups -and built environment professionals and found many overlaps. We have limited -ourselves to 12 main categories to keep things simple, within which there are -around thity sub categories. The prototype testing period will allow us to see -whether there are any key categories missing. +We have had conversations with many different groups, from academics and +teachers to community groups and built environment professionals, and found +many overlaps. We have limited ourselves to 12 main categories to keep things +simple, within which there are around thirty sub-categories. The prototype +testing period will allow us to see whether there are any key categories +missing—feedback is welcome.
@@ -113,20 +121,23 @@ whether there are any key categories missing.
-Quantitative data on the building stock probably/hopefully not that -controversial other than for large developments. Utilities’ location may be -sensitive. We think unlikely to occur other than perhaps where issues surround -a particular development. Here the system allows both developers and -communities to upload and edit as they like and battle it out. For ‘Like me’, -users have to login and have only one vote per building. +Our intention is to cultivate a community which can handle occasional +disruption, along the lines of other collaborative online projects. The site +will allow anyone to upload and edit data as they like and to go back and forth +over the details if necessary. Quantitative data on the building stock is, we +hope, not too controversial, other than perhaps for large developments. The +locations of utilities’ may be sensitive, but this is not within the main +scope of our data collection. For the ‘Like me’ category, users +will have only one vote per building. -
How do you deal with people who keep entering ‘wrong’ information.
+
How do you deal with people who enter ‘wrong’ information.
-Like Wikipedia you will have to keep re-editing, however edit histories will -help users see where data comes from ie if it is uploaded by a specialist body. +Like Wikipedia, we as a community will have to keep re-editing, however edit +histories will help users see where data comes from, for example if it is +uploaded by a specialist body.
@@ -134,9 +145,10 @@ help users see where data comes from ie if it is uploaded by a specialist body.
-We recognise importance of this but we are only, in the first instance -gathering data on buildings, themselves. We do however include information -building position ie mid terrace, end of terrace, semi-detached and detached +We recognise the importance of this but in the first instance we will only +gather data on the buildings themselves. We will however include a sub-category +which records a building's position, i.e. mid-terrace, end-of-terrace, +semi-detached or detached.
@@ -144,12 +156,19 @@ building position ie mid terrace, end of terrace, semi-detached and detached
-We can record multiple uses but are reliant on OSMM polygons so if not -subdivided (as for UCL building) we have to either do this manually or group -all uses under a single polygons. Our hope is that the project will stimulate -discussion with OS regarding a more user friendly open version of the building -footprints. Post war estates for examples have separate polygons for balconies -etc which is not ideal. +We intend to record as many uses per building as necessary. + +
+ +
What if several buildings are represented as a single outline?
+ +We rely on Ordnance Survey MasterMap for our building outlines, so if these are +not subdivided, we will need to attach extra data to the single outline, or +else consider altering the outlines manually. Some buildings have the opposite +problem, where there are multiple polygons for a single building. For example +some post-war estates have each of the balconies drawn separately. Our hope is +that the project will stimulate discussion with Ordnance Survey regarding a +more user friendly open version of the building outlines. @@ -157,30 +176,48 @@ etc which is not ideal.
-Yes if OS permits use of polygons. Colouring London will act as a proof of -concept. +Yes, in principal. We hope that Colouring London will act as a proof of +concept. We rely on a sufficient set of building outlines to provide the basis +for all the building attribute data that we collect—for London, Ordnance +Survey and the Greater London Authority have supported us by providing +the MasterMap building outlines.
-
Have you involved Open Street Map in the project?
+
Have you involved OpenStreetMap in the project?
-We had a discussion with OSM at an international mapping conference in Leuven -last year and would very much like the OSM community to become involved -project. We hope that by generating data of relevance to local areas we will -also stimulate an increase interest in OSM and in building polygon generation. +Yes, we had a discussion with OpenStreetMap contributors at an international +mapping conference in Leuven last year and would very much like the +OpenStreetMap community to become involved in the project. We hope that by +generating data of relevance to local areas we will also stimulate increased +interest in OpenStreetMap and in collecting building outline polygons as open +data.
-
How can communities download spatial information if no coordinates are given?  
+
Will all the data collected be released as open data?
-This is the main reason why address detail collection is so important, is so -that we can offer some spatial reference within the open tables. We will also -be asking the OSM community if, as suggested by a contributor, it can help -upload WGS84 coordinates. +Yes, all the building attributes which we collect will be available under an +open data license. However, we are limited by Ordnance Survey data licensing +and are not currently able to provide building outlines or geographical +coordinates. We will provide sufficient data for MasterMap users to link +building attributes to their own copies of the polygons. + +
+ +
How can communities download the data with sufficient spatial information?
+ +
+ +We will collect details of building addresses, including postcodes, as a first +step towards providing location details. We will also look into the +possibility of creating and sharing geographical coordinates for our +dataset as open data, as suggested by a contributor, in collaboration with the +OpenStreetMap community.