Mapping the Republic of Letters is a digital humanities project created by Stanford University. This project analyzes the communication records of notable figures in history, and collaborates the connections in a social network. It is described as the “old fashioned way” of simulating today’s online social media or a LinkedIn. This project visually displays the analyses of the raw data.
<u>Sources</u>
The sources of Mapping the Republic of Letters are the physical letters written between the figured noted, as original sources compiled from Stanford’s research partners, credited including the University of Oxford, Groupe D’Alambert, CKCC, and DensityDesign Research Lab. This information is found on the homepage of the project site.
<u>Processes</u>
Mapping the Republic of Letters organizes the set of data in a number of ways to show multiple connections between the figures. Initially, all figures are listed individually as a “case study.” As each “case” is selected, an in-depth description and overview is provided. The project has interactive components in which the user can select what type of connections they want to see. By clicking on each person’s network correspondents, filters are available that show specific people, years, and what letters were sent, along with a physical map to show locations and time. Sociograms are also available to show the network. In addition, each case study includes a breakdown of how the visuals were created, giving visitors the power of recreating similar projects or visuals as they wish. This project falls under the historical category, as it maps scientists, philosophers, and other notable historical figures with a timeline and map. Its contributions are valuable in the sense that we can analyze trends, possible explanations, or fill in gaps of undocumented history by looking at the connections between people.
<u>Presentation</u>
This site itself is rather difficult to navigate. At first glance, the content of this project is not clear. It takes more than a few clicks to understand how the data set is organized. The actual networks and analysis are hidden deeper into the page, and initially, only the figures’ names are displayed. For this reason, the design of the actual site may not be best. However, this project unique as it does many things that printed work cannot accomplish. Mapping the Republic of Letters enables users to see multiple variations of connections via filters provided in the interactive portion. Personalized side by side comparisons cannot be created with this much strenuous amount of data available.