Information visualization and large‐scale repositories

To describe how information visualization can be used in the design of interface tools for large‐scale repositories.

One challenge for designers in the context of large‐scale repositories is to create interface tools that help users find specific information of interest. In order to be most effective, these tools need to leverage the cognitive characteristics of the target users. At the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the authors' target users are scientists and engineers who can be characterized as higher‐order, analytical thinkers. In this paper, the authors describe a visualization tool they have created for making the authors' large‐scale digital object repositories more usable for them: SearchGraph, which facilitates data set analysis by displaying search results in the form of a two‐ or three‐dimensional interactive scatter plot.

Using SearchGraph, users can view a condensed, abstract visualization of search results. They can view the same dataset from multiple perspectives by manipulating several display, sort, and filter options. Doing so allows them to see different patterns in the dataset. For example, they can apply a logarithmic transformation in order to create more scatter in a dense cluster of data points or they can apply filters in order to focus on a specific subset of data points.

SearchGraph is a creative solution to the problem of how to design interface tools for large‐scale repositories. It is particularly appropriate for the authors' target users, who are scientists and engineers. It extends the work of the first two authors on ActiveGraph, a read‐write digital library visualization tool.