Name: Elli Bleeker
Twitter: @ellibleeker
Email: elli.bleeker@uantwerpen.be
Working group project: ODD visualization
Contribution to group project: in comparison with the other participants, my experience with and knowledge of ODD and JSON was limited. Since it is very useful for anyone working with TEI XML to have at least a basic understanding of these concepts, I was happy to join this working group. At first, my contribution was mainly asking -perhaps obvious- questions about ODD. I’d like to think however that these questions helped to narrow down our goal. At least it was necessary to clearly describe the present state-of-the-art, what is missing, and why an ODD visualizer would be a welcome addition. During the workshop, I assisted with the creation of test data (several project-specific ODD, their transformation to flat ODD and subsequently to JSON); contributed on the design of the treemap and participated in the group discussions.
Methodology
The general idea and necessity of an ODD visualization was quickly explained, so the group focused on what exactly needs to be visualized and especially, how. The current ODD visualizer of Byzantium does not show the amount of customization. Moreover, it is useful to see on which specific areas the ODD focuses. We were quick in dividing into three smaller groups, each with specific assigned roles depending on our pre-existing knowledge and capabilities.
We decided upon a D3 zoomable treemap for the visualization of the amount of customization. The treemap shows how elements are grouped as well as –by their size or color- to what extent the elements are customized. The zoomable option could also allow to ‘zoom in’ on the customized elements to see the exact changes made.
Final Product
For all the deliverables (Google doc, Github, demo…), see the reports of the other group members.
Learning Outcomes
It was a very useful experience for me to work on this project. Although from time to time intimidating, the immediate jump from theory to practice was the best way to learn the concept (ODD, flat ODD, TEI schema, JSON, etc…) and to understand the workflow of the different processes. Having to think about the visualization of something that I was not familiar with helped me a great deal in understanding it. Whether the resulting visualization is as clear and useful for others remains to be tested. Nevertheless it is clear that this could be a necessary tool for users of TEI, regardless of their level of experience.
