Final version of the slide set for my talk at the September 2012 meeting of the UK Chapter of the International Society for Knowledge Organization: ‘The Shape of Knowledge’. These slides are slightly different for the ones shown on the day, and have a re-recorded narrative.

1. with Conrad Taylor
ISKO UK seminar on ‘The Shape of Knowledge’ at the London College of Communication, 4 September 2012
1

2. Conrad Taylor
www.conradiator.com
conradtaylorbcs.googlemail.com
2

3. 3

4. 4

5. 5

6. 6

7. Memories of the
New Maths, Scotland,1960s…
‘All lipe shends are umpty’
Draw a
the set of
Venn Diagram
in which the
shends the set of
above statement things that
is true are umpty
things that
are lipe
7

8. the shape
of knowledge
8

9. Images via Wikipedia Commons: Wegmann (bushbaby), Nobu Tamura (Dienonychus, FireFly5 (Cuttlefish), Mpinedag (‘Lucy’)
9

10. 10

11. Graphic
Representations
of Data
and Knowledge
a form of
information
11

12. Teaching about heart disease
12

13. 13

14. Storyboarding Web interaction
14

15. 15

16. 16

17. ACTION-REFLECT:
Based on Participatory
Rural Assessment…
‘Lines in the Dust’
with found-object
markers…
a Freireian approach to
promoting literacy with
empowerment.
17

18. www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5xzpuydxjA
18

19. graphic representations
and visualisations:
a flying history
19

20. Porphyry: diagramming ontology
Supreme genus: Substance
material immaterial
Subordinate genera: Body Spirit
animate inanimate
Subordinate genera: Living Mineral
sensitive insensitive
Proximate genera: Animal Plant
rational irrational
Species: Human Beast
Individuals: Socrates Plato Aristotle etc
20

21. Ibn al-Nafis
Pictures ‘doctored’
to assist with teaching,
to assist memory
21

22. Ibn al-Nafis
Agricola De Re Metallica 1556
22

23. 23

24. Drawings, but with:
– artificial points of view
– simplification
– labelling of parts
– measurements
– sequence of operations
24

25. 25

26. Note —
a ‘vocabulary’
of line types
and line weights
shading and
highlighting
(here exploiting
tints and solids
of two ink colours)
26

27. Ebstorfer
‘Mappa Mundi’
a flat earth,
a surrounding ocean,
centred on Jerusalem
27

28. Ebstorfer ‘Mappa Mundi’
28

29. Ebstorfer ‘Mappa Mundi’
29

30. Tabula Rogeriana, drawn 1154
by Mohammad Al-Idrissi, for King Roger II of Sicily
30

31. Tabula Rogeriana, drawn 1154
by Mohammad Al-Idrissi, for King Roger II of Sicily
31

32. Astrolabe, an interactive diagram of the heavens
32

33. Ortelius’ Atlas of 1570
33

34. 34

35. Joseph Priestley — 1760 — ‘Timelines’ of biography, engraved & printed
time as a line…
35

36. William Playfair invented the
line chart, bar chart, pie chart
36

37. Charles Joseph Minard, 1869:
celebrated multivariable schematic map / timeline diagram
about Napoleon’s advance on and retreat from Moscow
in the winter of 1812–1813
37

38. 38

39. Charles Joseph Minard:
‘From where in France
does Paris get its supplies
of different kinds & quantities
of meat?’
39

40. Charles Joseph Minard:
‘From where in France
does Paris get its supplies
of different kinds & quantities
of meat?’
– colour identifies which
Départements are
involved in the trade
– those involved have a
‘meat pie chart’ associated
– colour divided the pies
by proportion of types
of meat
– size of pies reflects quantity
40

41. Charles Dupin, 1826:
First ever choropleth map,
highlighting regions with
problems of illiteracy
41

42. Dr John Snow:
Dot-map of fatalities
from cholera in the
1854 outbreak
in Soho.
Clustering suggested
a link to the Broad St
water-pump
Investigation of
outliers & anomalies
confirmed the link.
Beginnings of science
of epidemiology!
42

43. Detail of John Snow’s dot map: colour added
43

44. 44

45. Florence Nightingale’s ‘Coxcomb’ charts:
causes of mortality among British soldiers in the Crimean War
45

46. Areas are proportionate
to death by cause of:
RED: wounds
BLUE-GREY:
‘Preventable or Mitigable
Zymotic diseases’
BLACK: all other causes
46

47. The ISOTYPE approach to educational quantitative graphics:
Otto and Marie Neurath
47

48. ISOTYPE multiples
of standardised
graphics, largely
designed by
Gerd Arntz
48

49. ISOTYPE multiples
of standardised
graphics, largely
designed by
Gerd Arntz
Skuravy, c. 1932, cutting out linocut-printed symbols for paste-up assembly into chart artwork
49

50. Køpenhavn
network diagram
for the ‘S-Tog’
urban rail service
50

51. 51

52. The ‘Linked and Open Data Graph’ — which just keeps getting more complicated…
52

53. The ‘Linked and Open Data Graph’ — which just keeps getting more complicated…
53

54. Where is the theory
about what makes
graphic representations
of knowledge and data
WORK?
54

55. literature
review
(& personalities)
55

56. Jacques Bertin
‘La Semiologie
Graphique’
1967 Michael Twyman
ite ‘Schema for Stu dy of
Jan V Wh Graphic Languages’
hs’
‘Char ts an d Grap Doig Simmo
1980 n ds, Ed 1979
‘Charts an d G
Gene Zelaz raphs’
ny 1980
‘Say it with C
harts’
1985 B Tversky
‘Cognitive Origins of
fte Clive Richards Graphic Conventiions’
E dward Tu of ‘Diagrammatics’
‘The Vis ual Display 1998
1995
e
Quantitativ
’
Information
1998
56

57. Jacques Bertin
‘La Semiologie
Graphique’
1967 Michael Twyman
ite ‘Schema for Stu dy of
Jan V Wh Graphic Languages’
hs’
‘Char ts an d Grap Doig Simmo
1980 n ds, Ed 1979
‘Charts an d G
Gene Zelaz raphs’
ny 1980
‘Say it with C
harts’
1985 B Tversky
‘Cognitive Origins of
fte Clive Richards Graphic Conventiions’
E dward Tu of ‘Diagrammatics’
‘The Vis ual Display 1998
1995
e
Quantitativ Robert Horn
’
Information ‘Visual Language’ L Wilkinson
1998 1998 ‘The Grammar o
f
Graphics’
1999
Card, Mackinlay,
Schneidermann (Eds)
‘Information
Visualization’
1999
57

58. 58

59. 59

60. Jacques Bertin
‘La Semiologie
Graphique’
1967 Michael Twyman
ite ‘Schema for Stu dy of
Jan V Wh Graphic Languages’
hs’
‘Char ts an d Grap Doig Simmo
1980 n ds, Ed 1979
‘Charts an d G
Gene Zelaz raphs’
ny 1980
‘Say it with C
harts’
1985 B Tversky
‘Cognitive Origins of
fte Clive Richards Graphic Conventiions’
E dward Tu of ‘Diagrammatics’
‘The Vis ual Display 1998
1995
e
Quantitativ Robert Horn
’
Information ‘Visual Language’ L Wilkinson
1998 1998 ‘The Grammar o
f
Graphics’
Alan MacEachren 1999
David McCandless ‘How Maps Work’
‘Information Is 2000
Beautiful’
Card, Mackinlay, 200?
Schneidermann (Eds) Colin Ware Yuri Engelhar
‘Information dt
‘Information ‘The Language o
Visualization’ f
Visualization’ Graphics’
1999 2000 2002
60

61. Yuri Engelhardt
The Language of Graphics
a framework for the analysis
of syntax and meaning
in maps, charts and diagrams
University of Amsterdam
Institute for Logic, Language and
Computation
61

62. definitions,
analyses
62

63. Graphic representation:
a visible artifact
on a more or less flat surface
that was created in order
to express information
Yuri Engelhardt
63

64. Graphic representation:
a visible artifact
on a more or less flat surface
that was created in order
to express information
Yuri Engelhardt
64

65. Compositionality of meaning
Part of what a sentence means
depends upon its separate words,
and part depends on how
those words are arranged
Marvin Minsky
65

66. Compositionality of meaning
Part of what a sentence means
depends upon its separate words,
and part depends on how
those words are arranged
Marvin Minsky
‘Frege’s Principle’
after the mathematician, logician & philosopher
Friedrich Ludwig Gottlob Frege
66

67. Compositionality of meaning
A grammar is the set of rules
for combining symbols,
whether the symbols are
words or pictures.
W K Horton (1994)
The Icon Book: Visual Symbols for
computer systems and documentation
67

68. Composite graphic objects:
three samples
– a map with information overlay
– a graph of quantitative data
– a network diagram
68

69. 69

70. June 2012
Daily blood glucose measurements
20 a.m. — 34 a.m. — 42 Subject: Conrad Taylor
p.m. — 32 p.m. — 40
millimoles per litre measured by portable monitor
a.m. — 36 Early morning measurements
p.m. — 34
Early evening measurements
15 a.m. — x Onset of new targets for
p.m. — y insulin injection
10
5
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
70

71. PCT proposal to remove the Walk-in Centre service at Tollgate Lodge Healthcare Centre – an issues map
prepared by Conrad Taylor to assist discussion
BREAKDOWN OF TYPES OF USAGE OF WALK-IN SERVICES (incomplete) BREAKDOWN OF WALK-IN CENTRE USERS BY ORIGIN
To be seen without Small casualties and Frontline services for Unregistered patients Visitors from afar Registered locally
an appointment minor emergencies Health Protection e.g.
in the community response vaccination
Elsewhere in the UK At Tollgate Lodge
Those who Homeless,
To be seen in the could easily transient,
evenings or at Paediatric ‘worry’ cases register hard-to-reach EU, other countries with City & Hackney surgeries
weekends at short notice reciprocal arrangements
Are WiC usage records coded,
Other PCT surgeries
such that reasons for use can Rest of the world
For a second opinion Wound dressings be extracted and analysed?
Which of these user-types can be satisfied by expanding local GP services?
Which of these can be replaced adequately by expanding local GP services?
Which types would suffer disproportionately if walk-in service withdrawn?
How can the other usages be met, while not overloading Homerton Hospital
or causing discomfort, travel problems and distress to patients? What alternative forms of provision can ensure the vulnerable are looked after?
Do WiC usage records clearly
identify where patients are
ALTERNATIVE MINOR ACUTE CARE SOLUTIONS IN THE COMMUNITY? registered with a GP?
What are benefits/demerits How to expand North Hackney Adequate alternative provision (see yellow boxes below)
of NHS Direct? GP services? must be in place BEFORE WiC services are withdrawn;
even then, some WiC provision may still be justified.
What benefits/demerits of Quicker appointments
GP/nurse teleconsultations? By what strategy, methods What is the PCT strategy for It is probable that a GP-led
Evening appointments and incentives will the PCT meeting those health needs walk-in local service at the
GUARANTEE the expansion of Walk-in Centre users which point of community need is
of North Hackney GP services CANNOT adequately be met still the best way to meet
Weekend appointments to satisfy registered patients by expanding North Hackney certain kinds of minor but
seeking consultations at short GP services? acute health needs.
notice, evenings or weekends?
What access do out-of-hours
and locum GP services have Where do out-of-hours and
to the patient medical record? locum GP services fit in? (and how will the unmet need in
other-PCT GP services be met?)
71

72. a composite graphic object
consists of
a graphic space graphic objects graphic relations
72

73. a composite graphic object
consists of
a graphic space graphic objects graphic relations
object-to-object relations
object-to-space relations
73

74. a composite graphic object
consists of
a graphic space graphic objects graphic relations
object-to-object relations
object-to-space relations
Relations are achieved (represented) visually using ‘gestalt principles’
and techniques such as proximity, similarity, common region (enclosure),
connectedness, good continuation (alignment), assumed closure
74

75. 75

76. June 2012
Daily blood glucose measurements
20 a.m. — 34 a.m. — 42 Subject: Conrad Taylor
p.m. — 32 p.m. — 40
millimoles per litre measured by portable monitor
a.m. — 36 Early morning measurements
p.m. — 34
Early evening measurements
15 a.m. — x Onset of new targets for
p.m. — y insulin injection
10
5
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
76

77. PCT proposal to remove the Walk-in Centre service at Tollgate Lodge Healthcare Centre – an issues map
prepared by Conrad Taylor to assist discussion
BREAKDOWN OF TYPES OF USAGE OF WALK-IN SERVICES (incomplete) BREAKDOWN OF WALK-IN CENTRE USERS BY ORIGIN
To be seen without Small casualties and Frontline services for Unregistered patients Visitors from afar Registered locally
an appointment minor emergencies Health Protection e.g.
in the community response vaccination
Elsewhere in the UK At Tollgate Lodge
Those who Homeless,
To be seen in the could easily transient,
evenings or at Paediatric ‘worry’ cases register hard-to-reach EU, other countries with City & Hackney surgeries
weekends at short notice reciprocal arrangements
Are WiC usage records coded,
Other PCT surgeries
such that reasons for use can Rest of the world
For a second opinion Wound dressings be extracted and analysed?
Which of these user-types can be satisfied by expanding local GP services?
Which of these can be replaced adequately by expanding local GP services?
Which types would suffer disproportionately if walk-in service withdrawn?
How can the other usages be met, while not overloading Homerton Hospital
or causing discomfort, travel problems and distress to patients? What alternative forms of provision can ensure the vulnerable are looked after?
Do WiC usage records clearly
identify where patients are
ALTERNATIVE MINOR ACUTE CARE SOLUTIONS IN THE COMMUNITY? registered with a GP?
What are benefits/demerits How to expand North Hackney Adequate alternative provision (see yellow boxes below)
of NHS Direct? GP services? must be in place BEFORE WiC services are withdrawn;
even then, some WiC provision may still be justified.
What benefits/demerits of Quicker appointments
GP/nurse teleconsultations? By what strategy, methods What is the PCT strategy for It is probable that a GP-led
Evening appointments and incentives will the PCT meeting those health needs walk-in local service at the
GUARANTEE the expansion of Walk-in Centre users which point of community need is
of North Hackney GP services CANNOT adequately be met still the best way to meet
Weekend appointments to satisfy registered patients by expanding North Hackney certain kinds of minor but
seeking consultations at short GP services? acute health needs.
notice, evenings or weekends?
What access do out-of-hours
and locum GP services have Where do out-of-hours and
to the patient medical record? locum GP services fit in? (and how will the unmet need in
other-PCT GP services be met?)
77

78. ‘Symbology’
the search for the visual morpheme,
the ‘primitive graphic object’
78

79. ‘Symbology’
the search for the visual morpheme,
the ‘primitive graphic object’
79

80. ‘Symbology’
the search for the visual morpheme,
the ‘primitive graphic object’
80

81. 81

82. 82

83. 83

84. signification-
carrying
variables
84

85. Jacques Bertin
La Semiologie Graphique
1967
English edition
Translated by William J Berg
Univrsity of Wisconsin Press
1983
85

86. Jacques Bertin’s
retinal variables
2PD:
the two dimensions
of the graphic plane
Si:
size
V:
‘value’ – tint, tone?
T:
‘grain’ or ‘texture’
C:
colour
Or:
orientation
Sh:
shape
86

87. Bertin’s
positional
variable
87

88. ‘Colour’ and
‘Value’…
a distinction that is
behind the times?
88

89. ‘Value’ in the
world of print
is made of tints
(dot patterns &c)
of the ink colour.
This cartoon was
shaded with tinted
adhesive ‘Letratone’
films.
89

90. 24-bit RGB
= 16,777,216 colours
Colour and value
replaced by Hue and
Brightness and
Saturation…
90

91. Linda Reynolds study for UK Air Traffic Control:
Beyond the green vectorscope — how to make use of display colour?
91

92. Contiguous zones:
can use very small changes in colour
Backgrounds: desaturated
colour is best
92

93. Colour for identification of
foreground objects:
few, well-differentiated colours
93

94. With computed transparency,
we can overlay corridors on the map
without hiding borders underneath
94

95. It may be possible with today’s
graphic systems to modulate
transparency in real time
95

96. Optional display features
can be called up or dismissed
as the need requires
96

97. Linda Reynolds :
Colour Displays and how to make
the most of them
http://www.ingenia.org.uk/ingenia/
articles.aspx?Index=106
97

98. ‘Texture’ and
‘Orientation’…
‘Texture’ may be a
mis-translation of
Bertin’s ‘grain’
Orientation:
more significant as symbols
(e.g. for wind direction)
than as shadings
98

99. Hachure: texture to indicate land relief
99

100. Hachure: texture to indicate land relief
100

101. Texture used in
colour map printing
using ‘special’ colours
(not CMYK process)
101

102. Colour and texture combine
to give a range of relief heights
and depths
102

103. In print, you can
use whatever
colours you can
mix!
…in this example, Black plus a special Green defined as Pantone 363
103

104. Some reprographic systems
will represent Bertin’s Value and Colour
using overlaid dot-tints or ‘screens’
from component ink systems
such as CMYK
Displaying solid colours, not tints, preserves the ability to render fine details
104

105. Coarse textures
useful for coarse
print techniques!
105

106. Adobe Illustrator let me create a
meaningful symbolic texture and
fill areas with it…
106

107. ‘Size’…
107

108. Size as a signifier:
not without its problems
do we compare area
or height?
how to relate a large
height-significant
component to a
small location?
108

109. Size as a signifier:
not without its problems
do we compare area
or height?
how to relate a large
height-significant
component to a
small location?
‘Countable variants’:
ISOTYPE-style array
can also have problems
of ‘fitting’
Might the ‘spread-out’
version be confused for
a proper dot-map?
109

110. Shapes are poor signifiers
of value, but work well
as distinguishable symbols
Simmonds, et al.
warn against symbols that
are hard to distinguish in
normal reading conditions
110

111. What is Texture and what is Symbol?
111

112. The stuff that connects things!
Particularly important for qualifying
linkages in network diagrams:
Mind maps
Organisation charts
File plans
Hierarchical taxonomies
Ontologies
Debate / argument maps
Entity–Relationship Diagrams
State diagrams … and more…
112

113. ‘Retinal variables’ for lines?
Line thickness and colour
Shape, direction of line
Duplication
‘Terminals’
Various dot patterns
113

114. CASE*Method data model, using Ellis-Barker notation
LINE ITEM PURCHASE ORDER PARTY
114

115. CASE*Method data model, using Ellis-Barker notation
LINE ITEM PURCHASE ORDER PARTY
# Line number # PO Number # Party ID
● Quantity ● Order date ● Name
● Actual price
115

116. CASE*Method data model, using Ellis-Barker notation
LINE ITEM PURCHASE ORDER PARTY
# Line number # PO Number # Party ID
● Quantity ● Order date ● Name
● Actual price
PERSON
● Surname
❍ Qualification
COMPANY
● Registration
116

117. CASE*Method data model, using Ellis-Barker notation
LINE ITEM part of
PURCHASE ORDER issued to
PARTY
# Line number # PO Number # Party ID
● Quantity ● Order date ● Name
composed of vendor in
● Actual price
PERSON
● Surname
❍ Qualification
COMPANY
● Registration
117

118. CASE*Method data model, using Ellis-Barker notation
LINE ITEM part of
PURCHASE ORDER issued to
PARTY
# Line number # PO Number # Party ID
● Quantity ● Order date ● Name
composed of vendor in
● Actual price
PERSON
● Surname
for for
❍ Qualification
bought via bought via COMPANY
● Registration
PRODUCT SERVICE
# Product code # Service code
● Description ● Description
● Unit price ● Rate per hour
118

119. CASE*Method data model, using Ellis-Barker notation
LINE ITEM part of
PURCHASE ORDER
# Line number # PO Number
● Quantity ● Order date
composed of
● Actual price
for for
bought via bought via
119

120. 120

121. Debategraph.org 121

122. Debategraph.org 122

123. animation,
interaction,
computation
123

124. Animated presentation…
…to change the viewer’s focus
124

125. Animated presentation…
…to change the viewer’s focus
125

126. Animated presentation…
…to build up layers of knowledge about a graphic
126

127. World Health Organisation – interactive map, incidence by country of
death rate from Non Communicable Disease (males)
See http://www.who.int/gho/map_gallery/en/index.html for this and other Global Health Observatory maps
127

128. World Health Organisation – interactive map, incidence by country of
death rate from Non Communicable Disease (males)
See http://www.who.int/gho/map_gallery/en/index.html for this and other Global Health Observatory maps
128

129. Gapminder.org
Hans Rosling
Gapminder — see http://www.gapminder.org — download and install the desktop edition
129

130. Gapminder — see http://www.gapminder.org — download and install the desktop edition
130

131. Gapminder — see http://www.gapminder.org — download and install the desktop edition
131

132. Gapminder — see http://www.gapminder.org — download and install the desktop edition
132

133. Gapminder — see http://www.gapminder.org — download and install the desktop edition
133

134. Gapminder — see http://www.gapminder.org — download and install the desktop edition
134

135. Conrad Taylor
www.conradiator.com
conradtaylorbcs.googlemail.com
the end
other talks from the ISKO UK events
at http://www.iskouk.org
135