Visualization and Analysis of Abstract Information
Spaces Through the use of Geospatial and Cartographic Metaphors
Visualization and Analysis of Abstract Information
Spaces Through the use of Geospatial and Cartographic Metaphors
The *map* is perhaps the earliest form of graphical representation of
information about the world we live in and the context it represents for us.
It provides a gods-eye view of the world from what is presumably an objective
perspective. The discipline of *Cartography* is old and rich in various
traditions, techniques and tropes and Information Visualization pioneers such
as Edward Tufte draw heavily on the ancient and contemporary works of map
makers. Since the introduction of the image of our networked information
systems as a *cyberspace*, it is not uncommon for people to speak in spatial
or
even geospatial terms regarding information complexes. This talk is intended
to survey a wide variety of representational systems for the Internet and to
introduce the concept of layered metaphors in the context of mapping
information spaces. The focus of my investigations in this area are related
to
discovering, recognizing or even catalyzing self-organizing collections of
information on the Internet.