Final Project Proposal and Plan! Due 11/21/2012

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Write a final project proposal and post it as a comment below.  I would like you to work with the BHS data; if you have another interest we can discuss. In your proposal, be sure to write three or four sentences on each of the following points:

  • Target Users and user behaviors/goals
  • Data set (source, description, parameter)
  • Question you hope to answer, ideas or concept you plan to explore
  • Approach (visualization of whole/detail, interface redesign, data-artwork)
  • Potential problems or challenges
  • Modes of interaction
  • Aesthetic approach

Also, include a list of steps and delivery dates for completing your project in the weeks that remain in the semester, an example of this plan narrative might be:

  • by the 22nd I will have completed the project proposal and acquired the data I need, cleaned it up as a CSV file, and be ready to visualize (chosen tools and software to work with, written pseudocode, and requested Processing help from Zannah or Sepand (if needed))
  • by the 29th I will have returned to BHS and taken photos of xx materials in the collection, plus I will have taken a first pass at visualizing the data in Many Eyes, Processing, or another tool, and have several examples to show
  • by the 6th I will have refined my visualizations and incorporated class/user feedback, and started work on designing special graphics and interactive elements (roll-overs, etc).
  • 13th: presentation prepared, showing my product and describing my process, background considerations, problems/challenges, and what I did to solve them.

If you have any questions, please let me know ASAP. We’ll do progress check-ins throughout the process, and I can tailor class lectures to meet specific needs.

Happy Thanksgiving!

21 thoughts on “Final Project Proposal and Plan! Due 11/21/2012”

  1. I’ve chosen to you visualize the Kolkin papers for my final project. Right now, all I know about this collection is from Zannah’s email and the very brief finding aid that BHS provided. It includes employment records, ID badges, union memberships materials, as well as letters between the Kolkins, which is what I plan to focus on.
    I think that this project will appeal to nearly all of the users we discussed in class – students, historians, filmmakers, journalists, and Brooklyn-lovers. I think that it will take items that are already compelling, and make them even more meaningful.
    In terms of what questions I hope to answer, I want to see how the time (WWII) affected these two. I want to see what aspects of the war are mentioned in these letters, what aspects aren’t, and why. I want to examine the language they use towards one another, i.e. what words, ideas, or subjects come up most often and why.
    In order to answer these questions, I plan to make another analog visualization. I will create two (possibly overlapping?) timelines – one of the war, and one of the relationship between the Kolkins.
    While I feel very excited about the prospect of this project, I do think this will be a lot of work! I will have to transcribe the letters, not to mention photograph all of the materials. Since I plan on doing everything by hand, I think I just need to allow a lot of time to do this. It will probably take twice as much time as I’m estimating it will.
    Regarding modes of interaction, when we visited BHS, while they maybe weren’t necessarily the most interesting, I think the maps were the easiest to read, understand, and relate to? I’m hoping that this timeline will be like those maps, in that they will organize the information in these letters and put them into a historical context.
    Finally, in terms of aesthetics, I think I’d like this to look as “1940’sy” as possible. This means using a 1940’s style font, for sure. Perhaps I can create this by hand, or perhaps I’ll actually use a computer for this. Besides this vintage feel, I’d also like my project to have a scrap-booky feel. I could achieve this by making the corners of the project look old or decaying. Perhaps I could use pictures I’d taken, and then rip the edges of them.

    • By the 28th I will have completed the project proposal and visited BHS to transcribe the letters and take photos.
    • By the 2nd, I will have made a list of the materials I need and sketched out a rough idea of what my visualization will look like.
    • By the 6th I will have further refined my visualization and incorporated class feedback.
    • On the 13th, my project will be complete and ready to present. I will make sure to make note of any problems or second thoughts I had throughout this process, and how I resolved them.

    Reply ↓

    • Hi Jessica,

      A timeline is a great idea! Remember that data visualizations are often most effective when they answer a question or tell a specific story, so when you get a better sense of the collection, you might want to narrow your focus and work with one topic or set of topics rather than the entire collection. Make groupings, select elements to highlight, see if you can make connections between elements to tell a story. Including all the letters in the timeline will likely be problematic/too dense for a user to read (Lucy wrote to Al every day, so that’s a lot of letters). You might want to categorize the letters by subject (see subject list in finding aid), and then select quotes to include in the timeline. I think finding the story that interests you most will make the project most interesting.

      The writer Jennifer Egan wrote about this collection in her essay “Reading Lucy” in the book “Brooklyn Was Mine.” You can read part of that essay on Google books: http://tinyurl.com/bwwo7yz

      It might also be interesting to reconstruct a timeline of the war from the letters alone, without layering historical facts that you source elsewhere. If you just understood the war through these letters, what would that version of the war look like?

      Consider making a digital timeline– this will allow you to select which data is most important for an overall view, and allow users to drill down for more. here are just a few examples i found. What works/doesn’t work about them?
      http://timeline.national911memorial.org/
      http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/09/15/business/20080915_TURMOIL_TIMELINE.html
      http://www.pbs.org/kpbs/theborder/history/interactive-timeline.html

      There are also many online tools for creating simple timelines: here are a couple: http://www.timetoast.com/ http://www.preceden.com

      Sepand and I can also help you make one in Processing.

      Good work, looking forward to hearing more about this on Thursday.

      Reply ↓

  2. For my final project, I will work with the BHS Map Inventory to make a sonic “meta-map” of BHS map collection. To do this, I will build on the sonification engine I started building in MAX/MSP for my midterm project. The user experience will be an interactive map of Brooklyn, which divides the borough by neighborhood. When the user rolls his or her mouse over a particular neighborhood on the map, the frequency of the sound will change to indicate the number of maps of that neighborhood that BHS has in it’s collection – the higher the frequency, the greater the number of maps in the collection. I will also add a secondary element – the amount of gain on the ‘noise’ applied to the sound – to indicate the average age of the neighborhood maps. A “clean” (less noise) sound will indicate a more recent collection, whereas a dirtier sound will indicate a greater average age. Since I don’t foresee being able to get back to the BHS during their open hours during the next few weeks, I will work entirely with the inventory spreadsheets that were supplied.

    Target users & overarching concept: For the time being, the target user would simply be anyone who is interested in alternative ways of perceiving the contents of the map collection. Ultimately, however, I would like to turn this project into a different kind of sound map (using different data sets) that represent actual “sound related” data using sound. For example, one use case could be a “sound ecology” map of the borough, with the frequency or amplitude representing things like average decibel level of the neighborhood. Instead of sine tones, the sounds representing this data could be actual field recordings from the neighborhood itself. In this way, the user would experience an actual “sonic snapshot” of not only the sonic ecological health of a neighborhood, but of the borough itself through exploring the relationships between neighborhoods on a map.

    Potential problems: There are a few potential problems which may surface in the execution of the project:
    1. Determining how to deal with maps that cover with multiple neighborhoods
    2. Determining how to deal with a lack of maps for a given neighborhood
    3. Determining how to apply rectangular transparent button overlays to oddly-shaped neighborhoods.
    4. [post-project issue] How to port this functionality to a more accessible medium (the web, e.g.)

    Timeline:

    • By November 25th, I will have “cleaned” the map inventory data and created a new .xls or .csv file which breaks the map inventory down by neighborhood.

    • By November 29th, I will have turned these data into MAX-readable text files of use in the project application file, and begun building out the functionality of the MAX patch.

    • By December 6th, I will have refined the functionality based on discovery or problems encountered in the previous step, as well as feedback from others, and will have completed the back-end functionality in MAX.

    • By December 13th, I will have completed the user interface (presentation mode in MAX) and will be prepared to present the project in class.

    Reply ↓

    • Tom, great idea! I like that you’re finding a way to use BHS data for this sound project. I also like the idea of using data recorded on-site in each neighborhood, rather than sine waves. The field recordings might convey more narrative information than the sine waves (which are also an acquired taste and may not appeal to some users).

      If you do experiment with recorded sounds, then you’ll need to decide they can best encode the data about number of maps. Maybe if you have several recordings of different individual sounds (cars, birds, car alarms, voices, trains, etc) you could layer tracks depending on the number of maps for that area. You could look at what is featured on the maps (businesses? real estate? parks?) and try to use this info as a guide in deciding what kinds of sounds to record. In this way you would get density of sound to represent coverage, without needing to resort to volume. Neighborhoods with no coverage could be silent. You might be able to enlist your classmates to make recordings for you if you can’t get to every neighborhood.

      If the project doesn’t have to be dynamic or happen in realtime, you could probably do a simple html image map and activate pre-recorded sound (generated in max) to the rollovers. Not as exciting as working directly in MAX, but certainly web-friendly! Looking forward to hearing more!

      Reply ↓

  3. For my final project I decided to work on a visualization related to power relations in Colombia. My data source will be LaSillaVacia.com, a Colombian news blog.

    Users. The target users of this project would be Colombian audiences in general, and the readers of the news blog in particular, who are mostly young internet users interested in Colombian politics -as the news blog specializes in this topic.

    Data. The data set I’m planning to work with is a database related to the Colombian Inspector General, a polemic person that has a lot of political power, and is about to be reelected. Through official data and crowdsourcing (fact-checked latter by the journalists), LaSillaVacia has created a database that contains information about the public servants designated by the Inspector General and their relations with congressmen, Supreme Court judges and influential politicians (the supreme court nominates the Inspector General and the congress elects him). The idea for the visualization would be to show the big picture of these power relationships.

    Approach / interaction. I envision the visualization as an interactive infographic -or set of infographics, or multi-level graph. The database has already categories (such as the amount of public servants designated by region, by political party, and so on) so these categories could be used as filters or paths to navigate trough the data. (A non-graphic version of the database and categories here: http://www.lasillavacia.com/historia/las-fichas-para-la-reeleccion-del-procurador-36860). I still have to elaborate on the details of the structure and the graphic / aesthetic approach.

    Potential challenges. My limited coding skills are the main challenge I foresee. However, a kind coder I know (a.k.a. husband) already offered to help. Regarding the data, the main challenge is the complexity of this data, so to convey the information in a clear way is the main purpose and challenge at the same time.

    Timeline.
    Week 1. Nov. 19 – 23: Research Processing functions for graphs / research similar projects for ideas for the visualization. Begin analysis of the database to define what to use / needed adjustments to the db.
    Week 2. Nov. 26 – 29: Analyze the database and define options / paths for the visualization. Begin developing the application.
    Week 3. Dec. 3 – 6: Finish the first version of the visualization, show it, and test it.
    Week 4. Dec. 10 – 13: Adjustments. Project presentation.

    Reply ↓

  4. I would like to do a visualization of The New York Woman magazine collection (a weekly publication) and compare the headlines of the magazine to those of the NYT on the same dates. This collection includes 30 magazines from 1936-1937. I think this project would appeal to those interested in women’s history and alternative views of historical news (which is often presented in a one dimensional way).

    I would like to at least compare the front page headlines of the two publications and incorporate the original visuals. While I will hopefully be able to take some photos at BHS, I think it will be difficult to get images of the original papers of the NYT. The Proquest Database has a historical NYT search where you can specifically look for front page stories, but they are clipped. If anyone knows where I can find something more complete I would be very grateful!

    I would like to compare both publications side by side according to date, and if time allows incorporate interaction in some way. I am pretty open to actual format which I think I will get a better handle on when I see the physical collection. The aesthetic approach I would like to take would be incorporating styles of the late 1930s and the feel of historical print publications.

    One of the largest challenges will actually be making time to go to the BHS. My work schedule doesn’t really allow for this unless it is after hours (like we did for our visit) or on a weekend. Would anyone be interested in scheduling some other times to go? Also whether or not I will be incorporating processing into this assignment.
    Week of Nov 26: Go to BHS to collect data, and organize corresponding NYT information. Have concept for the layout of the project.
    December 6: Have draft of final project prepared for class. Have images and stylistic elements selected.
    December 13: Final project complete

    Reply ↓

    • I’d schedule a time to go with you, as I also cannot re-visit during regular BHS hours.

      What evenings this week are you free? I’m free Tuesday and Wednesday evening both this coming week and the following week. Not sure how much time in advance they would need to plan on staying open for us…

      Reply ↓

    • This sounds great. Could you say a little bit more about the questions you hope to answer? Do you have assumptions about the two different periodicals that you are looking to prove or disprove? Either about the content or the language used to convey the content…

      How will you collect this data? Just take photos, or are you going to input the data directly into a spreadsheet?

      It may be that not all the headlines are interesting individually, but as a group they could be– so tag clouds of the NYT headlines vs the NY Woman headlines could be really telling. And maybe there would be a way to visualize word overlaps between the two groups.

      I spoke to Jake and Robin, and Jake is free on Saturday afternoon to open the library. I am happy to come to BHS that day as well and help with data collection, etc.

      The New York Times Front Pages are collected in this book w/DVDS:
      http://www.amazon.com/New-York-Times-Complete-1851-2009/dp/1579128254 I don’t know if you want an 8lb book in your life but maybe you could find it at a library?

      Reply ↓

  5. I will have considerable difficulty working with the BHS data considering I’m due in 3 weeks and unable to make it back there to work hands-on with the data. Therefore, I’m submitting the following proposal to work with data from NYC OpenData and the New York Organ Donor Network for my final project.

    I donated a kidney last year and prior to this experience I was for the most part clueless about organ donation and the terrible shortage plaguing our nation (that was until the problem moved into my corner of the world). The statistics concerning organ donation are staggering and are heavily used as a persuasive tool in promoting awareness. Nevertheless, promoting the statistics have not been enough as the demand for organs consistently exceeds the number of donors. I believe this issue can receive greater exposure and benefit greatly from other types of data visualizations.

    • Target Users and user behaviors/goals

    While I think the general population as a whole can be viewed as target users because it is a social issue, more specific users would be transplant professionals, public health researchers, patients and their families, potential donors and advocates. The behaviors of these users are varied because of their different backgrounds. I would use the categories of passive and active to define most. Their goals are also varied and range from research, promotion, planning, advocacy and information gathering.

    • Data set (source, description, parameter)

    I plan to work with data from several different datasets – NYC OpenData, New York Organ Donor Network (NYODN) and The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN). I found data on NYC OpenData for the projected population of NYC by borough from 2000 -2030 which was provided by the Dept of City Planning. I initially discovered this dataset and thought it would be fascinating to work with these projections and compare them to other data concerning social issues, environmental resources, etc. After much research, I settled on organ donation. I’ll use data from NYODN, which list various statistics and the OPTN, which has plenty of raw data and reports available.

    • Question you hope to answer, ideas or concept you plan to explore

    I think a question at the top of mind for most people when learning about donation is why such demand exists when we are very capable to meet the need with deceased and living donors. Undoubtedly, there are so many factors involved. Nevertheless, the statistics speak for themselves. So, I would question why aren’t the numbers that effective? Besides promoting stats, are there other methods of promotion that could prove more effective? Considering projected population over the next 20 years, is there concern for greater demand for organ transplants and/or increased supply of potential donors? Is increased population the answer to the demand? While these are questions, which may be out of my scope to answer, I hope they will lead me to questions I’m able to answer with this data.

    • Approach (visualization of whole/detail, interface redesign, data-artwork)

    Most of the visualizations concerning this issue are traditional charts, tables, graphs, etc. While this format is conducive for planners, promoters and researchers, is it serving its purpose for those they want to persuade? Personally, I’ve seen videos, commercials and ads (since living in NY a few ads have caught my eye in subways). A plethora has already been done; how effective has it been? While I may ultimately chose to use traditional visualizations such as charts and graphs, I plan to explore ways to create an interaction with the data in Processing and using artwork created in PhotoShop or other designing software.

    • Potential problems or challenges

    I foresee challenges in working with the data in a way to avoid drawing the wrong conclusions. For instance, in using the projected population data would provide an overall picture for potential donors. But it doesn’t account for how many of those would be eligible medically and otherwise. I would need to have more specific data regarding the health of the population which I’m not sure is possible.

    • Modes of interaction

    As previously mentioned, I plan to create an interactive visualization in Processing. This will allow users to interact with the data in an online format. Since the demographic for this data is very broad as well, a print format will need to be considered to meet the needs of those who are not digitally inclined.

    • Aesthetic approach

    As far as aesthetics, simple is best. The less the aesthetics interfere with the data the best. But I do recognize how interesting visualizations are essential to this topic. The topic of organ donation is largely overlooked and something needs to catch people’s attention. I plan to experiment with bold colors, for the colors used by the promoters are usually drab. I will also use appropriate graphics to tell the story.

    Proposed Timeline:

    • by the 24th I will have completed the project proposal and acquired the data I need. I will decide the variables to investigate and format the data in Excel.
    • by the 27th I will have a rough visualization of the data in Processing, PhotoShop and possibly Many Eyes.
    • by the 28th I will have met with Sepand and/or Zannah at lab for help with coding, etc.
    • by the 6th I will have refined my visualizations and incorporated class feedback.
    • 13th: my presentation will be ready to present in class along with a description of my process and challenges and how they were resolved.

    Reply ↓

  6. For my final project I will create a mockup of an iPad app that allows users to digitally interact with the collections and construct them in a narrative. It will have a “drag and drop” interactivity, and each “piece”–such as a photo, a letter, a news clipping, a protest sign–will have some contextual data or label attached to it to help the user construct the story. They can of course create whatever story they want to, whether it’s a timeline based story, a family-tree type story, or character profiles.

    Target users would be students and people investigating family/place histories. Both groups can learn about the type of materials that BHS has and interact with them in a way that its somewhat similar to how you would in person. They can discover details or visualize potential connections that give them a new direction to investigate, whether it’s for a school assignment or a personal interest project.

    I’d like to use the Goldwag collection to create the mockup sample. It will require photographing as much of the collection as I can and determining how far down I should drill (e.g. should the hate letters he received be individual pieces to be moved around by the user? or should they remain together as a symbol of public response to CORE?). I would also like to select a neighborhood map from the same era as another narrative tool for the user.

    This is really a micro-level approach to the vast collections at BHS in that it doesn’t address the problem of how people can access all the archives in a larger sense. Instead it creates a highly user-controlled and more user-friendly way to approach the mysteries kept in the collections while it simulates the physical experience of sorting through piles of stuff. This app would also allow users to view multiple collections and visually pull seemingly disparate pieces together in a way that is difficult at BHS, since each collection is carefully kept separated inside opaque boxes. In a way, my idea is to create a way for users to visualize the data themselves for their own subjective purposes in addition to initially visualizing it for them.

    While photographing the Goldwag collection is a considerable challenge (I feel I will only realistically be able to photograph one or two boxes of pieces), I think my primary challenge will be determining the contextual data or labels that I attach to each piece. I need to examine the pieces more closely and determine what the label structure–and bare minimum information–is most helpful and accurate. The finding aid provided by BHS will help with this, and likely many pieces will have only a label attached as there is no definite explanation of what they are/were.

    The aesthetic approach for this project is to create a digital surface similar to the tables at BHS, and even a similar light source. This surface will act as the work area within the iPad app. I think this in addition to the drag-and-drop interface will add to the user experience and give them a taste for “touching” archived materials and visualizing all the information that way.

    Timeline:

    November 29th: will have an initial wireframe for the app built in Powerpoint which can be shown to class and Zannah for feedback; will have selected a few software options for demonstrating final mockup.

    December 6th: will have returned to BHS to photograph one or two boxes of Goldwag collection; will have used the finding aid to determine the structure and content of the labels.

    December 13th: will have mockup complete and ready to demonstrate to class; write-up of process, changes in plan, discoveries…

    Reply ↓

    • Sophie, I love this idea!

      I would identify one or two formats to start: timeline or character profile. For each interface, what does the blank template look like? How does the form of the template suggest what the user does with it? What are the key characteristics of each type of visualization, and how are they built into the template.

      Another approach that might be useful is to write up a couple of scenarios– little stories that you make up about fictitious users who come to the app with different goals. This might help you better think through the functionality, user flows, and features of the app. For example, Imagine an elderly user coming to the app to make a timeline based narrative of a single summer she spent in Brooklyn doing civil rights work: how does she feel about her experience, what is she trying to capture, what search terms does she type into the interface, what kind of material is retrieved for her, how does she move this onto the timeline, how does she set the start and end points of the time line, what else can she add (notes, etc)? I’d try writing a couple of these, imagining different users and goals.

      I think a function for drawing on/annotating the materials will be helpful. There’s some apps already that allow drawing/making notes on documents… such as iAnnotate, GoodReader, Notability. You might want to check these out to see how those interfaces work.

      It’s fine to do a power-point based mock-up, but I would also recommend just sketching out on paper and pen if that’s faster for you– doing this kind of work by hand quickly can be freeing and help generate ideas.

      I’m excited to hear more about your project on Thursday!

      Reply ↓

  7. For my project I will visualize the BHS’s collection of Morrell photographs on a map in Processing. I will also have a key to show the categories of subjects in the photographs.

    Target Users: My target users are people researching Brooklyn or their own personal history and may not have the time to go the historical society itself or dig through hundreds of photographs online.
    Data set/approach: I will be working exclusively with the list of Morrell photographs and attempt to show its breadth quickly and easily. I want it to be engaging so I will be making a map with illustrated elements.
    Modes of interaction: I want the user to see both the geographic and categoric distribution of the photos easily. I will probably include rollovers to provide more information about the collection. I would like the user to be able to click on a neighborhood or category and be taken to the search results on brooklynhistory.org. (e.g. click on Clinton Hill and go to a page with search results for “Morrell Clinton Hill”)
    Potential problems or challenges: I’m not sure yet how I will incorporate the links to the collection by both neighborhood and category if I’m only making one visualization and not two, but I think I will be able to figure something out.
    Aesthetic approach: I will incorporate 1950s/60s fonts along with the illustrated elements.

    Timeline:

    by the 29th I will have cleaned up the data and taken a first pass at visualizing it in Many Eyes so that I will have a good understanding of what I have.
    by the 2nd: I will have the beginning of a prototype and sketches for the visual elements.
    by the 6th: I will have any questions I need answered for Zannah/Sepand.
    by the 9th I will have refined my visualization and incorporated class feedback and drawings.
    by the 13th: I will have my finished project and presentation prepared.

    Reply ↓

  8. Hi

    For my final project I want to work with either the coleman collection or the poetry collection. I am leaning toward the poetry collection since the finding aid about the coleman collection is vague so I am not sure what kinds of correspondence I’ll encounter.

    Target Users and user behaviors/goals : I think my approach will be useful for schools/tourist – casual browsers

    Data set (source, description, parameter) : Brooklyn Poetry Circle Collection

    Question you hope to answer, ideas or concept you plan to explore : I’d like to organize the materials in my mind and then select the ones that I think either summarize the collection or are the most appealing and present them.

    Approach (visualization of whole/detail, interface redesign, data-artwork) : Here is where it gets tricky – I really would like to do a video finding aid. A video that goes slide by slide summarizing the collection and then revealing the most important (in my opinion pieces). OR since its a poetry collection I think a many eyes world cloud could be interesting too – to see what words/themes are prevalent in all the pieces. I think I’ll have to decide this once I see the actual collections.

    Potential problems or challenges: Timing. I have so many ideas and I don’t think I’ll have time to complete the project. Also my personal limitations in ability. I am not a video editing superstar so I think I might have some issues actually creating the idea I’ve dreamed up.

    Aesthetic approach : Id like for the final video to look clean and modern. I know the Historical society has this old feeling to it but I want to take a new approach.

    Timeline:

    Dec 1st : Go to BHS and inspect the collection
    Week of Dec 2nd: Organize the collection and decide what elements are important. Create a storyboard of the video and share with Zannah for critique and suggestions.
    Dec 6th : work on video
    Dec 13 : present and pray for the best.

    Reply ↓

    • Aditi,

      I’m not sure what you mean by the Coleman collection– did you actually mean the CRANSTON collection, which includes letters written during the civil war? http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/bhs/arms_1994_013_cranston/index.html

      Remember to explore the finding aid by clicking the links on the sidebar, there’s some good information there.

      My concerns about your using the Poetry Circle Collection is 1) that it’s BIG– 5.7 linear feet of material vs. under 1 linear foot in the Cranston Collection. 2) The poetry circle seems to have had many members and lots of activities, so it may be hard to get a focused or coherent story, whereas the relationship between Cranston and his fiancee is contained and focused, could be easier to work with. 3) the poems are all handwritten, whereas the Cranston papers seem to have been transcribed(!!) and are available on a CD-ROM as word doc! (Jackpot! this means you can get that text into Many Eyes or Processing easily and won’t have to copy documents by hand). See the description of Manuscript materials 1 here: http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/bhs/arms_1994_013_cranston/dscref1.html . We can ask Robin or Jake about getting a copy of the CD-ROM.

      Let’s work together tonight to try to focus your idea. I think this video/visual finding aid is a great idea, but you’ll need to spend some time immersing yourself in the collection, and then figure out how to convey the key qualities of the collection in the finding aid. Identifying these qualities will be key. What are key themes in the letters? What are the key emotions? What does the collection look like (textures, smells). I think it would be great if you could narrate this.

      Check the cowbird.com site (made by Jonathan Harris), which is a storytelling site that combines audio and visuals plus text. Here’s an example: http://cowbird.com/story/49300/The_Dynamics_Of_Education/ think it’s NOT quite the format you are looking for, but it’s a start. Could you make a series of videos/slideshows in this style with voice-over about aspects of the collection? Could these be presented in some kind of data-type format, like a timeline?

      Reply ↓

  9. For my final project, I will construct a historical property value map (using the Google Maps API) based on the plots of land specified on the Brooklyn Historical Society’s map of “48 valuable lots in the village of Williamsburgh, Kings County, to be sold…/Endicott – 1845” housed in its Flat Maps Inventory.

    The map will provide users a historical account of the history of property value growth and inflation over the past 167 years in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and also document what those sites look like today. Users will be able to interact with the map via a web-based Google Maps interface giving them the ability to look beyond specific property locations and see detailed property information of about those locations. This should provide anyone interested in the history of Williamsburg a window into the past and insight into some of Brooklyn’s most valuable properties today (on the Williamsburg waterfront).
    The data sets that I will use will come from both the resources of Brooklyn Historical Society and the Internet. I will use BHS’ flat map from 1845 to determine locations of the properties for sale. I also hope to use the property auction records (if BHS or any other source has that information). Then I will use Google Maps to determine the actual addresses of the properties today and will both visit their physical location to collect photographic documentation of the properties today. Additionally, I will collect property sale data on the current properties from the Internet in order to determine today’s current property value.

    The question I hope to answer is “How significantly has the value of land/property increased in Williamsburg, Brooklyn over the past 167 years?” Additionally I would love to have this continue as a smaller piece of an ongoing project asking, “Do the rise of property values in Williamsburg match the average rate of property value growth for other neighborhoods around New York City/Brooklyn?”

    My approach for this project is to visualize this data through the Google Maps API in order to give users the ability see the visualization as a cohesive whole or focus on a single property with detailed information regarding the property location, sale price in 1845, most recent sale price (or today’s property value), and a photograph to illustrate what it looks like today should anyone want to visit these historical locations. I hope there is some way to incorporate the 1845 map into the digital interface, however, this will require some additional research into the Google Maps API.
    Some potential problems and challenges include the BHS map from 1845 may not have accurate proportions to today’s actual landscape shown on Google Maps. Also, BHS may not have the property auction data from 1845. These are my two primary concerns. Secondary concerns include time alloted to capture the data and photos of the property locations today. One solution would be to only include a subset of 10-20 of today’s “most valuable properties” which one would assume to be located on the waterfront.

    The modes of interaction are describe above as the visualization will live in the interactive digital environment of a Google Map allowing users to zoom in, zoom out, click specific location points (pins) to view a photo and access the property data. I’d also love to include an overlay of the 1845 map, but still need to research the technical capabilities needed to do this.

    With regard to aesthetic approach, the clean and simple interface of Google Maps is something recognizable by nearly any internet user, so it will be comfortable and easy for the user to both view and interact with the maps and data. Also, the novelty of overlaying the 1845 map could provide a nice artistic/historical touch for users wanting to feel historically connected to the neighborhood.

    • On December 1, I will visit BHS to photograph the map, research historical property records, and determine the locations of these properties using Google Maps.

    • On December 2 and 9, I will travel around Williamsburg to caputre photographs of the property locations today.

    • Between December 1-9 I will collect the current property value information from the Internet.

    • Between December 1-18, I will research the Google Maps API and construct the interactive historical property value map of Williamsburg.

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