ASSERT: steps to forming the project

Ask- How can we use interactive visualization to better educate K-12 and public audiences on the prehistory and history of native Americans in Florida?

Search- The data that I searched for that fits within the scope of the question I seek to answer is mainly secondary sources and online resources. Some of these resources include online information from Florida’s Division of Historical Resources, and Florida Anthropological societies. Other secondary source information would be some of the bureau of archaeological research journals on particular sites in order to compile a list of archaeological sites, dates, and cultures. Other data would be photos from these sites or of primary source materials to compliment the information.

Structure-The main takeaway from the chapter on structure was the LATCH acronym. Structuring the data in terms of location such as a map through visualeyes can express the geographic information of each of these sites and cultures, time can also apply through visualeyes and the map in order to display potential causality. Structuring data geographically, temporally, and culturally is how I envision answering this question.

Envision- This chapter for my particular interest is somewhat limited in application but qualitative analysis would be useful in analyze the data structures. But most analysis of data has to happen after representing it in order to see trends and adapt the project to become more publicly oriented.

Represent- As far as representing the information goes, using visualeyes is probably the best way to represent my data. Dealing with a time frame from 13,000 BCE -1600 CE is easiest to comprehend on a timeline, yet the temporal locations and their geographic relations would be lost if just a timeline were to be used. Which is why I believe visualeyes would be the best tool as of right now. Being able to represent the data on a map, its temporal location, and the written word and photographs all integrated on the same webpage makes it an easy choice. The additional use of having pop-ups which can display smaller segments of information lends itself to public use by making the project easier to navigate for the interested party. The timeline grouping feature of visualeyes is also phenomenal for this project because it allows the anthropologic temporal-cultural groups, such as Weeden island culture, eastern woodland, or mortuary pond, to be presented chronologically which assist in the general understanding of these sites to the lay public.

Tell- The story I hope to tell through this project is one that seeks to convey the known archaeological and anthropological past of Florida prehistory in a way that is understandable to the general public. The map and timeline can serve as useful tools for contextualizing the past but the overall narrative is where I hope to tell a story that can educate the public but while activity being broken up by location and temporal cultural classifications.