Big+Data+EF


 * MEMO: Big Data**

Considering the demographics of these spaces in a ‘Big Data’ sense will be helpful – not only demographics in terms of physical spaces, but also in regards to online communities such as //Instructables// and PLOTS. This might take me a while to accumulate and will be on-going collection throughout a few years, as of course these numbers and demographics will change. If I can see any trends in changing numbers regarding involvement/interest that would be of interest—stasis of demographics would also be interesting and would have a story to tell in and of itself.

I would also like to gather general data of maker/hackerspaces throughout the world, although focusing on the US and possibly China (and Europe?) may be the most feasible places in this regard. So basically finding out how many active (or defunct) makerspaces exist. Trends of where they are on the rise or the decline might speak to economic viability, backing by governmental/institutional funding, or general interest within specific areas. Are these spaces on the rise everywhere? Or are they in decline in some spaces where they were previously very popular? Where are they absent? What does this speak to? This might not be hard to gather initially (possibly a day?) But will need to be tracked in order to observe trends, and possibly may need more time as I stumble upon now defunct spaces and do back-tracking to see when they opened, when they closed, and possibly why. This may also prove difficult as I look for makerspaces or skill-sharing community centers that may be a bit more obscure or hard to define as ‘makerspaces’ or ‘skill-sharing’ centers per say. It might also be helpful to look at big data of who has internet access when thinking about Online communities.