Preprint: “Visualizing Digital Collections”

The following article (preprint) was recently submitted for consideration in Technical Services Quarterly published by Taylor and Francis

Title

Visualizing Digital Collections

Author

Laura Deal
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Source

via arXiv

Abstract

Data visualizations can greatly enhance search in digital collections by providing information about the scope and context of a collection and allowing users to more easily browse and explore the contents. This article discusses the benefits of incorporating visualizations into digital collections based on the experiences of the Cold War International History Project (CWIHP) in developing a user-friendly tool for searching and visualizing the project’s complex set of historical documents. The paper concludes with a tutorial on using the free Library of Congress tool Viewshare to create visualizations based on real data from the CWIHP Digital Archive.

Direct to Full Text (Preprint; 30 pages; PDF)

Note: Materials from the Cold War International History Project (CWIHP) are included in the award winning International History Declassified  Digital Archive from the Wilson Center that launched on April 3, 2013.

Here are two posts from our archive about the digital archive.

1.  “Digital Archive: International History Declassified” Awarded 2013 Roy Rosenzweig Prize for Innovation in Digital History (November 11, 2013)

2. Extensive Collection of Declassified Materials Now Accessible, Searchable in New Digital Archive (April 3, 2013)