Another Word For It

7 Classic Foundational Vis Papers You Might not Want to Publicly Confess you Don’t Know by Enrico Bertini.

From the post:

Even if I am definitely not a veteran of infovis research (far from it) I started reading my first papers around the year 2000 and since then I’ve never stopped. One thing I noticed is that some papers recur over and over and they really are (at least in part) the foundation of information visualization. Here is a list of those that:

1. come from the very early days of infovis
2. are foundational
3. are cited over and over
4. I like a lot

Of course this doesn’t mean these are the only ones you should read if you want to dig into this matter. Some other papers are foundational as well. For sure a side effect of the maturation of this field is that some newer papers are more solid and deep and I had to refrain myself to not include them in the list. But this is a collection of classics. A list of papers you just cannot avoid to know unless you want to risk a bad impression at VisWeek (ok ok it’s a joke … but there’s a pinch of truth in it). A retrospective. Definitely a must read. Call me nostalgic.

Take the time to read Enrico’s post and the papers he cites. Whatever your experience with visualization, you will be enriched by the experience.

I first saw this in “the sixth issue of DashingD3js.com’s Weekly Newsletter” but I can’t give you a link to it that is not tied to my subscription. ?? Nor is there an archive page for the newsletter posts. Until those issues are corrected, see: http://www.dashingd3js.com/.

Popcorn infographics by Aleksey Nozdryn-Plotnicki.

From the post:

On my way to Crete recently, I was flipping through the in-flight magazine when I stumbled upon this treat. This full-page piece was about Claire Cock-Starkey’s upcoming (at the time) book, Seeing the Bigger Picture.

You have to see the graphics for most of the post to work but thought it worth calling to your attention.

The book appears to be one of those that claim: “…no one has ever done it this way before.” You don’t have to read very carefully to discover there is a good reason why that is true.

Or to quote Alexksey when he cites a review of the book:

“Bought this for my 14 yr old – absolutely loves it and showed friends who were also suitably impressed. Thank you”

Seeing the Bigger Picture by Claire Cock-Starkey. Publisher: London : Michael O’Mara, 2012. I could not find any professional reviews as of November 19, 2012.

Can information be beautiful when information doesn’t exist? by Kaiser Fung.

From the post:

Reader Steve S. sent in this article that displays nominations for the “Information is Beautiful” award (link). I see “beauty” in many of these charts but no “information”. Several of these charts have appeared on our blog before.

Kaiser comments on a number of the graphics that I pointed to in: Information is Beautiful Awards – The Results Are In!

Kaiser is far better qualified than I am to comment on the suitability of the graphics chosen.

I am less confident in his ability to judge the information contained by a graphic.

The information content of a graphic, like its semantics, doesn’t exist separate and apart from the reader/viewer.

If you think it does, do you have an example of information or semantics in the absence of a reader/viewer?

Do read Kaiser’s comments to get a different take on some of the graphics.