In this lesson, we will read a series of papers that begin to illustrate the breadth of diversity in (geo)visual analytics applications. R1 presents the novel use of GVA in supporting “close reading” of poetry through interactive, visual exploration of a poem’s sonic topology. R2 is all about time and storytelling, showcasing the complexity of effectively and expressively communicating multiple narrative points visually. Finally, in R3, we will see how GVA can be leveraged to support “distant reading” through enabling the digital humanities community to explore large text archives containing both spatial and temporal information.
For all of these works, consider the level of effort and time it took for the researchers to arrive at an effective design solution for a very specific use case or need. My hope is that these readings, along with looking ahead to future lesson topics/readings (in addition to your own research!), will help guide you in picking a literature review topic that is narrowly focused, GVA-relevant, and personally of interest! Don’t forget to submit your topic idea by the mid-lesson deadline and be prepared to provide a short paragraph summarizing your topic by the end-of-lesson deadline, in addition to commenting on at least two other classmates’ topics.
For this lesson’s discussion forum, respond in two-three paragraphs to one of the following prompts:
- Carefully consider R2 and reflect on how you might also integrate space and/or place into the various timeline design options. Explain what this integration could look like and outline any challenges you foresee in your proposed design option(s).
- Compare and contrast how GVA is used to support “close” (R1) and “distant” (R3) reading. Is there any overlap in the researchers’ approaches to informing these text-based use cases? Were there any methodological components that one study used that could have informed the other study had those researchers applied that approach?
Post your written work to Discussion Forum #2 and be sure to post substantive responses to at least two of your classmates.
- R1: McCurdy, Nina, Julie Lein, Katharine Coles, and Miriah Meyer. Poemage: Visualizing the sonic topology of a poem. IEEE transactions on visualization and computer graphics 22, no. 1 (2015): 439-448. https://doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2015.2467811
- R2: Brehmer, Matthew, Bongshin Lee, Benjamin Bach, Nathalie Henry Riche, and Tamara Munzner. Timelines revisited: A design space and considerations for expressive storytelling. IEEE transactions on visualization and computer graphics 23, no. 9 (2016): 2151-2164. https://doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2016.2614803
- R3: Bruggmann, André, and Sara I. Fabrikant. How does GIScience support spatio-temporal information search in the humanities? Spatial Cognition & Computation 16, no. 4 (2016): 255-271. https://doi.org/10.1080/13875868.2016.1157881
This reading is available via the Library Resources link in the Course Navigation Menu (at left).