Stan Ruecker

The standard of proof that Othello demands in Shakespeare’s tragedy is both too stringent and simultaneously unreliable. By placing the act of seeing the evidence as being superior to a proof strong enough to eliminate doubt, Othello establishes the grounds for the misapprehension and consequent misunderstanding at the heart of the play. He would have been better advised to accept his visual evidence as just one component in the hermeneutic process. Steve Ramsay (2003) has referred to this approach as “algorithmic criticism,” where a visualization is used iteratively to create and interrogate patterns in text or other forms of data, taking each step as a potential object of interpretation.

In this presentation, I discuss the extent to which various forms of visualization support humanities research tasks, in particular focusing on visualizations that have been developed in research teams where I was a member. The basic question I address is: what are the characteristics of a visualization that make it a likely candidate for successful use in the humanities? In addition, what forms of humanities research are most likely to find visualization useful? Typically, they will involve the creation and interrogation of patterns that are more difficult to see when working with the text alone. For example, researchers of various kinds have begun to see our Mandala Browser (Figure 1) as a tool for doing algorithmic criticism.

Stan Ruecker is an Associate Professor of Humanities Computing in the Department of English and Film Studies at the University of Alberta. Stan holds advanced degrees in English, Humanities Computing, and Design, and has expertise in the design of experimental interfaces to support online browsing tasks. He was the principal investigator of the Humanities Visualization project, and is leading the interface design team of Implementing New Knowledge Environments. His current research interests are in the areas of computer-human interfaces, humanities visualization, and information design. With co-authors Milena Radzikowska and Stéfan Sinclair, he has a book forthcoming in 2011 from Ashgate, entitled Visual Interface Design for Digital Cultural Heritage:
A Guide to Rich-Prospect Browsing.