Current information architecture design. View full size image
Pane 1,2,3: Iterative Viewing and Interaction
Panes 1, 2, and 3, present the digitized text (scanned early modern English texts), the image (scanned woodcuts, illuminations, and illustrations), and geographic data (locations for each text and image). The simple and extended search criteria are tothe left. In the bottom left is the workspace drag-and-drop box where search results can be saved to Sandbox, the fourth workspace pane. The search results are presented in a smaller field at the top right center of each pane. The search criteria field, the drop box, and the search results box can be minimized or maximized (see figures 2 and 3 for examples of an expanded search result field) at any time in order to maximize the amount of viewable space in each field. Both the text pane and the image pane are similar in design as they present a single large viewable area of the actual data. The geographic pane presents an overview map of early modern England and then a close up view of any region the user specifies using the linked markers on the map. Furthermore, the search results still remain at the top indicating where exactly each textual and visual instance occurs.
Pane 4: The Sandbox: Combining and Running Tool
The user moves from the other panes into the sandbox, which contains the library and the analytical routines, to run feature lists, keyword searches, word clouds, and the Mandala browser visualizations. Data is saved in the sandbox and presented in thumbnails which can be expanded; organized, and searches re-run and redisplayed across panes 1, 2, and 3. The general display is similar to the other three panes in that all of the research appears on one page in separate expandable boxes.
Adjustable Historical Timeline
The adjustable timeline is present across all panes of the interface with the primary years of the research results displayed. The user is able, once in any selected pane except the workspace, to slide the timeline to examine the way that the results vary, shift, and change as the years go forward or back.
The inclusion of separate connected data sets into a multiple view format, will allow the WEME Browser to provide a new, organic, intuitive searching system which accurately displays the literary slippage which occurs at the research level and in early English ephemeral publications.
Current information architecture design by Neil Kipling. View full size image
