Crowdsourcing for Transparency: Who funded the 2010 Calgary election

Wigs · #1 Posted **Apr 9, 2013, 2:39 PM**

http://www.crowdsourcing.civiccamp.org/

I was wondering if you guys could donate a few minutes of your time to help my friends Ben and Aïda, and thus the larger CivicCamp organization out with some simple data entry to show who funded the campaigns of politicians for the 2010 City of Calgary election.

Quote:

The purpose of this initiative is to digitize the 2010 campaign finance data of the municipal election of the City of Calgary (Alberta, Canada) and create a free database available online. So far the data are on images embedded in PDFs and cannot be manipulated for analysis. For more information about this project, please consult our FAQ page. Thank you for your help!

Any bit of help with simple data entry would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

ByeByeBaby · #2 Posted **Apr 9, 2013, 3:27 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by WIGS

http://www.crowdsourcing.civiccamp.org/

I was wondering if you guys could donate a few minutes of your time to help my friends Ben and Aïda, and thus the larger CivicCamp organization out with some simple data entry to show who funded the campaigns of politicians for the 2010 City of Calgary election.

Any bit of help with simple data entry would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I just tried it out, and it works great! It's a really easy interface and it's actually kind of fun ("which developer will I see next?"). It takes literally 10 seconds to do an entry, and you never know who you will see pop up -- I saw a former alderman's name, for instance.

Elbownian · #3 Posted **Apr 9, 2013, 3:56 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ByeByeBaby

I just tried it out, and it works great! It's a really easy interface and it's actually kind of fun ("which developer will I see next?"). It takes literally 10 seconds to do an entry, and you never know who you will see pop up -- I saw a former alderman's name, for instance.

Glad to hear I'm not the only weirdo finding this strangely entertaining! Then again, I sometimes create spreadsheets for fun....

Wigs · #4 Posted **Apr 9, 2013, 4:08 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elbownian

Glad to hear I'm not the only weirdo finding this strangely entertaining! Then again, I sometimes create spreadsheets for fun....

thanks for your help guys!
yeah it's geeky fun. you quickly enter a name then see the next name pop up and my mind says "must enter name" and the cycle repeats until 5 minutes or so has passed. or maybe that's just me

DizzyEdge · #5 Posted **Apr 9, 2013, 5:34 PM**

Oh man I'm already thinking of ways to use that script.

Any idea how many entries are needed total? I did 10

Elbownian · #6 Posted **Apr 9, 2013, 6:54 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by DizzyEdge

Any idea how many entries are needed total? I did 10

I'd imagine it's in the thousands, and I believe each line has to be entered twice identically for verification, if I read things correctly.

Definitely some interesting names coming up. I've punched in a former alderman/MLA, a provincial party leader, and Bigtime!

Full Mountain · #7 Posted **Apr 9, 2013, 6:55 PM**

I think I just came across Wooster!

ByeByeBaby · #8 Posted **Apr 9, 2013, 7:07 PM**

Two things I'm not sure exactly what to do with; maybe your friends could provide guidance and/or add a note?

Joe & Jane Doe $200
Should this be entered as first name: "John & Jane" and last name "Doe"? (Without quotes, obvs.)

NA $100
Should this get flagged, or entered as a company?

Wigs · #9 Posted **Apr 9, 2013, 7:12 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ByeByeBaby

Two things I'm not sure exactly what to do with; maybe your friends could provide guidance and/or add a note?

Joe & Jane Doe $200
Should this be entered as first name: "John & Jane" and last name "Doe"? (Without quotes, obvs.)

NA $100
Should this get flagged, or entered as a company?

Ben posted more detailed description to the webpage

Quote:

Please fill out only the relevant box: EITHER individual contributor OR company (choose individual contributor if not sure)
Data should be typed directly as is displayed on the snapshot: same case, same spelling (do not change it, even if it appears misspelled)
Enter the amount without $, dot, comma and cents – round it if needed (eg: type '3500' for '$3,500.06')
If the line contains two firstnames, type both in the 'Firstname' field
Empty line or 'refunded' contributor? Report it by checking the bottom box

Wigs · #10 Posted **Apr 9, 2013, 7:14 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elbownian

I'd imagine it's in the thousands, and I believe each line has to be entered twice identically for verification, if I read things correctly.

Definitely some interesting names coming up. I've punched in a former alderman/MLA, a provincial party leader, and Bigtime!

correct.
and yes it's interesting the names that come up

Wooster · #11 Posted **Apr 9, 2013, 7:51 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Full Mountain

I think I just came across Wooster!

$5000 to the Ric McIver campaign? That's me!

kw5150 · #12 Posted **Apr 9, 2013, 7:54 PM**

Wow, you are excited. Sorry, bad joke.

haha

Quote:

Originally Posted by Full Mountain

I think I just came across Wooster!

Elbownian · #13 Posted **Apr 9, 2013, 8:18 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wooster

$5000 to the Ric McIver campaign? That's me!

Your name is Craig Chandler? I might have entered that one too

DizzyEdge · #14 Posted **Apr 9, 2013, 8:20 PM**

nevermind

Wigs · #15 Posted **Apr 10, 2013, 3:18 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by DizzyEdge

Oh man I'm already thinking of ways to use that script...

A note from Ben

Quote:

I developed the script under a Creative Commons licence.. in other terms, anyone can reuse and modify the script for free as long as he doesn't sell it. Hope this might inspire new transparency initiatives..