From one map to the other: what maps can tell us about graphs (and the other way around)

Jean-Christophe Plantin Université de Technologie de

Compiègne

jean-christophe.plantin@utc.fr Cartonomics.org

Nedimah Workshop, DH2012, July 21. 2012

Alternative radiation mapping mashup after March 11. 2011 in Japan

Controversy mapping (Venturini 2010) (Latour 2010)

// Maps and graphs

Source: blog.Safecast.org // futureperfectpublishing.com/

The object of research   The method of research  

#1-The steps of creation

#2-Temporal development

#3-Subjectivity and black-boxes

#4-Beyond hyperlink map

#5-Image status

// 5 challenges for maps and network graphs (+ solutions and makedo)

Navicrawler (Jacomy, Ghitalla, 2007) (Plantin 2012): -”manual” exploration -nodes labeling -visualization -back to the exploration, etc.

Gephi (Bastian et al., 2009), (Jacomy et al. 2011)

// Tools

http://webatlas.fr/wp/navicrawler/

// Result

Gephi.org // cartonomics.org

Challenge #1. The steps of creation

-Dangers of “self-reference” & “iconization” of the map (Casti, 2005) -The graph is created constructed and chosen amongst many possibilities

August 2012 September 2012 October 2012

•  Showing the various steps of the process (easy in a dissertation, less in a scientific article)

•  A dynamic version of the graph

Solutions #1.

March 11. 2011 Now August 2011 December 2011

Creating the corpus

”A website graph is outdated as soon as it is made” (Girard, 2012) ”Violence of mapping” (Farinelli 2009): freezing a dynamic process

Challenge #2. Temporal development

•  Clearly showing the temporal boundaries of the graph

•  Automation of the crawling process (Sack, 2007)

Solutions #2.

Manual crawler (Navicrawler): risk of a taylor-made corpus Automatic crawler (Issuecrawler): risk of black-boxing (Rieder, Rhöle, 2012)

Challenge #3. Subjectivity and black boxes

Issuecrawler.net

•  Reading the scientific articles (but sometimes not enough, eg. Brin, Page, 1998)

• Double-checking with people inside the graph

•  Using only

open-source tools?

Solutions #3.

http://berlinergazette.de/symposium/learning-from-fukushima/

-How to map non-hyperlink-related forms of online cooperation? -Web is plateform: non-crawlable networks -API research (Helmond 2012)

Challenge #4. Beyond hyperlink map

Cosm.com

•  Using various methods to ground the graph(Rogers, 2009): interviews, documenting the case, “participatory research”

Solutions #4.

-Beyond the assumption of objectivity (boyd, Crawford, 2011) -Graph is an exploratory tool, not an end in itself

Challenge #5. Status of the image

Fr.123.rf.com

// References

Fr.123.rf.com

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