data.open.ac.uk - Applications

The goal of exposing interlinked data on data.open.ac.uk is to make existing public data more accessible, reusable and exploitable. This can only be demonstrated through applications making use of this data in innovative and/or cost effective ways. We describe below various applications at different stages of development that show some of the things that can be achieved thanks to data.open.ac.uk.

• Charting a SPARQL endpoint

  This small demo shows how a SPARQL endpoint such as the one of data.open.ac.uk can be used to generate graphs for different aspects of the underlying data, thanks for Google Charts.

  • Link: A page showing some graphs from data.open.ac.uk
  • Author: Mathieu d'Aquin
  • Platform: Web
  • Status: demonstrator prototype

• Map of OU buildings

  This simple map shows the location of OU buildings in the main campus and the regoinal centers. It makes use of a test version of the building data not yet currently being finalised by the LUCERO project

  • Link: Map of OU buildings
  • Author: Mathieu d'Aquin
  • Platform: Web (seems not to work with Internet Explorer)
  • Status: demonstrator prototype

• RED Author

  This applications demonstrates how links to external datasets can be useful from the point of view of research data. It is based on a draft dataset extracted from the Reading experience dataset. It shows a person (author or reader), with information from the database (reading experiences and books written) and from DBpedia (abstract, categories, influcences). Clicking a category add to the page links to other people in the reading experience database that are also members of this category.

  • Link: Virgina Woolf in the application
  • More info: LUCERO blog post on the reading experience data
  • Author: Mathieu d'Aquin
  • Platform: Web
  • Status: demonstrator prototype

• wayOU - Where are You at the OU?

  This mobile application allows users of the Open University (students, lecturers, etc.) to keep track and share of the locations within the OU main campus and regional centers that they attend, and of the reasons for attending them.

  
  • Link: Blog post describing the application
  • Link: Article describing the application.
  • Link: The application package to install the application (Warning: the application is in beta. It is provided with no guaranty at all!)
  • Link: Video - screencast of the application
  • Source code on Google code
  • Author: Mathieu d'Aquin and Fouad Zablith
  • Platform: Android
  • Status: Beta testing.

• OpenLearn Linked Data Application

  This application makes use of data from data.open.ac.uk in a bookmarklet that suggests courses, podcasts and other OpenLearn units, starting from the page of a particular OpenLearn unit.

  • Link: Page describing the application
  • Author:Fouad Zablith
  • Platform: Web (might not work in Internet Explorer) - Competition Entry
  • Status: Prototype.

• OU Expert Search

  The OU Expert Search system allows users to find academics at the Open University who are experts in a given domain, providing a ranked list of experts based in particular on their research publications.

  • Link: The home page of the system (only accessible from the Open University's intranet)
  • Author:Miriam Fernandez
  • Platform: Web - Competition Entry
  • Status: Working Demo.

• OUExperts

  OUExperts is a mobile application to find Open Univeristy experts in a given domain, and connect to their social network.

  • Link: Video of the working demo
  • Link: Download android package of the application
  • Author:Vlad Tanasescu
  • Platform: Android - Competition Entry
  • Status: Working Demo.

• Buddy Study

  Buddy Study suggests potential contacts and Open University courses to follow for students, based on analysis of the topics in the user's Facebook page.

  • Link: The Facebook application
  • Author:Matthew Rowe
  • Platform: Facebook - Competition Entry
  • Status: Prototype.

• whatoask

  This tool extracts questions that can be answered by an RDF/Linked dataset, organised in a hierachy and presents a subset that are evaluated as being more likely to be of interest. The Question hierarchy can be navigated and presented together with the answers to selected questions.

  • Link: Blog post describing the application
  • Link: Paper detailing the technique employed
  • Link: Demo on the OpenLearn dataset
  • Link: Demo on the RED dataset
  • Link: Demo on the Buildings dataset
  • Author: Mathieu d'Aquin
  • Platform: Web
  • Status: demonstrator prototype

• KMi Connections

  This demonstrator displays a graph with the connections between members of the Knowledge Media Institute, based on their common papers, past and current projects.

  • Link: Connections based on common publications
  • Author: Mathieu d'Aquin
  • Platform: Web
  • Status: (really bad) demonstrator prototype