Macroscope and WikiVis: Two examples of data visualization inspired by material research practices

This paper outlines a broad conceptual framework and examples of two software design ‘sketches; which illustrate an approach to the development of research technologies to support the process of literature review and discovery and social awareness around shared research objects ‐ in this case collaborative documents. While in its early stages these technology prototypes have been developed as part of a suite of technology experiments in the EPSRC/AHRC funded PATINA (Personal Architectonics Through Interactions with Artifacts) which looks at the relationship between digital technology, physical spaces, objects and research practices. The work presented here, thus forms part of a much wider project which looks to combine knowledge from a large rage of disciplines including architecture, human computer interaction, software design and web science, digital media and application domains including archeology. The project was developed as the result of a research ‘Sandpit’ initiated by the British Library in order to develop new concepts and ideas around future research spaces in an era of dematerialized information. The initial design ideas presented here, therefore, have their conceptual roots in the context of library research and the use of text in the form of books, research papers and shared online text documents.