Data Art for the Networked Community

MAKING VISIBLE THE INVISIBLE “Library Unbound” Seattle Public Library Commission
Seattle Public Library

Data Art for the Networked Community
Media Arts and Technology
Graduate Program
UC Santa Barbara

George Legrady UCDARNET August 7, 2012 1

MAKING VISIBLE THE INVISIBLE Seattle Public Library

Graduate Program
UC Santa Barbara



SPL Library: Architectural InfraStructure Transformations
Rem Koolhaas radical redesign

 Open public research computerized spaces

 Spiral lay-out book storage stacks

 Wired librarians (offices turned into open spaces)

 RFID automated checkout and return sorting

Graduate Program
UC Santa Barbara



Book Spiral: Dewey Classification in a Continuous Ribbon

Graduate Program
UC Santa Barbara



Dewey Coded Floor Spiral

.jp

Graduate Program
UC Santa Barbara



Automated RF System Check-in, Check-out

Graduate Program
UC Santa Barbara



Librarians Set Loose: Traded Office Space for
Commdevice

Graduate Program
UC Santa Barbara



Visualizing the Collective Data Space: The Library As Data Exchange Center

Graduate Program
UC Santa Barbara



Librarians & Visualization

Graduate Program
UC Santa Barbara



“Making Visible the Invisible”, a 10 year Visualization Project 2004-2014
 For the next ten years: Collect hourly
circulation of books, analyze the data,
and represent through visualizations
 Data animations are featured on 6 large
LCD panels located on a glass wall
horizontally behind the librarians’ main
information desk
 in the Mixing Chamber, a large open
19,500 sq ft space dedicated to
information retrieval and public
Media Arts and Technology accessible computer research.
Graduate Program
UC Santa Barbara



Research Phase (fall 2003-spr 2005)
 1 week residency to learn about the library,
its operations, etc.
 Correlation is made between the flow of
data (books, DVD) leaving the library and
what the community of patrons considers
interesting information at any specific
time.
 The circulation of books is information that
can be calculated mathematically and
represented visually.
Graduate Program
UC Santa Barbara



What are the Research Questions?
 Focus on the library as a “Data Exchange Center”

 Information in circulation: Meaning to emerge out
of the organization of data
 Emergence driven: Local individual actions
(checking out books/dvds) add up to collective
positions: representative of the communal thinking!
 How to transform the collecting and processing of
data into an aesthetic experience: Emphasis on
narrative, metaphoric, associative expression
 Visualizations: Based on the organization of the
Media Arts and Technology data, according to rule-based processes
Graduate Program
UC Santa Barbara



Challenges: Negotiating Data Access, Privacy, Reliability
 Libraries & other archival institutions are
not used to dynamic artworks that plug
into their system for data
 Much negotiation with the IT sector for
access to data over long time
 Obvious main concerns: Security, privacy
protection, system integrity, virus
protection, maintenance, etc.
 Reliability Issue: Project has to be
reliable, self-sustaining for the next ten
years
Graduate Program
UC Santa Barbara



3 Related Previous Projects: 1992-2001
 An Anecdoted Archive From the Cold War, 1992
A collection of historical & personal objects organized
according to an invented classification system (Floorplan)

 Slippery Traces, 1995
Navigation through 250 postcards (classified into 26
chapters) according to multilayered rules inscribed in
database (picture within picture navigation links)

 Pockets Full of Memories, 2001
A dynamically growing collection of artifacts with data sets
provided by the public. The objects are dynamically self-
Media Arts and Technology organized in a 2D map continuously creating a global order
Graduate Program
UC Santa Barbara



Anecdoted Archive from the Cold War: 1992
A collection of historical & personal objects organized
according to a “hardwired” classification system: Museum
floorplan; 8 rooms/chapters; each with 6 to 12 stories; each
story has mutiple narratives based on object grouping

Graduate Program
UC Santa Barbara



Slippery Traces: 1995
250 postcards organized into 26 chapters. Multilinear
relational database structure: Navigation from image to
image according to rules inscribed in database with picture
within picture navigation links)

Graduate Program
UC Santa Barbara



Pockets Full of Memories: 2001-2006
A dynamically growing collection of artifacts provided by the
public with data sets through a questionnaire. The objects are
dynamically self-organized in a 2D Visualization map. Local
similarities emerging into a global order.

Graduate Program
UC Santa Barbara



Phase I: Concept & Design Development (2003) | With Andreas Schlegel
 Visualizations experimentations: Rapid
prototyping rough sketches focused on look
and feel of still & animations
 Dewey Decimal Classification system
 Online Tracking of Flow of data:
http://128.111.221.74/parsing/index.php

Graduate Program
UC Santa Barbara



Graduate Program
UC Santa Barbara



Significant Area: Digital Data Processing / Management
 Basic method: [data collection] -> [data
processing] -> [visualization]
 Bulk of the work: The [data processing] in-
between incoming data and the
visualization
 Data is received every 10 minutes (3000
per hour, 20000 transactions per day)
 Operating for the next ten years (2014)

MediaIn:DATA
<Processing>
Arts and Technology
Graduate Program
UC Santa Barbara
Out:VISUALIZATION



Data Processing & Metadata
 How: by tracking the circulation of
books/media
 Require: Regular access to real-time data
over long time
 Methods: Calculations based on metadata
 All books & media (cds, dvds, etc.) are RF
tagged
 System tracks circulation automatically
 Metadata: Catalog Num; bibliography
Num; date/time stamps; collection code;
itemtype; barcode; title; callNumber; Dewey
Graduate Program
UC Santa Barbara
class; keywords.



Dewey Classification System: Ten topics each subdivided into 100 subclasses

000 - Generalities
100 - Philosophy & Psychology
200 - Religion
300 - Social Science
400 - Language
500 - Natural Science & Mathematics
600 - Technology & Applied Sciences
700 - Arts
800 - Literature
900 - Geography & History

“Untangling my chopsticks” has the Dewey label 641.5952,
Graduate Program (placed in the 641 “Food & drink” section)
UC Santa Barbara



Metadata in XML Format
<transaction>
<itemNumber>1531202</itemNumber>
<bibNumber>2180049</bibNumber>
<ckodate>2005-04-20</ckodate>
<ckotime>16:55:00</ckotime>
<ckidate>2005-05-06</ckidate>
<ckitime>18:21:00</ckitime>
<collcode>nanf</collcode>
<itemtype>acbk</itemtype>
<barcode>0010045801205</barcode>
<title>Untangling my chopsticks, a culinary sojourn in Kyoto</title>
<callNumber>641.5952 R358U 2003</callNumber>
<deweyClass>641.5952</deweyClass>
<subjects>
<subject>Cookery Japanese</subject>
<subject>Japanese tea ceremony</subject>
<subject>Kyoto Japan Social life and customs</subject>
<subject>Food habits Japan Kyoto</subject>
Media Arts and Technology </subjects>
Graduate Program </transaction>
UC Santa Barbara



Phase II: Visual Exploration & System Planning (2004) | With August Black

 System, data storage discussions with SPL IT
 Experimentation with graphic visualizations:
spectral pulses; radar plots; bezier/spirals,
Voronoi variations
 Planning the datastructure: its organization,
questions of what to look for, what patterns,
keywords?

Graduate Program
UC Santa Barbara



Phase III: System Architecture, Design & Production | With Rama Hoetzlein

 July 2005: System Architecture: Design
and production
 Aug 2005: Data Flow Structure and
Visualizations (without access to real
data)
 Sept 5-12, 2005: Seattle Installation:
 1 week to install
 First realtime access to data
 Hardware/Software synchronization
 Interface with IT
Graduate Program
UC Santa Barbara



Rama Hoetzlein: System Development (summer/fall 2005)
 System overview (for continuous, large scale data
analysis and real-time visualization)
 Data Analysis Overview
 Keyword Frequency Analysis
 Storing Data over time (10 years)
 Visualization Processes (Realtime graphics,
synchronizataion, data retrieval)
 Network Data Flow (Server, clients, data transfer)
 Multiple Visualization Timing
 Visualization Management (Layered processes, GameX
interface)
Graduate Program
UC Santa Barbara



Librarians & Visualization

Graduate Program
UC Santa Barbara



1 _Vital Statistics, Fall 2005
 The day’s and last hour’s circulation activities
 1) Total items, 2) Dewey, 3) Non-Dewey, 4) Books,5)
DVD, 6) CD’s and other media
 Background color changes with time throughout day
 IMPACT: Statistical overview, a form of clock at glance

Graduate Program
UC Santa Barbara



2 _Floating Titles: Fall 2005
 Time based, linear stream of the last hour’s titles,
timestamped, spatialized (far, close), and color coded
(books, media)
 IMPACT: Sequence provides unexpected associations

Graduate Program
UC Santa Barbara



3 _Dot Matrix Rain: Fall 2005
 Non-Dewey titles fall from the top of screen (gravity
metaphor), Dewey titles pop up on screen
 Finale: Overall Dewey activity trace
 IMPACT: Relational overview (for librarians) between
Dewey, non-dewey, books, and media.

Graduate Program
UC Santa Barbara



4 _Keyword Map Attack: Fall 2005
 Word Frequency Index of significant title words, and
Marc associated keywords, spatially plotted according to
Dewey order, color coded, based on usage
 IMPACT: Maps topics of interests based on keywords
transcending Dewey categories

Graduate Program
UC Santa Barbara



Graduate Program
UC Santa Barbara



Front and Back Views of the Visualization Installation

Graduate Program
UC Santa Barbara



Challenges for a Ten Year Digital Media Arts Project
 What to map to show “Change Over time”
 Search for patterns: What exactly to look
for?
 External correlation (news events)?
relevant?
 Feedback: How does the visualization
impact on circulation?
 How do the librarians react to the
visualized information, and the participatory
Media Arts and Technology need of technical support?
Graduate Program
UC Santa Barbara



Review & Evaluation Issues
 Best realization method: Custom software
design defined by the task at hand
 Collaborative Development requires a
particular mindset from participants
 Technology changes every 3 years: Long
term technological artwork requires
maintenance program and budget
 Institution must be competent to feature
and willing to support technologally
complex artworks
Graduate Program
UC Santa Barbara



Credits
Technical Design, Research & Production
 Andreas Schlegel, Preliminary interaction Design,
website, data organization (2003-2004)
 August Black, Preliminary data organization and
visualization, system administration (2004-2005)
 Rama Hoetzlein/Mark Zifchock Team, Final
Engineering design, data organization, and production
(Summer 2005)

Sponsors
 Seattle Public Library
 Seattle Arts Commission
Media Arts and Technology  Committee of 33, Seattle
Graduate Program
UC Santa Barbara  NSF IGERT multimedia Research


Data Art for the Networked Community

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