Speak to the Eyes: The History and Practice of Information Visualization
Jefferson Bailey, Lily Pregill · Art Documentation Journal of the Art Libraries Society of North America · 2014
AbstractInformation visualization techniques are being used increasingly by scholars, museum curators, and collection managers to analyze cultural heritage data sets in novel and dynamic ways. Shifting palettes, spatial density, and other material aspects of works can now be examined digitally to provide new insights into creativity, form, genre, and change. Cultural heritage professionals are also beginning to use visualizations and computational tools to expand the availability and explorability of their collections. This article locates the current field of information visualization within its historical context, demonstrating the shift in aesthetic practice within the field from the mid-eighteenth century to the present day. A number of current projects are presented to illustrate how information visualization is mediating formal humanities research and the study and management of collections.