
Data Is Plural – Structured Archive - joshdance
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wZhPLMCHKJvwOkP4juclhjFgqIY8fQFMemwKL2c64vk/edit#gid=0
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jsvine
Hi, author/creator here. Very neat to see this on HN, thanks. The spreadsheet
is a byproduct of the weekly newsletter I publish:
[https://tinyletter.com/data-is-plural](https://tinyletter.com/data-is-plural)

The spreadsheet simply contains the text and links from each newsletter
edition ... but in a tabular format. (One advantage to the newsletter over the
spreadsheet: the links make a bit more sense, since they're associated with
specific anchor text.) The "non-structured" archive of previous newsletters
can be found here: [https://tinyletter.com/data-is-
plural/archive](https://tinyletter.com/data-is-plural/archive)

Happy to answer any Qs!

~~~
danso
I'm giving a talk on data journalism to journalists next week and I was
already going to recommend they sign up for up for the newsletter. But I'm
glad to be reminded how you track its content with a spreadsheet, which means
I can mention you again when I talk about creative useful usecases for
spreadsheets.

------
cateye
Nice resources.

Made me think that there is still a gap between web publishing tools (like
MediaWiki, WordPress, Drupal) and online spreadsheets.

Html pages are easier to open and the layout options can provide better
usability but spreadsheet are more convinient to maintain.

It is also a danger that big companies like Google Or Microsoft dominate the
publishing tools and govern the content.

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arthurdenture
Origin: [https://tinyletter.com/data-is-plural](https://tinyletter.com/data-
is-plural)

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arafalov
I like that meta-dataset. Actual source (newsletters) is at:
[https://tinyletter.com/data-is-plural](https://tinyletter.com/data-is-plural)

I even used it itself as well as one of mentioned datasets (puppies! kittens!)
to explain Apache Solr search engine features at the ApacheCon 2018.

So, if you want to play with it, you may find my presentation useful:
[https://www.slideshare.net/arafalov/from-content-to-
search-s...](https://www.slideshare.net/arafalov/from-content-to-search-
speeddating-apache-solr-apachecon-2018-116330553)

Examples: * Slide 45: how to find entries with maximum links * Slide 59: merle
puppy!

Matching github repo is: [https://github.com/arafalov/solr-
apachecon2018-presentation](https://github.com/arafalov/solr-
apachecon2018-presentation) (including the final configuration, if you are not
into learning Solr step by step)

I also have an idea of taking datasets from there one by one and doing series
of blog posts of how to actually get them into Apache Solr showcase advanced
search functions. But it is a lot of effort to prepare and I am not sure how
many people would actually find it interesting.

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jjuel
Shouldn't it be 'Data are plural' then?

~~~
kelnos
No. The verb modifies a sort of implied subject. Read it as "The word 'data'
is plural", and it makes more sense.

Put another way, using a more standardly-pluaralized word, you would say
"puppies is plural", not "puppies are plural".

------
akincisor
Can we get a canonical url for this? It's a useful resource, but in its
current form might disappear at any time.

~~~
3JPLW
It's a little funny that someone so invested in public and open datasets would
embed their own data in a Google Spreadsheet.

~~~
danso
Serious question: what do you think would be the better alternative?
Especially when factoring in ease-of-upkeep (for the creator), convenient and
familiar interface for the majority of users, Google's generally good uptime
and server performance, and that a Google Sheet set to public access is not
closed by a reasonable definition of that word.

I was going to quip about how I am annoyed that Google removed download-as-a-
CSV as a URL endpoint, but it appears I misheard about this because
/export?format=csv still turns the Google Sheet URL into a direct download
link:

[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wZhPLMCHKJvwOkP4jucl...](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wZhPLMCHKJvwOkP4juclhjFgqIY8fQFMemwKL2c64vk/export?format=csv)

~~~
3JPLW
I personally didn't find it easy to consume, and others here didn't either
(see the confusion about what it is, asking for context, etc). The links
aren't clickable, there are multiple newline-separated links in a single cell,
etc.

I'm not just objecting to the use of Google; part of an open dataset is its
ease of use.

As for alternatives, I agree, it's hard to rival Google Sheets in terms of the
creator's time. But again, for someone invested in curating open datasets, I'd
hope for a bit of time invested in curating their own data — even if it
remains within Google sheets.

------
skadamat
Super neat! This is a compilation of datasets sent out from Jeremy Vine's Data
Is Plural Newsletter - [https://tinyletter.com/data-is-
plural](https://tinyletter.com/data-is-plural)

------
mcphage
What is the context for this?

~~~
TimSchumann
It looks like a curated list of various open, free to use data sets.

I agree though, while useful, seems like this should be embedded in the
context of a short write up somewhere. Or, at least, have a title that's
descriptive as opposed to what looks like a vague attempt and branding.

~~~
dangwu
I've gone insane. I thought this was a bunch of links supporting the argument
that the word 'data' is plural.

~~~
TimSchumann
It's just poor marketing/branding to anyone not in the know. Much like the
name of the current site we're on, though maybe that's what they're going for.

Titles like this are absolutely useless. I shouldn't have to click on a link
and spend 45 seconds reading spreadsheet entries to figure out what it is I'm
reading about.

~~~
danso
FWIW, the Google Sheet has a "Notes" tab which explains the spreadsheet and
its content:
[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wZhPLMCHKJvwOkP4jucl...](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wZhPLMCHKJvwOkP4juclhjFgqIY8fQFMemwKL2c64vk/htmlview?sle=true#)

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programmertote
In the 'Notes' sheet, it says we can create a copy of this Google Sheet, but I
am having a hard time seeing the Menu to do that. Does anyone have success
downloading this sheet into CSV or something? If so, I'd like to know how.
Thank you.

~~~
danso
The submitted URL is the endpoint to view the GSheet as HTML. The canonical
URL for the spreadsheet contains the usual menu options and interactive
features:

[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wZhPLMCHKJvwOkP4jucl...](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wZhPLMCHKJvwOkP4juclhjFgqIY8fQFMemwKL2c64vk/edit#gid=0)

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1f60c
It just redirects to a Google Support article ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

~~~
crazygringo
Usually a cookie problem. Log out of your Google account, clear your cookies,
and then it should work.

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isa
I am honestly surprised that Beyonce isn't the top hit for Houston.

