{"id":7397,"date":"2017-09-14T16:48:38","date_gmt":"2017-09-14T20:48:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/research.prattsils.org\/?p=7397"},"modified":"2017-09-14T16:48:38","modified_gmt":"2017-09-14T20:48:38","slug":"timeline-information-visualization-public-eye","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/visualization\/timeline-information-visualization-public-eye\/","title":{"rendered":"Timeline of Information Visualization in the Public Eye"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n

First attracted to the quaint idea of a 1913 Graph Parade in New York noted in the <\/span>Milestones in the History of Thematic Cartography Statistical Graphics and Data Visualization Project<\/span><\/a>, I examined their timeline and outside sources to find other major events in the history of popular information visualization. While data and information visualization arose from specialized fields like statistics and astronomy, visualization lends itself easily to popular interest as a tool of clarification and communication. Today, information visualization is commonly taught in primary education in the United States. Software like Excel and Google Forms and Sheets make visualization from data simple and sometimes instantaneous for many casual users. Infographics are commonplace in print and online media. The progression of this popularity began early in the history of visualization, through industry and individual efforts, which I documented on an interactive timeline.<\/span><\/p>\n

Materials<\/strong><\/p>\n

I used Michael Friendly and Daniel J Denis\u2019s <\/span>Milestones project<\/span><\/a> as a primary dataset, along with an additional milestone that I thought fit the topic. I then used Knight Lab\u2019s <\/span>Timeline JS<\/span><\/a> in conjunction with Google sheets as my visualization software, accessed through Google Chrome. I then edited my embed HTML in TextEdit and published (or rather attempted to publish) the visualization through WordPress.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many of my images were found through <\/span>Wikimedia Commons<\/span><\/a> and the Milestones site.<\/span><\/p>\n

Methods<\/strong><\/p>\n

I began by selecting a broad array of events from the Milestones timeline, from the 1913 parade to any conference held on the topic. I chose events that fit three categories: semi-public events, mostly public events, and public events. \u2018Semi-public\u2019 events are ones that were not open or visible to the larger public but did present information visualization to a broader audience within other fields. This included statistical and public health conferences. \u2018Mostly public\u2019 events include anything that would have been open to the public, but were limited by cost, from textbooks to public but ticketed events to payware. Then I added to the list any other events not included in the milestones project that seemed to fit. I began with fifteen events.<\/span><\/p>\n

Through the Timeline JS website, I created a copy of the Google Sheet template in my own Google Drive. I then filled out the template with my events, culling overly broad events like statistics conferences without visualizations from the list. I sourced images from public domain or Creative Commons sites, though the use of images from other sites might have been covered under fair use for this educational and arguably transformative project. In the end I was left with ten events:<\/span><\/p>\n