Unveiling the Dispersal of Historical Books from Religious Orders

Abstract

In this paper, we introduce a visualization prototype designed to assist historians in exploring the dispersal of books from religious orders throughout Europe during the sixteenth century and beyond. The prototype is the result of a collaboration between visualization researchers and a historical book researcher, aiming to apply visualization techniques to address realworld domain challenges. Over two months, we engaged in an intensive collaboration with the domain expert to analyze domain issues and requirements and subsequently developed a prototype featuring two interfaces. Weekly discussions with the domain expert guided design and ongoing prototype evaluation. In its infancy, the prototype shows promise for enhancement and scalability. Future efforts will target systematic usability and practicality evaluations.