This is pretty neat. I’ve seen other pilots of Antarctica’s visual catalogue interface before, but this is the first one I’ve seen that attempts to lead you to an online version of the book in question. The interface is really fast, which I appreciate. Maybe that’s because this is a small test set of data? Took me a little while to find a search box (it’s down in the lower right) – probably tucked away because you’re “supposed” to click and drill down to get to the actual content. I don’t think that’s going to happen in reality. I think I would use an interface like this to search for a broad subject, and then start clicking the images to drill down. But I’d want that initial search box more prominently displayed.
A little bit of trivia: Antarctica is a Canadian company, and while the URL in this post mentions antarctica.net, you can also find the company’s homepage at http://www.antarcti.ca (get it? 😉
Demo Now Available: OCLC’s Data Visualization Pilot with Antarctica Systems Inc.
Source: OCLC
Online Demo Now Available: OCLC’s Data Visualization Pilot with Antarctica Systems Inc.
A must “see” for those of you interested in data visualization. From an announcement received via e-mail, “OCLC has implemented a data visualization pilot project in conjunction with to evaluate library users’ experiences with searching and display of search results using a visual interface to the Electronic Books database on OCLC FirstSearch. Users of the Electronic Books database on FirstSearch will see a link at the top left of their basic, advanced and expert search and results screens to “Try an alternative view of Ebooks by clicking here.” Clicking this link will take users to a visual representation of the Electronic Books database developed by Antarctica Systems, Inc. You may also view the pilot interface at: http://ebooks.antarctica.net.
For the purpose of this pilot, users will be searching in a static database of about 211,000 electronic book titles. The pilot will run through April 5, 2005.”
See Also: Antarctica Systems Inc. and OCLC Announce 3-Month Pilot