Visualising complex networks within humanities data for discovery and analysis

Abstract

This paper describes the preliminary work leading to a project to build a web services visualisation tool that addresses the multi‐dimensional metadata used to describe cultural datasets, especially those created by researchers to meet specific research ends. The project will utilise the Knalij service developed by Steven Melnikoff (Information Physics, The University of Melbourne) together with datasets curated using the eScholarship Research Centre’s Online Heritage Resource Manager (OHRM) system. In the first instance it is proposed that the Encyclopedia of Australian Science and the Australian Women’s Register datasets be used to operationalise the tool. Using offline visualisation tools, the study of both embedded and implied complex network structures within standards‐based Humanities datasets has revealed significant potential for analysis, navigation, discovery, and the development of new research methods. In October 2011 Knalij was awarded the USA challenge.gov prize for the most innovative uses of National Library of Medicine data. Knalij offers an interactive web service that can visualise the whole of PubMed in real time. This is a landmark achievement that opens up web services, real‐time visualisation capability for complex Humanities datasets with both synchronic and diachronic variables. As noted in the Knalij press release in October: ‘We visualized the entirety of cancer research since 1800 and displayed the progression through the decades. Our maps are searchable, interactive, and ready for researchers to discover trends, patterns, and connections. This is the first time that anyone has visually displayed the entire scope of cancer research in one searchable application. We are very excited to present this to the world'. The paper will focus on Australian Humanities research‐driven datasets and explore a range of uses from project management and documentation to the revelation of novel insights and understandings.