Technical Endeavours
The SAL Portal & Blog
SALtech 2016 – reflections
The final SALtech session for 2016 will not be going ahead tomorrow as the Map Library is being used for the Early Admission Interviews.
It’s been a good three months, we’ve covered a significant number of topics. Over our six sessions, our discussions have included:
- issues encountered in creating surfaces from known point values;
- data management practices and ideas for getting started, and keeping the chaos manageable;
- the differences between some of the more common types of spatial web services that are available;
- when you might want to use a web service versus when you might want to acquire the data from the source/custodial agent;
- the differences between maps and diagrams;
- what makes a map a ‘good map’;
- how you can tell if you are, accidentally, making a horrible map;
- online geospatial refresh & training options and, crucially, how to tell the difference between
- reliable sources
- someone with an internet connection and an unsupported ‘opinion’;
- ways to document and package important spatial data as you go through your project so that when you get to the end you know:
- where the important stuff is,
- how you created it, and
- what you need to know about it – no matter how long your project runs for, or how hard it beats you up 😮
To everyone who came along to one of more of the sessions, I hope you got some useful information out of talking with myself and the other participants. I had a lot of fun talking with you about your projects and your experiences.
One of the ways we all get better at what we do is by sharing our learning. By getting together and reflecting on what works and what doesn’t, we expand our experiences. Each project is unique, but first principles are a foundation that we all build on. Keeping those foundations strong makes our research explainable, repeatable and, simply, good science!
To everyone submitting – best wishes as you bring your projects to completion 😀
To those who will be researching on into 2017, perhaps we will see you in the (revised format) 2017 SALtech sessions next year 😉
