Mapping Historical Letters: Reflection

Vanessa
Sat, 01 Oct 2022 01:21:17 +0000
Week 3, mapping, Network analysis, reflection, writing

In Mapping the Republic of Letters, Stanford University dedicates the same network analysis method for individual writers. Displayed against a map of the world, nodes represent locations of where/to letters were sent, and the edges reveal where the letter was sent from to. For example, scrolling over a node may show the following: Paris → London

Interactions

I found the interactions in this project to be fairly limiting in relation to the actual network analysis. Perhaps it’s my device/mouse sensitivity, but being able to scroll over a desired node was a bit difficult. Specifically, you have to zoom in really close to be able to read a particular edge. This made it a bit frustrating to use the site and made it less engaging. It seems that certain devices are better suited for some projects over others; I believe this project would be easier to navigate on a tablet rather than a laptop. This reminds me of the intersection between technology and humanities, and being mindful of accessibility in these projects.

However, the filtering system attached to the network is very useful as it allows users to view letters based on nationality, source, destination, gender group, and correspondent role. This makes it easy to answer questions regarding the quantity of how many letters writers wrote to certain demographics. For example, Voltarie had 158 female correspondents as opposed to over a 1000 male ones.

Letters

Using a repository of a writer’s letters, the data visualizations were created using Palladio, an application meant to design graphic implementations given humanistic queries. It was created for this project specifically and is capable of taking in csv/avg data files and generating networks graphed on two axes. Additionally, it’s freely available for use and the source code can be found on Github as well.

The letters used to create the visualizations are also available in a more accessible manner than visiting the repository. At the bottom of the network, there’s a table cataloging them by name and source.