Conclusion

The NYTimes APIs present a wealth of information for researchers of any stripe. The database is at the same time a historical record and a live feed—new content is being created every minute of every day. And of course, however vast the NYTimes database might be, it is but a small part of the huge catalog of open data that is available—a catalog that is growing by leaps and bounds with every passing week. Indeed, it seems that we may be sweeping past the first problem of open data—how to make data available—and right into a second, bigger problem: how can we possibly utilize such mammoth amounts of information?

Part of the solution to this problem, in my mind, lies in enabling as many people as possible to access and explore the available data. Many large-scale open data initiatives have concentrated on serving the already data-literate: software developers, computer scientists, and trained information professionals. Much of the focus has been on making this data useful on corporate scales. However, as we've seen in this tutorial, we can explore at least some of these datasets by using simple tools to ask simple questions. This skill, put in the hands of journalists, sociologists, historians, artists, and scientists, will be essential i....