Found in 1 comment on Hacker News
uxp · 2011-05-28 · Original thread
This is what I got from the article. data.gov has LOADS of datasets for the USA, as well as hundreds of other APIs from different departments that can be used to retrieve that data in real time.

The problem comes just after you click "download" and realize you have a 600MB XML file listing the Ph levels of groundwater sites around the country for the past 25 years. How in the hell are you going to make that data an interesting draw that users want to read or learn about?

I have no skill for frontend design, but I've recently begun to learn how to display data in an intelligent manner. If anyone is interested, these books have helped me:

Information Dashboard Design: http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596100162

Visualizing Data: http://www.amazon.com/Visualizing-Data-Explaining-Processing...

Beautiful Data: http://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Data-Stories-Elegant-Solutio...

Fresh book recommendations delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday.