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Visualizations
Employing different digital tools, the Utah Expedition project has created visualizations to produce another layer to the argument and uses of the source base. A scrolling, interactive timeline is one visualization. Here, sources and events are situated in a time-based map represented by the timeline created using MIT's SIMILE software. Most data points contain a link to the source material they represent allowing the user another entrance into the source documents. Simply click on the link provided in the pop-up bubble to view the associated document. The timeline demonstrates the evolution of ideology concerning the Utah Expedition and the role of the army in expanding the nation's cultural and political influence over the Great Basin region.
Textual analysis word clouds are visual representations of the frequency of word usage in a given text or set of texts. Words most often used appear larger providing a visual depiction of vital key words. This inquiry tool allows one to deciphering language usage and word significance within texts, a critical element in textual analysis. The word cloud visualizations allow one to understand immediately the major themes of the texts and provide a window into the evidence for the argument concerning public rhetoric. All word clouds images displayed in this project were generated by Wordle, available from http://www.wordle.net/.
Text-analysis software TokenX, developed at the University of Nebraska's Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, provides another visualization in the form of key words in context. This visualization provides more in-depth insights into word contexts within individual and corpus texts and serve as a method for analyzing the connective tissue within language and across texts. The context of the key words examined within texts further demonstrates the relationships among discourse, rhetoric, and ideas concerning the Utah Expedition.
An interactive bibliography with a multi-faceted interface allows users to investigate, analyze, and query citation data. Using MIT's Citeline software, this visualization indicates how and why a source was used, while providing the reader with historiographical and general information regarding the general nature of the source. The audience can engage with this bibliography for synopses of the sources and may better understand their relationship to the argument.
The image gallery contains illustrations and political cartoons from contemporary periodicals as well as some archival images in digital form.
Timeline
Word Clouds
Key Words in Context
Citeline Bibliography
Image Gallery
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