By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Miguel Guhlin[Edit][Delete]: Data Analysis, Around the Corner [Edit][Delete] August 10, 2006
Be sure to have a look at the 'multiple measures of data' graphic in this post. It is a four-circle Venn Diagram identifying four corresponding measurement metrics and how they interact. Of course, once you admit these dimensions of measurement, what is to argue against a variety of other measurements - nutrition intake, for example, local crime rate, perhaps, or per-student computer budget - into the same sort of calculation. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Unattributed[Edit][Delete]: Relational Database Normalisation Process, databasedev.co.uk [Edit][Delete] July 17, 2006
In some senses, the Semantic Web is like a big distributed database. This applies equally well to less formal instances, such as the RSS network. As such, there are basic, well-known, principles for its design. One set of these falls under the heading of 'normalization'. The idea of normalization is that you don't needlessly duplicate data entries. That's why I wince every time I see an author name entered into an element as a string instead of as a reference (or link) to an author record. This article explains database normalization and offers some examples. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Jack D Herrington[Edit][Delete]: Separate Data and Formatting with Microformats, IBM developerWorks [Edit][Delete]IBM DeveloperWorks [Edit][Delete] July 12, 2006
Nice article that not only describes microformats but also provides some PHP code that allows you to convert from microformats to XML and back again. How would this be useful? You could write a short script that gathers the book reviews written by James McGee recently. More...

The academic sector needs to focus on updating their cybersecurity strategies and combating higher-ed data breaches. More...

Data and analytics are immensely helpful as institutions strive to improve graduation rates and help students move that tassel. More...