Author: hannahk12

This week I looked at the “One More Last Stand” short story by Callan Wink. For this blog post I did a network analysis on the connection between characters, namely their interaction in the short story. This network graph illuminates immediately that Perry is a vital character in the story, and objectively one may figure out that he is the main character. He has communication lines with each person, and two people (Kat Realbird and the bartender) have direct communication to two other people.  The graph has directional points, where you can see the communication originating from Perry, Kat Realbird, and the Bartender to the receiver. 

 

However there are limitations of this network analysis, specifically the inability to show the quality and nature of each relationship and conversation. We only know from this network analysis that Perry has spoken to Kat Realbird, the Twins, Andy, Ted, and the Bartender. The viewer does not know how many times they have spoken, and thus do not know the extent of each relationship. Perry speaks to Kat and Andy many times in the short story, but even for these two the nature of their relationship is different. I’m sure with more complicated network analysis tools one could better capture the relationships.

Another limitation is the connection between the characters aside from Perry. John Realbird and Kat Realbird are brothers and sisters, and John Realbird is the bartender’s cousin. This particular network analysis does not show the other relationships, and limits the other connections to the fact that Kat Realbird had spoken to her grandmother or the bartender had spoken to John Realbird. We can see, however, that if Perry wanted to reach John Realbird he has a connection to him through the bartender. This is not the only way to reach John Realbird, but it is one possibility because of the vast network of communication Perry has had.

Overall this was a fun activity to do a simply network analysis exercise. I can definitely see how a more complicated network analysis could show a lot more information and connections between nodes!

This week I looked at the 19th-Century Caribbean Cholera TimeMap; this project was conducted by a team in Duke University. There is an “About” Section with tabs such as “Project Team”, “Methodology Considerations”, “Seasonality Correlations”, and “Migratino and Cholera”. (Unfortunately I could not access this information because each time I clicked a tab, the link would not take my anywhere. Maybe other students had better luck with this). However there is information I can access by simply looking at the home page. Turnbull believes that all maps are perspectival and subjective. Furthermore, on the homepage of the Turnbull reading and exhibitions, the site indicates tells the readers that Turnbull “analyses maps both as a metaphor for knowledge and also as a major means of knowledge representation in a wide array of cultures”. From Turnbull’s perspective of maps, I tried to decipher the perspective that the Caribbean Cholera TimeMap portrays.

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This map reflects the point of view of the team that created the map, and what they deemed important about the outbreak. They have a timeline starting from the early 1830’s to the late 1870’s, and based on the time period you choose, the map also changes to that time period. Each time period navigates to significant cholera outbreaks, but also marks the locations where there were hurricane, tropical storms, and particular news articles about the cholera outbreaks. We are missing a lot of contextual information, especially in terms of the significance and outcome of these outbreaks to the community. We do not know why the Duke team chose this particular time period as well. Although easily navigable, this map lacks information to give us a solid perspective. And since this was created by a team in a university in the U.S., we do not have the perspective of those who lived in the Caribbean and experienced these outbreaks. Therefore there may have been more outbreaks in different locations that we are missing, or stories about these outbreaks. An alternative map would include local stories and interviews (although difficult since they begin in 1830’s) and context to why they chose this outbreak to map out.

Based on this exercise there’s no disagreeing that maps are usually indicative of knowledge from its maker(s), and an array of maps would definitely represent a wide set of cultures. Maps are one way someone can view another’s perspective of the world around them, or in other words, how one “how humans see and depict the natural world”. Although cholera is the main focus of this map, we cannot see in what regards it was significant e.g. culturally, socially, and economically. With the spotlight on the Caribbean, we can definitively assume the creators of the map believed cholera as an important factor to those who lived there. However I heartily agree with Turnbull when he wants us to be careful “not to take one’s own view as definitive of all maps”. 

http://momacollections.com/hannahswebsite/index.html

This week I looked at the Pollution dataset that contains the air quality measurements on 41 U.S. cities, and this data is from “A Handbook of Small Data Sets”. For each city there is information on their SO2 levels, sulfur dioxide (a toxic gas in the atmosphere), population, temperature, wind, precipitation-in, and precipitation-day. I chose to focus on the SO2 levels, the population, and average temperature in the first 12 cities based on population.

I used the Google Fusion Table to see the map of the city locations. As you can see, this visualization tool allows one to see the heat map of the city indicating the strength of the SO2 and temperature. The map allows the data to be visualized for an easier time identifying which cities were studied and where the SO2 and population levels are highest.

To get a more accurate, slightly less visual, idea of the data, I have the top 12 cities based on population (starting from lowest population). The blue line indicates the population, the red line measures the SO2 levels in that city, and the orange line indicates the average temperature. Although there are other variables in this dataset, I chose these particular variables to see if there was a causation of SO2 levels from increasingly populated cities. This data visualization answers this for us is that the cities with higher populations does not necessarily have higher SO2 levels. I also included the temperature variable to show a data that is nearly stable throughout the whole data set. Ultimately we can see that having a large population is not direct causation of high SO2 levels. As a result, we raise more questions as to whether the SO2 levels has an effect on any changes of temperature, which we can find out if we compare and contrast this data with previous years’.

 

When I first set out to do this simple data visualization, I was expecting to see at least a correlation with high population and high SO2 levels. Of course, some cities like Chicago have high population and SO2 levels, but this is not the general trend. In order to determine the cause of SO2 levels, there needs to be much more data available to include as a variable. For example, state regulation on SO2 production may vary from state to state (it is used in winemaking, as a preservative, reducing agent, etc.)

In the end, it was great to use a simple visualization tool like Google Fusion Table to quickly see data in a map and chart. One can immediately start asking questions and notice major points from the data. Used more extensively, and in an advance visualization tool, one can definitely answer more difficult questions about the atmosphere in U.S. cities.

 

This week I looked at the dataset on what the LA city buys for its residents and departments using taxpayers money. The data can be examined through the procurement dataset in detail and scope, while the first link shows featured data through “data cards“. In the procurement dataset, the records consist of each item bought by the city, and is organized by fiscal year, department name, cost, transaction date, the supplier, etc. On the other hand, the data cards show images of certain items the city has bought more pertinent or of interest to the residents of the city, such as 6,670 soccer balls at the cost of $8,549.

Wallack and Srinivasan describe an ontology as “systems of categories and their interrelations by which groups order and manage” (pg. 1), and such a system discerns information about people, places, things, and events. This particular dataset’s ontology creates a relationship of transparency with the public as to how government funds and taxpayer’s money is utilized and given back to the community. The data cards do a good job of catering to the average users to specify why certain procurements are necessary. Not only that, by visualizing the items bought for the citizens, the City can show the immediate benefits  and the appeal of certain items through images. Each data card is unique in image, description, and even font to appear more user-friendly.

One can click the image to get more information, such as what the item is, why such an item was bought, a “did you know?” section, and a link that leads to the procurement dataset to access the rest of the specific information.

 

Government officials, especially those who are making the new fiscal budget proposals, would find the procurement dataset most useful. Residents who also seek to research extensively and advocate for certain budget proposals and allocation to a program of their interest may also find the procurement dataset useful. However the average citizen would find the data cards more entertaining, interesting, and visually appealing. For example, one might wonder why the city spends thousands of dollars on soccer balls, but buy clicking the information one will immediately notice that about 81,000 adults and youth participate in the City’s organized sports leagues.

Usually the problem with ontologies, particularly mismatched ontologies, is that there is a tendency to lose information. However I believe the LA City Controller chose well to add the data cards because it fills in the information that is lost in the procurement dataset. Otherwise one might not have known that large frozen rats are bought to feed the LA Zoo animals, and there may have been confusion or unhappy residents with a purchase of frozen rats without knowing why. Of course there is no way to do a data card for every single item bought, and that is where some information is lost. Otherwise, maybe there could be an option in the procurement dataset to click on more information about each item that briefly explains the purchase, not necessarily create it’s own data card.

The finding aid I looked at was the “Collection of Material about Japanese American Internment, 1929-1956 bulk 1942-1946”. This collection contains material and information about Japanese American relocation, particularly after the Pearl Harbor attack during WWII. There are publications, press releases, articles, speeches, yearbooks and pamphlets, most of which can be accessed at the UCLA Library–Department of Special Collections (I find that amazing!) Many of these publications came from the War Relocation Authority and by Japanese American internees and advocacy groups. Based on the materials in this collection, you can see the narrative of Japanese Americans’ relocation and struggle after the attack, and how intensely the U.S. government sought to ensure that another attack would not happen again. Unfortunately we know these efforts led to discrimination against U.S. citizens who had a Japanese heritage.

From this finding aid, I can see there are three series: War Relocation Authority, Internment Camps, and Miscellaneous. The container list describes how many boxes there are for each series and the context/note for the items in a particular series. Each box has different folders which are organized chronologically over a span of a few months, and additionally gives the scope and content note for each item. There are statistics on the Japanese American internees, such as their marriage and divorce rates, population in a certain location, and age of those relocated. There are pamphlets persuading Japanese Americans to relocate, and even yearbooks of those who were relocated and attended a different school.

There is only one item which mentions the bombing of Pearl Harbor. And although one can assume that a major event had happened to sour the relationship between Japanese people and the U.S., we would be missing the whole story of the war, a list of every country involved, and the details of the Pearl Harbor attack if we based the narrative entirely on the records in this collection. We could remedy this lack of information by including a context near the beginning of the finding aid. They could describe the impact and effect that relocation had on not only Japanese-Americans, but the way in which the U.S. government has made efforts not to let history repeat itself. However the scope and content note for each box and folder is a great start and is a much better description than just “press releases” and “reports”. There is definitely already a lot of information and I think just having a brief introduction in the beginning would tie the finding aid together very well.

 

Legacies of British Slave-ownership 

Introduction: The DH project I looked at was the “Legacies of British Slave-ownership”. This project was conducted at the UCL (University College of London), and one of the main goals of this project was to identify all slave-owners and estates in the British colonies after the mid-1700s; otherwise known as an “Encyclopedia of British Slave-Owners”. This project amassed and analyzed information about the activities, affiliations, and legacies of all British slave-owners on the database.

Sources: In order to create a massive encyclopedia of British slave-owners, this project had to pull information from many sources. They sourced the Slave Compensation Commission, which is a document that managed the distribution of the 20 million pound compensation and provided a census of slave-ownership in Britain in the 1830s. They also utilized different maps to locate the estates of slave-owners, such as OpenStreetMap, Digimap (for specific buildings), Lockie’s Topography of London, “Old to New Street Names”, and Aaron Arrowsmith’s map of 1807. 

Processes: On the home page, there is a section which divides the information of British slave-owners into categories which aids your journey of identifying or finding slave-owners. The categories are: commercial, cultural, historical, imperial, physical, and political. There is also a “Search the Database” and “Estates” tab at the top which allows one to advance search for an individual’s detail or a particular estate. Each category leads you to a different page filled with information and sorted based on the relevant title of the category. For example, the commercial legacy page is organized by name, position, and then location/business name. You can further click on “details” to see notes and sources. According to the lengths this team has gone to allow visitors to find individuals and estates, I believe this website is targeted more for scholars, researchers, and historians. The average person may not find such specific information necessary unless they possibly wanted to delve into their ancestors lives. 

Presentations: Unlike the other DH projects, this one is not as interactive or visually appealing, which further adds to the case that this site is for more educational and research purposes. This project does utilizes maps, however, and you can choose to see either Britain, Jamaica, Barbados, or Grenada. For Jamaica, the map initially displays the location on a map in present time and then slowly fades to present a map produced by James Robertson in 1804 place over the current map. You can see in the image that there is an option to change the transparency of the map, and here I have the transparency set so you can see the current landscape with Robertson’s map slightly visible over the current one. The white circles represent estates of slave-owners, and you can click each circle to get more information about who owned the estate and a timeline of ownership.

Conclusion: Overall this DH project is slightly overwhelming with how much information is provided, and thus the team who created the website probably provided simple tabs and categories to make the excess information a lot less scary. The home page definitely makes the site look friendlier, and I am surprised how they could locate so many slave-owners around the world.