Category: Reflective Post 2

Citation: Witches – Mapping the Scottish Survey of Witchcraft Database by the University of Edinburgh

Summary: This project is a continuing adaptation of the “Survey of Scottish Witchcraft” database that was created in 2003. The original database, linked on the site after some searching, is essentially an advanced search engine with different filters and subjects, from “Accused witches by name” to “People involved.” These new maps were made to adapt and visualize those tried for witchcraft during the Witchcraft Act from 1563-1736 using various tools so users could get an accurate picture of who was actually accused, tried, and sometimes executed for witchcraft. Not only that, but the project also evolved to have case studies of certain people like the witch-pricker John Kincaid or alleged witch Isobel Young using other visualization tools. Though the original database’s audience may have just been researchers, judging by the extensive search options yet lacking visualizations, this new upgrade expanded it to people who may not know as much about Scottish history or witchcraft.

Claims and evidence: Using those maps, the creators are able to answer questions with their data. For example, they can show that the demographics of people accused of witchcraft may have been different than what people originally believed, and that most people accused according to the data were middle-class women. It also showed that many trials occurred in the cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, and accused witches who were found guilty relocated to either of the two (mostly Edinburgh) for their execution. There are not so many questions that are asked and answered, however, as there are visualizations. Visualizations, while they may have come from a huge database to work from, did not have many analytical components on their own and instead furthered the original database’s “Introduction,” a general Q&A answering questions based on the data.

Technology: This project used LeafletJS combined with WikiData for primary visualizations with support from ArcGIS StoryMaps. Given that there are over 3,000 trials recorded as well as certain historical locations, it makes sense to pair with WikiData for sourcing and visualizing the demographics of these events. LeafletJS allowed for specific filters in their maps, which let the researchers determine the exact demographics of those accused and even the torture methods used in confession. Mapping Witchcraft does document where the data was taken from, as did the original database, and credits the sources they used while also linking their spreadsheets of data.

Issues: While there is a significant amount of visualization, there is little of analysis. What analysis was done was created or written by other people either from the original project or from contribution pages. Such analysis comes from the “Introduction” and “Further Reading” pages of the original witchcraft database. There was an issue with the loading time of some maps, particularly the map of “Involved People.” Everything still ran smoothly once it loaded, so I believe this came down to the quantity of data.

Koelker, Aaron. Green Oranges & Land: Challenges and Change in Florida Citrus. ArcGIS Story Maps. Esri. 2023. https://storymaps.arcgis.com/collections/68ba1955f063424884fc7c77dea8480e?item=5

“Green Oranges & Land: Challenges and Change in Florida Citrus” by Aaron Koelker uses ArcGIS Story Maps to explore the history of Florida through its oranges trees. The six sections of the project address the levels of orange manufacture in different regions; the effect of freezings, hurricanes, and extreme weather events; and the challenges behind citrus production. 

“Green Oranges & Land” sees in Digital Humanities an opportunity to intersect history, meteorology, environmental studies, and geography by using oranges to expand the story of Florida itself. DH allows a multifaceted view of the topic, without overwhelming the reader. The project is packed with content, but the clever use of different visualizations makes each piece meaningful while still connected to a central theme.

However, interestingly enough, the first data visualization of the project is a static image: a timeline displaying the main freezes throughout Florida’s orange production history. At this moment, it is important to highlight what might be the greatest strength of this project: its design. 

“Green Oranges & Land” is a prime example of how design is fundamental to the Digital Humanities. In the ongoing debate of functionality vs. appearance, this project shows that being pretty is being functional. The cohesive design allows static images to disguise themselves as seemingly complex data visualizations. Small details such as the little oranges as separators between sections make this project user-friendly.

The customization is also seen in other visualizations, such as the map of cities, towns, and neighborhoods with orange/citrus on the name, using oranges instead of pins to mark places on the map.

Further exploring the data visualizations in this project, another highlight is the map under the Tropical Weather section displaying the hurricane paths and their effects on orange production. The seamless transitions between the slides on the map, create the sensation of motion, which is fundamental to conveying the paths of the hurricanes.

However, “Green Oranges & Land” does not escape the ArcGIS curse: infinite scroll. 

Even though the project uses headers as a way to break down the text and direct the user to a specific section, it still feels tiring to read towards the end. As someone who is definitely biased in favor of this project, I was hoping to use the mobile version of the website to justify the infinite scroll, but unfortunately, some of the visualizations were not responsive. 

Overall, “Green Oranges & Land” showcases the originality of DH as a medium for storytelling. It blends multiple disciplines into a cohesive narrative through innovative design and visualization techniques. Furthermore, it demonstrates that thoughtful design and functionality are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary in creating an impactful digital humanities project.

Citation: Mapping Theatre in Australia by the University of Melbourne (UoM)

Summary: The point of this project is to map the different performances at various venues throughout Australia. It tracks performances from 1965 to the current day along with where and when the performances took place, what the venue was like, title and genre, demographic data of the areas, and school data of the areas. It was intended to provide information “to better understand the theatre ecologies that shape regional and urban Australia,” meaning it wants to provide the information to breakdown the demographics of not only the shows and venues themselves but who is coming to see these shows or can be convinced to see the shows in the future. It is meant for theaters, schools, and governments to help further understand what people want to see and are willing to pay for based on their demographics.

Claims and Evidence: Mapping Theatre in Australia seeks to answer the questions of what theatres are available to people based on region, who lives in these regions, what shows have been performed and been successful, and what is the impact of theatre on young people. These questions are fundamentally what is explored throughout this project as the map that is utilized showcases the data visually, the table showcases the data numerically, and the graphs that analyse this data break down into six subsections which are then broken down by state. While the formatting takes a while to get used to, the evidence provided is well thought out and visualised in several different ways which appeal to multiple audiences. UoM provides a well broken down analysis of what they’ve set out to accomplish and proceed to either answer their questions or give enough information for prospective users of their information to draw their own conclusions. As this project appeals to a very wide but also limited audience, Mapping Theatre in Australia does a good job of blending professional and scholarly with breakdowns that are not just meant for academia or government allowing for those not in the major fields to understand what is occurring. It also remains grounded in the theatre and how it is affected by these demographics which creates a unique look as to what factors influence how certain ideas are chosen.

Technology: The digital tools that are used in this project are several fairly interactive but easy to use items that help to breakdown the data. The map is the central tool of this project as it holds the majority of the information such as where the theatre venues are, how many events each has held since 1965, and by clicking on the locations you can see the breakdown of information. There is also a sidebar which enables the user to look at more individualized data such as demographics or selecting a more narrowed time scheme. There is also tabulated data which may have been created with Flourish that has 5,000 entries. The information in this table is much narrower as it breaks down the information by name (which is not fully explained as to what name they are referring to), company name, event data, genre, venue, and demographics. The graphs use a wide variety of formats with items such as pie charts, bar graphs, word maps, and dot graphs. While some look as if they were created in Excel, others could have been created with items such as Voyant. Mapping Theatre in Australia documents where the data is taken from, but not what tools were used which is a little disappointing due to the nature of some of these tools that could be useful for my own project.

Issues: While there were no glaring issues, one of the items that I had an issue with was not saying which tools were used. While I know that this information does not have to be shared, it would have been nice to be able to dig deeper into their process and see how they arrived to their conclusions and depicted them. The only other issue I ran into was the lag that was present on the site due to how much information was on each page. Everything still ran fairly smooth, but there were pages that took longer than others to be able to interact with.