A warning: this is a longer set of readings than usual, but part of the goal is to have you read a bunch of different things to give you a sense of different perspectives.
These readings are due on Sunday, January 22nd (i.e., before class Monday – as the weekly readings are). However, since this is a larger than usual reading and because we haven’t gotten into the regular weekly rhythm, there is a little less rush. (also, this reading is being posted late, so you probably need more time). Please have read all of them before class on Wednesday, January 25th.
This reading is part of the Week 2 Assignment (link). There is a required discussion in the assignment that relates to this reading.
Different people have different ideas as to what visualization is, and what kinds of visualization there are. So in this reading, we’ll try to get some particularly relevant viewpoints. There are purposefully multiple viewpoints represented here, so there are multiple things to read.
- Chapter 1 of Munzner. (You can access it from University library or protected reader)
This is more about “why” (which is the next reading/lecture), but it’s a good place to start. - “What we talk about when we talk about visualization.”(Chapter 1 of Cairo’s The Thruthful Art). This gets at many different kinds of visualization, although his definitions are a bit different than others. (protected reader)
- Edward Tufte. Graphical Excellence. Chapter 1 of The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. 2nd edition (any edition is OK). Graphics Press, 2001. (protected reader).
If you’re not familiar with Tufte, this will be a good introduction. Later, Cairo will put him in perspective (or you can read my explanation of Tufte). However, I strongly recommend that you read this chapter and form your own opinion first.
This chapter is a mix of what is vis, why to do vis, and how we’ll know it’s good (the three questions we’ll start the class with). - Classifications of Visualizations. Chapter 1 of Designing Data Visualizations, by Illinsky & Steele (protected reader).
I like this chapter because it gets at some terminology and some distinctions that others don’t bother to mention (like explore vs. explain).
The following are a set of blog posts to help you get a sense of some other viewpoints, and kinds of visualization.
- http://eagereyes.org/criticism/definition-of-visualization
- http://eagereyes.org/blog/2011/the-many-names-of-visualization
- http://flowingdata.com/2011/09/29/the-many-words-for-visualization/
- http://eagereyes.org/blog/2010/the-difference-between-infographics-and-visualization
I don’t agree with everything that you’ve read – but at this point, the goal is to give you many different perspectives on what visualization is, not just mine (you’ll get enough of it!)
Yes, there are 8 readings – but they are relatively light – 4 of them are short blog posts.