Today we're out exploring some of the many maps of the Internet, websites, virtual worlds, and spatializations of non spatial data. This is just a small sample of what is out there. For more cool maps see Martin Dodge's Atlas of Cyberspace. I found many of the maps below through his site.

Post your answers on your web site. Due next Tuesday. You should have enough time to get it done today but I also encourage you to take your time. There are quite a few things to play with on this virtual field trip so feel free to play with and explore the sites below.

Spatializations for Browsing

Browsing a database with a large amount of information can be daunting on a traditional web page. How might spatializations make this process easier? The National Science Digital Library provides a portal to a large number of online digital libraries and collections. They offer three ways to browse their collections; by topic, using an alphabetical list and via a Hyperbolic Tree Spatialization. Lets take a look at how spatialization might make browsing a large database easier and faster. Familiarize yourself with the Hyperbolic Tree interface to the collection (This is similar to the WWF Site Lens in plate 5A of Mapping Cyberspace). See if you can find the Anatomy Atlases record in the database. Play with the interface until you feel familiar with it.

For this part you'll need a partner. Each of you should try the exercise (with one person timing and one searching.) Now get out a stop watch if you have it, or just use the clock at the bottom right of the screen (double click the time and you'll get the Date/Time Properties and make note of the time you start and stop). Have a partner time you as you try to find the Arizona Electronic Atlas Home Page. Note--don't let your partner watch you. Instead give an audible signal. If they watch you and learn the path to the goal then your results will likely be biased.

1. How long did it take you to find the atlas?

2. How long did it take your partner to find the atlas?

Now try the Browse by Topic interface to the collection. Have your partner time you. Find the same Arizona Electronic Atlas Home Page.

3. How long did it take you to find the atlas?

4. How long did it take your partner to find the atlas?

5. Which method was faster?

6. What made one method easier and/or faster to navigate than the other?

If you have time you might want to browse some other versions of the Hyperbolic Tree type of spatialization.

Spatializing Data

7. Play around with Smartmoney's Map of the Market. What sector of the market is doing well today?

8. How do you know it is doing well (What graphical elements clue you into the fact that a sector is doing well)?

9. Why is this a successful or unsucessful spatialization of data?

10. Given that this spatializationmap is updated every 20 minutes, how would you classify it according to Dodge adn Kitchin's typology?

Think this is cool? I found something that is even more awesome. Turns out other data can be spatialized using the same technique. Check out the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History History Wired web site. The map here contains 450 objects and while you could use either a traditional search engine or a simple text listing of the objects to the method presented here is much more fun, and perhaps more efficient. You can browse the objects here by object categories, by date, or by themes. Note that as you move your mouse over the map, orange lines connecting to the themes at the top of the interface appear. When you click on the themes buttons the objects related to that them are highlighted in orange. You can pick out more specific theme categories using the drop down list on the left. Play around with this map a bit to figure out how it works and then answer the following questions:

11. Who made Dizzy Gillespie's Trumpet?

12. Use the sliders at the top right and left (above the dateline) to zero in on the year 1844. What object in the collection associated with the Theme communications dates from 1944?

13. What object was "still there" in 1813?

14. How is this spatialization different than the Map of the Market in terms of the characteristics described by Dodge and Kitchin?

Imagine surfing our library's catalog using such an interface. Now that some of our books are stored away only accessible by robot, such an interface might partially recreate the experience of browsing in the physical library.

Website Analysis Information Landscape Maps

When you run a website you often want to know a bit about who your visitors are, how many are surfing your site, which pages they are looking at and, where they come from. Now you could just run a program that collects and presents this data in the form of tables, but looking at a map might be more fun. Surf to the screenshots page for VisitorVille and check out the Animated Flash Clips if you are able to do so in the lab. If you want more information you can check out this Wired News article.

15. What metaphor does VisitorVille use to represent traffic on a web site?

16. What advantages do you think this spatialization provides over the same data presented in tabular form?

17. How would this map be classified in relation to Dodge and Kitchin's typology?

Pretty nifty eh?

Interactive Web Site/Directory Maps

Go to The Brain and wait for the Java applet to load. It shouldn't take long. At the top of the page is an interactive map of the web site. You navigate to various pages on the website by clicking on the text on the brain interface. Play around with it a little bit then see if you can find your way to the Web Brain page. Once there activate the Web Brain by cliking on the "Try Webbrain now" link (on the right hand side of the page). This is a interactive map for navigating the Open Directory internet directory which is a human edited open source (meaning volunteer run) web directory. Because it is a human constructed directory coverage is a bit spotty and the links are not necessarily current. Still it is a good demonstration of the concept.

See if you can navigate to the category for the city of Valparaiso, Recreation and Sports. There are multiple paths to get there and many of them may not be obvious. Hint, Valparaiso is a locatlity in Indiana. For some help with the interface see the about page. You may need to use some of the jump categories on the left. If you are spending more than 5 minutes on this go ahead and cheat and do a search for Valparaiso to answer the questions.

18. To confirm that you have reached this category, what site is the only one listed in Recreation and Sports? (Note that both the team and the website no longer exist, though you know at least one former team member....)

19. What do you think are some of the advantages and disadvantages of navigating a directory using an interactive map like the Brain?

Virtual Worlds Maps

Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games have their own cartographers. Take a look at the Ever Quest Atlas. Look at the map for East Antonica. This is an image map--click on the city of Freeport. Then click on one of the district maps. Pretty nifty!

Just so I know you looked at these maps answer the following question

20. What two races do you find in Freeport?

Oooh! Ahhhh

Because I know that you'll have probably spent most of your time looking for atlases and hunting around for objects in the vaults of the Smithsonian, we'll make this last one short. Go to the Internet Mapping Project Page and view some examples in the Internet Mapping Project Map Gallery. Take a look at some of the maps (Similar to plate 4 in Mapping Cyberspace). Note that some of these maps provide a little bit more interpretive data. Sit back in your chair and say "Oooooh! Ahhhhh!" And just so I know you've browsed this site answer the following questions:

21. What is a pookie?

That's all folks! Hope you enjoyed the trip.