Experiences with starfield visualizations for analysis of library collections

Abstract

This paper presents a qualitative and formative study of the uses of a starfield-based visualization interface for analysis of library collections. The evaluation process has produced feedback that suggests ways to significantly improve starfield interfaces and the interaction process to improve their learnability and usability. The study also gave us clear indication of additional potential uses of starfield visualizations that can be exploited by further functionality and interface development. We report on resulting implications for the design and use of starfield visualizations that will impact their graphical interface features, their use for managing data quality and their potential for various forms of visual data mining. Although the current implementation and analysis focuses on the collection of a physical library, the most important contributions of our work will be in digital libraries, in which volume, complexity and dynamism of collections are increasing dramatically and tools are needed for visualization and analysis.