Designed and built by Stanford University’s Humanities + Design Lab, Palladio is a Digital Humanities tool for the visualisation of complex historical data. This web-based open source application focuses on data-driven historical research. By modelling historical data we can analyse relationships across time and space and attempt to better understand the past.

Palladio is ideal for those who want to visualise networks, temporal data or geospatial data all from the same database using an intuitive graphical interface. Tabular data in various formats can be copied and pasted or uploaded to Palladio and then manipulated in many ways. It is important to ensure consistency in the data so that correct associations can be made between them.

Graphs for networks

The graph function offered by Palladio can be used for visualising a network or networks and the relationships within and between them. The points can be filtered and sized according to other parameters in the database, which is why the initial database needs to be well thought out and constructed with Palladio in mind.

Maps for locations

To make use of the map function, Palladio requires data in the “latitude, longitude” format. These points can be plotted on a map of the world and can be coloured, sized, linked and filtered. The base map can also be changed to show different elements, or a custom map can be uploaded.

Timespans and timelines for dates

The points displayed on a maps or in a graph can be filtered by time, if the database contains data in a date format. Any date data can also be visualised with a timespan, which can have various different layouts, or with a timeline, which takes the form of a bar graph.

Palladio doesn’t store any user data but anything created on Palladio can be downloaded as a .json file and then uploaded and modified at a later date. Graphs, map points, timespans and timelines can also be downloaded as .sgv image files.

Why use Palladio to visualise data?

Visualising historical data using a comprehensive and interactive application such as Palladio will help the two most important people relating to your research: you and your audience.

For you

• Creating diagrams of networks highlights relationships between and within them
• Plotting geospatial and temporal data visually makes it easier to spot patterns
• Visualisations uncover and draw your attention to trends previously hidden in the data

For your audience

• Reading and understanding visualisations of data is easier and quicker
• Data in visual forms are more attractive and more likely to be remembered
• Visuals facilitate the interpretation and retelling of data

Palladio is an excellent example of a digital humanities tool that can be used by historians to visualise data. From a single database, researchers can create various visual elements that are personalisable according to the data available. Data visualisations can help researchers to make the most of the available data at any point during the research process. They also give meaning to data and facilitate its comprehension by the audience.

Digital humanities is an interdisciplinary area of study that lies in the intersection between the humanities and digital technology. Research in digital humanities goes in two directions: it uses digital technologies to ask questions about and to create new knowledge in the humanities, and uses the humanities to ask questions of and to reflect upon digital technology. The digital technologies in digital humanities come in the form of tools, applications and software (purpose-built for digital humanities or not) that can be used for the effective production and dissemination of research in the humanities.

Digital humanities tools can be useful in the three main stages of a research project: they can help you to advance in your research, to disseminate your results more effectively, and they can help your audience to understand what you’re trying telling them.

Different tools can facilitate the advancement of your research by giving you an environment in which your data and research can be stored, managed and analysed. Data visualisation tools can highlight relationships within and between networks, help you to spot patterns, uncover and draw your attention to trends previously hidden in the data, encourage you to view information in other ways and cause you to make new enquiries. Many digital humanities tools also offer a collaboration function, meaning that you can work together with your colleagues on the same file.

As for diffusing your findings, digital humanities can offer you a wide range of platforms for presenting and sharing your data, in many different ways.

Data presented in innovative formats will make your research more accessible and understandable by different types of learners. Visual representations could be better for younger audiences or those unfamiliar with your area of study because reading and interpreting visualisations of data can be easier and quicker than databases or text. Data in visual forms are also more attractive and more likely to be remembered, thereby facilitating their retelling.

Examples of digital humanities tools reviewed on this blog: Palladio, Zotero.