The development of research on visualization of information

Abstract

The last decade has shown a rapid development of interdisciplinary research on visualization of information (Infovis). In bibliology, the first person to become interested in these methods was a pioneer of science-metrics, E. Garfield, who introduced the term “science-grams”. In creation of “science-grams”, or maps of science, are involved IT specialists and bibliologists, computer specialists and science specialists, as well as specialists on presentation of information and graphic designers. This article aims at presenting the possibilities of using Infovis as a new field of research in information sciences through a series of examples of visualization for the collection of metadata, that come with bibliographic descriptions of documents available in Polish digital libraries. The results of the analyzes of metadata the authors presented in graphical form, choosing the technique of visualization according to the data type (number, text, date) and according to context analysis. The targets of data visualization: detection of quantitative changes on a graph, showing the geographical spread of the data, the disclosure of intellectual and social relationships, and effective communication of the idea of the experiment, are described in detail and illustrated.