Designing Public Visualizations of Library Data

As in many other organizations and fields of inquiry, the data generated by libraries becomes ever more complex, and the need to communicate trends both internally and externally has also been increasing. As visualizations become increasingly embedded in library assessment and outreach, it is crucial to take into consideration the audience of the visualizations and to design visualizations that are easy to interpret. This chapter will walk readers through the process of selecting a visualization based on a particular data representation need, designing that visualization to be optimized to its specific purpose, and combining visualizations into larger narratives to engage a public audience.

pre-print of:
Zoss, Angela M. “Designing Public Visualizations of Library Data.” In Data Visualization: A Guide to Visual Storytelling for Librarians, edited by Lauren Magnuson. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., forthcoming.