Data Visualization

Create a map, timeline, or other data visualization object

The Digital Scholarship Initiatives (DSI) program currently supports the use of several data visualization tools. Explore the links below and contact Jenifer Bartle if you see something you'd like to incorporate into your research or teaching. 

Using, Creating, and Annotating Maps

There are many ways to incorporate maps into your project or assignment:

  • Use an existing "static" digital map. See our LibGuide for Maps & Geographic Data for more information and links to map and geographic data repositories. oldmapsonline.org is a great resource for digitized historic maps.
  • Create an interactive map using Google Map or Google Earth. The online documentation is good, and we can help you at any step of the way.
  • Annotate a map using the Neatline plugin for Omeka.
  • Work with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data to create rich geographic displays.

Creating Timelines

  • SIMILE Timeline 
  • Timeliner
  • Neatline plugin for Omeka

Text Visualization

  • Wordle.net is a simple tool that allows you to create visualizations of text.
  • If you are interested in doing analysis on the "frequency, distribution, and arrangement of words in large-scale patterns," the Lexomics project at Wheaton College might be of interest. Please contact Jenifer Bartle if you're interested in installing these tools for your own analysis project.
  • We would be happy to help with the visualization tools available at gephi.org

Also contact us if you wish to explore other data visualization tools not shown here-- we'd love an excuse to play with new tools!

A great place to get information about digital research tools is the DiRT (Digital Research Tools) registry by Project Bamboo.