Information, Networks and Visualization :: Course Assignments
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Assignment 1:
A1a :: Digital Data Selfie ::
1) Collect ALL your digital communications from a 72 hour timeblock (you can do longer if you need more data, but not shorter) and organize them in a spreadsheet. Use a minimum of 12 metadata categories to organize this collection. You are not sharing the content of your collected data, but the metadata, the "data about the data": time, date, location, medium etc. Are they: email, chat, twitter, social network sites, listserves, blogs, text messages and phone/voicemail? What types of relationships (immediate family member, close friend, acquaintance, etc.) are you communicating with? What kinds of conversations and data exchanges did you have; were they executables, coordinating a physical meeting, gossip, intimate or humourous...? Are the messages short or long? Classify the contexts (from bed, campus, class, cafe) and mood. A truly excellent work will conceive of innovative categories for classification and analysis in addition to the ones above. In addition to the above, you will need a "unique identifier" for each row or entry. This is usually a unique number (incrementing by 1) that is assigned to each row. Make the unique identifier the first column on your spreadsheet.
2) Write 1-2 paragraphs on your initial observations about your 72 hour digital communication data. Are there certain patterns that you see? If someone who didn't know you were to read this data, what would they conclude about you?
Label files A1a_lastname_firstname.filetype and bring into class. If you are unfamiliar with using spreadsheets you will need to spend extra time with the reading above. (note: this is categorized as an Assignment (A) rather than an Homework (Hw))

A1b :: Digital Data Selfie Part Two ::
- answer the following questions about your data selfie in a text document: 1) What is the data? 2) What are the relationships between the variables? 3) How is the data organized? / How could it be organized? 4) What needs to be communicated? / what is the most interesting? 5) discuss 3 ways of visualizing your data, and what data from your collection you will use (communication over time, mood and platform, network) 6) if you used a pie, bar, or bubble, what data would you use for each kind of visualization?
- make new sheets (w/in same spreadsheet) with just the data you need for 3 types visualizations (make one location based). Please indicate somewhere what kind of visualization you are envisioning for each sheet. make sure to keep a unique id for each row that is consistent with your original sheet's rows.
- put all work in a folder called A1b_lastname_firstname. Zip this up so that the file is A1b_lastname_firstname.zip, and email to prof. In the body of the email, include your github username. Due Sept 21
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A1c :: Digital Data Selfie Part Three :: Finish mapping some data from your digital data selfie. You can use location to show actual location of communication, or have the map be somewhat abstract, representing platform or receiver, for example. The size of the bubbles should represent some aspect of your data, like amount of use. Consider using color as representing some other aspect of your visual, like dominant mood as related to location. Use TSV or CSV files. Submit work to github. Due Sept 28.


Assignment 2:
A2 :: Analog Data Selfie ::
Begin visualizing your analog communications: Document your analog communications for a 24 hour time period. How do you communicate to drivers and bikers when crossing the street on foot, when ordering coffee in a busy shop, or late at night in a rough neighborhood. Consider vocal and non vocal communications. You may use some categories/ metadata that you used for your digital observations, but you will also need to add new ones. Note the difficulty in establishing metadata categories for non-digital communications. Organize your categories in a spreadsheet, TSV, or CSV.


A2b ::
- Consider your A2a analog communication data. You may work in any visual environment you wish to visualize your non-digital communications. How do you understand context, meaning and shared understanding in these communications? In the next few weeks we will work on visualizing and quantifying this data in various ways, but this week you can be creative and think outside of the box in regards to your visualizations. Share all Processing sketches via the A2b github repository, or send sketches, drawings or vector graphics via email.


Assignment 3:
A3, Due Dec. 09
Option 1 :: Data comparisons ::
- For this assignment you will consider both the data from A1 and A2, as well as their visualizations. Present at least two 1-2 well developed visualizations showing how these data sets are similar and how they are different by making connections and correlating data, using diagram maps, cartographic maps, or other maps or graphs.
- In writing, you will discuss: 1) how the data from your digital and analog communications are similar and how they diverge. Please explore rationale for the similarities and differences by referencing the readings and lectures on the history of information that have been presented in class. 2) Note any big visual changes and what data causes those changes. 3) Finally, you should not only explain your visualizations, but should also indicate remaining questions that have been unanswered and where more work and refinement needs to be done.

Option 2 :: Networks and Systems assignment ::
- Work with data from the NOAA website, the National Phenology Network see: the download data page (note: you may need to set up an account with nature's notebook to access this data), or data generated from another site that is concerned with climate, nature, or natural systems to visualize some sort of change over time.
- Consider ways besides plotted points to show this change. You may use Processing's built in Table object, or the simplified Table object used from Ben Fry's sample code that we've worked with earlier in the semester.
- Here is some sample code that uses a simplified data set and the Processing Table object to get you started. Please note that I am looking for a larger data set than this example offers, ideally around 1000 data points.
- In writing: 1) discuss the visual changes in your sketch and what data is specifically causing those changes. 2) Indicate any questions about your that have been generated by your data set, any further refinement that could be done, and how you might go about advancing the project.

Please zip up work and label A3_lastname_firstname.zip and email, or, please branch and then push to the A3 repository on GitHub
20% of grade, Due before 11:59pm Tuesday Dec. 08.