1. Your data is only valuable if others can use it.

2. Your data is only valuable if others' programs can use it.

3. Your data is only valuable if programs not yet written can use it.

4. Use "open" standard data formats (e.g., those produced by W3C).

5. Have well-defined data schema, and keep good documentations.

6. HTML is a basic skill.

• Study this document itself!

• Check out Getting started with HTML.

7. Never too late to learn XML.

• XML is a markup language for documents.

• XML let you define your own vocabularies.

• Check out XML in 10 points.

8. GML/KML is for geospatial data.

• GML is the Geography Markup Language defined by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) to express geographical features.

• KML is an XML language focused on geographic visualization, including annotation of maps and images.

• A GML polygon (enclosed by one LineString and two ArcString elements):

      <gml:Polygon>
        <gml:exterior>
          <gml:Ring>
            <gml:curveMember>
              <gml:Curve>
                <gml:segments>
                  <gml:LineString>
                    <gml:coordinates>
                      311121.467,2770626.411,0.000
                      311146.177,2770623.712,0.000
                      311146.784,2770629.019,0.000
                    </gml:coordinates>
                  </gml:LineString>
                  <gml:ArcString>
                    <gml:coordinates>
                      311146.784,2770629.019,0.000
                      311135.351,2770642.915,0.000
                      311121.849,2770631.020,0.000
                    </gml:coordinates>
                  </gml:ArcString>
                  <gml:ArcString>
                    <gml:coordinates>
                      311121.849,2770631.020,0.000
                      311121.699,2770628.712,0.000
                      311121.467,2770626.411,0.000
                    </gml:coordinates>
                  </gml:ArcString>
                </gml:segments>
              </gml:Curve>
            </gml:curveMember>
          </gml:Ring>
        </gml:exterior>
      </gml:Polygon>
  

9. SVG is for data visualization.

• SVG is a language for describing two-dimensional graphics and graphical applications in XML.

• The corresponding SVG path element for the GML polygon:

  <g id="id513">
    <path class="SF93110"
      d="M 311121.467,2770626.411
         L 311146.177,2770623.712
         L 311146.784,2770629.019
         A 12.5147  12.5147  0 1 1 311121.849,2770631.02
         A 64.99423 64.99423 0 0 0 311121.467,2770626.411
         Z"/>
  </g>
  

• Result (the polygon is in red):

  

• Check out this Academia Sinica map.

• SVG in HTML!

10. Choose open source software.

• A scenario: "Online Aggregation and Visualization of Census Data: Population Mapping with SVG, XML, and Free Software" (SVG Open 2002).

  

• We focused on standards and tools for information visualization and XML processing.