diff --git a/content/blog/entries/2026-30-03-the-end-of-an-era/contents.lr b/content/blog/entries/2026-30-03-the-end-of-an-era/contents.lr new file mode 100644 index 00000000..93994e3b --- /dev/null +++ b/content/blog/entries/2026-30-03-the-end-of-an-era/contents.lr @@ -0,0 +1,105 @@ +title: Quantifying the Commons: The end of an era +--- +categories: +open-source +collaboration +community +quantifying-the-commons +--- +author: Oreoluwa +--- +pub_date: 2026-03-03 +--- +body: + + +## Quantifying the Commons: The end of an era + +Dear gentle reader, + +It is the end of an era yet the beginning of my bloom as a young aspiring data +professional on a global stage. It feels so surreal to be at the end of this +amazing journey with my mentors and to see the quantifying commons become a +mature project in the creative commons open source community. Quantifying the +commons is also blooming so stay tuned to experience its impact in different +teams at Creative Commons. + +Looking back, I was quite nervous on my first meeting with Timid Robot and +Sara. I did not quite understand the automation part of the project, how long +the scripts ran? Why? I was fascinated by the whole process of the system, +after further explanation by Timid Robot I was really impressed by the design +thinking. A lot of details and critical thinking were put into implementing the +system. Big kudos to the project lead and previous contributors, I am in love +with the foundation being put in place prior to my contribution. It is a firm +one and it made my work easier and worthwhile. + + +## Day 1 was amazing, Day 90 is growth! + +I went from being confused with concepts used in the codebase to suggesting +ideas on improving the automation process in the system. I constantly read +articles, tested, iterated and improvised functions and mechanisms. I improved +on my data structure and algorithm skills, I had to cater for test cases, +limitations and risk. Risk in the sense that the system is exposed to change +because the data is live and dynamic from the API. This is what I did in the +first half of my internship +[here](https://opensource.creativecommons.org/blog/entries/2026-01-22-My-outreachy-journey/). +I would be focusing on the second half of the internship in this blog post. A +big part of the project is ensuring the integrity of data is in sync with the +efficiency of the automation process. + + +### Automating the Smithsonian quarterly report + +Smithsonian is one of the largest public institutions in the United States. It +has a total of 38 units/data sources like museums, zoos and libraries as of +when I worked on it. We derived insights on the usage of CC0 license across the +media records and records without media. This urged me to add the horizontal +stacked barplot to the collection of visualization in the report system. From +this, we could get the distribution of the records with CC0 licenses at a +glance. Also, we explored the top 10 distribution of units and lowest 10 +distribution of units. This meaningfully tells us how common the CC0 license is +used in these institutions. After testing the whole workflow a couple of times, +I detected that the unit code seems to be updated frequently whether added or +removed. I developed a function that keeps track of these changes and gives a +warning about changes in the next automation process. This was the best way +possible at the moment to handle the sudden unit code, so that our data is +quite predictable and updated. + + +### Automating the arXiv quarterly report + +Arxiv is a curated research-sharing platform with 5 million monthly active +users and hosts 2.6 million research papers. We derived quite interesting +insights from this data source. Then expanded the visualization collection in +plot.py by adding the function for line plot and vertical stacked barplot. The +insights include the count of legal tools on a yearly basis and various +comparative analysis of the tools over the years. We also explored the +breakdown of these tools usage in different categories. + + +## Lessons learned + +I learnt so much about creating a structure when solving a problem. It is quite +easier to debug and it presents a detailed workflow for future contributors to +understand what has been done previously. It literally boils down to how you +name your variable or how you use it in a function. I also learnt the +importance of asking why. Timid Robot encouraged me to always question +assumptions and understand the reasoning behind decisions. This was the best +thing to do because it made the whole internship fun and puzzling. Things +became naturally logical and I could connect the dots quite easily. + + +## What Next! + +I hope to continue volunteering my time on the project going forward. I am also +eager to explore other open-source projects involving research, big data, and +automation, and to further align these skill sets with my background in +actuarial science. + + +## Goodbye for now + +I really enjoyed working with my mentors, I will miss our little chit chats +about the holidays, the weather and even vacation trips. I look forward to +catching up again in the future.