Data and accessibility

In a recent email from Joe about my thesis topic, he brought up the similarity between our interests. He is always talking about the semantic web which i still don't know what it is. He tells me it is about accessibility. We know that there is an obscene amount of documentation being done digitally, automatically at every moment. This information serves the interests of analyzing larger trends better than the individual for several reasons. Accessibility here is less important than the ability for any individual or small interest group to digest such information.

I think of reading materials from classes. Within the Information Design text book I used for information architecture class last semester, I found widely varying styles of writing that lent to my understanding on very different levels.

One of the many great diagrams we are presented with in that class was the process of learning. It is a series of overlapping circles, each representing a stage, from first contact with a piece of information to internalizing it.

The Agency I will be going to in New Delhi in a few weeks is part of the International Budget Project. Part of the project will be to effectively distribute the findings of my nonprofit partner to the public. This idea is very exciting to me for several reasons. Transparency is very important, but just how do people read transparency?
How do people find available information that addresses their issues?
How many groups should we break the audience into?
How do we address such a varied audience?
And just how does the use of governmental funds effect us?(how do we describe this effect in a way that is direct and useful?)

I often feel that it is hard to ignore the triviality of some design work. But in the subtlety of good work, information is communicated and ideas inspired.