1 The Problem  We took on Design Challenge #1 to analyze the problem of identifying optimal foster families using relevant literature to guide our approach.2 Our AssumptionsWe defined a successful placement to be a discharge reason of any of the four possible permanency outcomes. This limited us to a sample size of 6,008 cases in Manhattan from 2015_AFCARS_Foster_Data, 1,454 of which resulted in a permanency outcome. Our chosen model parameters are also based on the most important family and child characteristics in literature.3 Our ApproachAfter exploring, cleaning, and clustering the data into intuitive groups, we created a logistic regression model that could predict the probability of a permanency outcome.

Visual Communication Quarterly Visual Communication QuarterlyVolume 20 January - March 201320 21 Jennifer George-Palilonis and Mary Spillman A common dilemma faces today’s news editors who must decide whether to devote time and resources to the production of interactive graphics for their websites. Are interactive graphics an important storytelling tool? Are they cost-effective in this digital age? This study finds that while editors value interactive graphics, few newspapers devote prime website real estate to graphics, making it difficult to assess their worth. The authors also use the results of a national survey, a content analysis, and personal interviews to determine the frequency with which graphics are produced and to identify the barriers to their production. Interactive graphics, once the “next hot thing” in multimedia content, now compete for time and attention with social media, news curation, and apps development projects. Directions for future research are also discussed. Storytelling with Interactive Graphics: An Analysis of Editors’ Attitudes and Practices A common dilemma faces today’s news editors who must decide whether to devote time and resources to the production of interactive graphics for their websites. Are interactive graphics too time-consuming relative to the number of unique page views they generate? Or do they not generate enough website traffic because they have not been displayed prominently or published with enough frequency to attract readers’ attention? It is generally known that newspapers such as the New York Times, the Boston Globe, and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel regularly produce robust graphics. Trade and general interest publications have contained anecdotal reports on editors’ approaches to and concerns about interactive graphics. For example, Andrew DeVigal, multimedia editor at the New York Times, noted in a question-and-answer session with Times readers that there is considerable risk in taking on multimedia projects for the sake of multimedia alone and that he must seriously consider whether the work put into one project can potentially apply to future projects before his team begins working on it (“Talk to the Newsroom,” 2009). Although there is considerable scholarship defining digital storytelling in terms of its unique features (Paul & Fiebich, 2005), on the interactive features of online newspapers (Chung, 2008; Greer & Mensing, 2006; Rosenberry, 2005; Schultz, 1999), on principles of interactivity and usability (Flavian, Guinaliu, & Gurrea, 2006; Vaughan, 2002) and on the effectiveness of visual learning and information retention (David, 2006), there currently is little formal scholarship that probes editors’ attitudes toward the production of these new storytelling forms and measures the depth of their use. Thus, it is difficult to assess whether interactive information graphics truly do not yield enough page views to warrant their development or there simply are not enough news organizations devoting resources and prime website real estate to these types of features to effectively assess their worth. To delve deeper into this “chicken or egg” circular cause-and-consequence argument, and to assist editors as they make difficult staffing and editorial decisions in this time of economic downturn and circulation decline, it is necessary to more thoroughly explore how newspaper websites use interactive graphics, as well as how they are presented online. The following research questions inform this pursuit: RQ1. How frequently do mid-to-large- circulation newspapers publish interactive graphics on their websites? RQ2. To what degree do mid-to-large- circulation newspapers value interactive graphics as a primary story form? RQ3. What are the barriers to producing interactive graphics? Pages 20 - 27 Study Rationale In recent years, newspapers have faced a series of economic problems tied to changes in technology (e.g., the web emerging as a primary delivery system) and the general economic downturn that many fear is threatening the future of news. In response to these structural challenges, news editors and journalism researchers have sought new models for news distribution and content strategies that appeal to younger audiences, online audiences, and general audiences whose news consumption habits have changed in the wake of the digital revolution. However, changing the culture and workflow for news organizations can be costly, risky, and daunting. It is not surprising that many news organizations avoid devoting time and resources to the development of interactive content that appears time-consuming, specialized, and is unproven in terms of generating web traffic. This study, however, seeks to determine whether the true value of this type of story form has yet to be realized. Are interactive graphics getting fewer page views because users cannot readily find them? Are text-based stories still the bread and butter of web content because there are so many more text-based stories than any other form of content? Is the jury still out on interactive graphics because there are not many news organizations that have given them a fair shot? In light of these questions, this study creates a more well-rounded view of the media landscape when it comes to the use of interactive graphics as a primary storytelling tool. Literature Review As previously mentioned, little formal research exists that explores to what extent interactive information graphics are used among news websites. However, during the past 20 years, information graphics have been given considerable attention by scholars who have set out to determine their general value as news story forms. The literature review that follows provides a brief overview of how interactive graphics are generally defined and examines the ways in which previous graphics research has laid a foundation for this article. In their most basic forms, information graphics are maps, charts, and diagrams that have become increasingly critical in the information age because “at their best, graphics are instruments for reasoning about quantitative information” (Tufte, 2001). Add the potential for interactivity and nonlinear navigation, and a whole new taxonomy for interactive information graphics has emerged that includes instructives (how-to graphics), simulations and games, narrative animations, and data visualizations (George- Palilonis & Spillman, 2011).The use and classification of information graphics in news and other storytelling genres has rapidly evolved, providing editors with myriad possibilities when it comes to telling visual stories online (Nichani & Rajamanickam, 2003). Some scholars have studied how specific types of computer graphics (e.g., data visualizations) are produced and integrated into online news by identifying narrative design differences and by making recommendations on best practices (Segel & Heer, 2010). Others have studied how users react and relate to interactive graphics. Some have suggested that story-based approaches to online information graphics seem to motivate users but might lead to less intensive reception of information, and interactive graphics may overwhelm users with too much information and disregard basic design principles (Burmester et al., 2010). Yet others assert that a well-developed interactive graphic has the potential for rich storytelling unrivaled by other story forms (Cairo, 2005). Regarding news editors’ attitudes toward different story forms, Wojdynski (2010) found that text stories are still the most widely used story form online, with video coming in second. Perhaps most telling is that editors reported interactive story forms, such as slide shows, interactive graphics, and multimedia packages, are mainly used only for special reports. Yet interactivity in mediated messages has been linked to positive attitudes, satisfaction, and perceived involvement with the message content (Rafaeli & Ariel, 2007). Likewise, users have responded favorably to visual representations of data that they are able to manipulate (Ancker, Chan, & Kukafka, 2009). Sundar (2004) has theorized that interactivity plays an important role in information consumption. And Wojdynski (2010) found that although there is no evidence of a relationship between interactivity and recall of numerical information, “there is evidence that interactivity in information presentation leads to more positive attitudes toward the content for users who were not highly involved with the content” (p. 19). Ariely (2000) showed that when users are able to control the sequence and pacing of information consumption they are more accurate in evaluating that information than those given no control or those given control over sequence but not pacing. There also has been some exploration into the intersection of journalism and video games. D ow nl oa de d by [ U ni ve rs ity o f Sh er br oo ke ] at 1 1: 27 0 6 N ov em be r 20 14Visual Communication Quarterly Visual Communication QuarterlyVolume 20 January - March 201320 21 Jennifer George-Palilonis and Mary Spillman A common dilemma faces today’s news editors who must decide whether to devote time and resources to the production of interactive graphics for their websites. Are interactive graphics an important storytelling tool? Are they cost-effective in this digital age? This study finds that while editors value interactive graphics, few newspapers devote prime website real estate to graphics, making it difficult to assess their worth. The authors also use the results of a national survey, a content analysis, and personal interviews to determine the frequency with which graphics are produced and to identify the barriers to their production. Interactive graphics, once the “next hot thing” in multimedia content, now compete for time and attention with social media, news curation, and apps development projects. Directions for future research are also discussed. Storytelling with Interactive Graphics: An Analysis of Editors’ Attitudes and Practices A common dilemma faces today’s news editors who must decide whether to devote time and resources to the production of interactive graphics for their websites. Are interactive graphics too time-consuming relative to the number of unique page views they generate? Or do they not generate enough website traffic because they have not been displayed prominently or published with enough frequency to attract readers’ attention? It is generally known that newspapers such as the New York Times, the Boston Globe, and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel regularly produce robust graphics. Trade and general interest publications have contained anecdotal reports on editors’ approaches to and concerns about interactive graphics. For example, Andrew DeVigal, multimedia editor at the New York Times, noted in a question-and-answer session with Times readers that there is considerable risk in taking on multimedia projects for the sake of multimedia alone and that he must seriously consider whether the work put into one project can potentially apply to future projects before his team begins working on it (“Talk to the Newsroom,” 2009). Although there is considerable scholarship defining digital storytelling in terms of its unique features (Paul & Fiebich, 2005), on the interactive features of online newspapers (Chung, 2008; Greer & Mensing, 2006; Rosenberry, 2005; Schultz, 1999), on principles of interactivity and usability (Flavian, Guinaliu, & Gurrea, 2006; Vaughan, 2002) and on the effectiveness of visual learning and information retention (David, 2006), there currently is little formal scholarship that probes editors’ attitudes toward the production of these new storytelling forms and measures the depth of their use. Thus, it is difficult to assess whether interactive information graphics truly do not yield enough page views to warrant their development or there simply are not enough news organizations devoting resources and prime website real estate to these types of features to effectively assess their worth. To delve deeper into this “chicken or egg” circular cause-and-consequence argument, and to assist editors as they make difficult staffing and editorial decisions in this time of economic downturn and circulation decline, it is necessary to more thoroughly explore how newspaper websites use interactive graphics, as well as how they are presented online. The following research questions inform this pursuit: RQ1. How frequently do mid-to-large- circulation newspapers publish interactive graphics on their websites? RQ2. To what degree do mid-to-large- circulation newspapers value interactive graphics as a primary story form? RQ3. What are the barriers to producing interactive graphics? Pages 20 - 27 Study Rationale In recent years, newspapers have faced a series of economic problems tied to changes in technology (e.g., the web emerging as a primary delivery system) and the general economic downturn that many fear is threatening the future of news. In response to these structural challenges, news editors and journalism researchers have sought new models for news distribution and content strategies that appeal to younger audiences, online audiences, and general audiences whose news consumption habits have changed in the wake of the digital revolution. However, changing the culture and workflow for news organizations can be costly, risky, and daunting. It is not surprising that many news organizations avoid devoting time and resources to the development of interactive content that appears time-consuming, specialized, and is unproven in terms of generating web traffic. This study, however, seeks to determine whether the true value of this type of story form has yet to be realized. Are interactive graphics getting fewer page views because users cannot readily find them? Are text-based stories still the bread and butter of web content because there are so many more text-based stories than any other form of content? Is the jury still out on interactive graphics because there are not many news organizations that have given them a fair shot? In light of these questions, this study creates a more well-rounded view of the media landscape when it comes to the use of interactive graphics as a primary storytelling tool. Literature Review As previously mentioned, little formal research exists that explores to what extent interactive information graphics are used among news websites. However, during the past 20 years, information graphics have been given considerable attention by scholars who have set out to determine their general value as news story forms. The literature review that follows provides a brief overview of how interactive graphics are generally defined and examines the ways in which previous graphics research has laid a foundation for this article. In their most basic forms, information graphics are maps, charts, and diagrams that have become increasingly critical in the information age because “at their best, graphics are instruments for reasoning about quantitative information” (Tufte, 2001). Add the potential for interactivity and nonlinear navigation, and a whole new taxonomy for interactive information graphics has emerged that includes instructives (how-to graphics), simulations and games, narrative animations, and data visualizations (George- Palilonis & Spillman, 2011).The use and classification of information graphics in news and other storytelling genres has rapidly evolved, providing editors with myriad possibilities when it comes to telling visual stories online (Nichani & Rajamanickam, 2003). Some scholars have studied how specific types of computer graphics (e.g., data visualizations) are produced and integrated into online news by identifying narrative design differences and by making recommendations on best practices (Segel & Heer, 2010). Others have studied how users react and relate to interactive graphics. Some have suggested that story-based approaches to online information graphics seem to motivate users but might lead to less intensive reception of information, and interactive graphics may overwhelm users with too much information and disregard basic design principles (Burmester et al., 2010). Yet others assert that a well-developed interactive graphic has the potential for rich storytelling unrivaled by other story forms (Cairo, 2005). Regarding news editors’ attitudes toward different story forms, Wojdynski (2010) found that text stories are still the most widely used story form online, with video coming in second. Perhaps most telling is that editors reported interactive story forms, such as slide shows, interactive graphics, and multimedia packages, are mainly used only for special reports. Yet interactivity in mediated messages has been linked to positive attitudes, satisfaction, and perceived involvement with the message content (Rafaeli & Ariel, 2007). Likewise, users have responded favorably to visual representations of data that they are able to manipulate (Ancker, Chan, & Kukafka, 2009). Sundar (2004) has theorized that interactivity plays an important role in information consumption. And Wojdynski (2010) found that although there is no evidence of a relationship between interactivity and recall of numerical information, “there is evidence that interactivity in information presentation leads to more positive attitudes toward the content for users who were not highly involved with the content” (p. 19). Ariely (2000) showed that when users are able to control the sequence and pacing of information consumption they are more accurate in evaluating that information than those given no control or those given control over sequence but not pacing. There also has been some exploration into the intersection of journalism and video games. D ow nl oa de d by [ U ni ve rs ity o f Sh er br oo ke ] at 1 1: 27 0 6 N ov em be r 20 14Visual Communication Quarterly Visual Communication QuarterlyVolume 20 January - March 201322 23 Bogost, Ferrari, and Schweizer (2010) note that while news organizations finally have embraced web delivery, they remain wedded to traditional approaches despite evidence that games effectively prompt users to synthesize information and explore systems, and can be good journalism. Bogost (2011) also asserts that “instead, newsgames make the news harder and more complex. We shouldn’t embrace games because they seem fun or trendy, nor because they dumb down the news, but because they can communicate complex ideas differently and better than writing and pictures and film. Games are raising the bar on news, not lowering it.” One international study identified five factors that impeded the use of “news graphics”: high cost of production, media managers who lacked knowledge, designers who did not have sufficient skills, technical and communication limitations (e.g., bandwidth), and lack of appropriate software (Salimi, Masoud, & Mazaheri, 2011). Methodology This study employs a mixed-method research approach designed to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. The three-part approach includes the following: • a content analysis of 100 U.S. news websites to determine how interactive graphics are presented and accessed (e.g., how often interactive graphics are featured on the homepage, whether a news website regularly compiles a collection of multimedia content that includes interactive graphics, and the relative ease with which users are able to find this interactive material); • a national survey of multimedia editors to gauge the collective mind-set on the value of interactive graphics as storytelling tools, as well as the extent to which news organizations currently devote time, manpower, and space to these types of multimedia features; and • interviews with four editors at news organizations that regularly display interactive graphics on their websites to provide deeper insight into why they choose to produce this content and what, if any, benefits are realized. Specifically, the content analysis was conducted to address research question 1: How frequently do mid-to-large-circulation newspapers publish interactive graphics on their websites? Each site was visited four times, once each week during a 30-day period between the hours of 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Homepage navigation was reviewed to determine whether interactive graphics or multimedia were referred to in top-level links. Homepages also were examined for evidence of secondary links (hyperlinks) to graphics. Likewise, researchers looked for prominently featured graphics on the homepage and collections of graphics elsewhere on the site. Two researchers conducted the content analysis for intercoder reliability of 97% accuracy. A survey of design, multimedia, graphics, or web editors/producers was developed to address research question 2 (To what degree do mid-to- large-circulation newspapers value interactive graphics as a primary story form?) and research question 3 (What are the barriers to producing interactive graphics?). The survey was sent via U.S. mail to 216 editors of English-language general circulation newspapers. The newspapers selected were those with the top-five highest circulations in each U.S. state and the District of Columbia, as reported by the Audit Bureau of Circulations. (If the state had fewer than five newspapers in the data set, the highest number was selected.) The names of editors, producers, and others were identified from the 2010 Editor and Publisher member database and through the websites of the publications. The 30-question survey included items on which respondents were asked to rate their responses using a five-point Likert-scale, as well as open-ended questions designed to gather an in-depth response. Respondents could elect to complete the paper survey and return it in a preaddressed, postage- paid envelope or to access the questionnaire via a hyperlink to a web-based survey. Each editor was assigned a random personal access code that was kept separate from responses to maintain anonymity and security. Identifying information on the paper surveys also was separated from responses. Editors received three e-mail reminders to take the survey. A total of 53 editors completed the survey, resulting in a 25% response rate. The responses came from a well-distributed cross- section of circulation sizes (refer to Table 1). It should be noted that in an era of economic downsizing in the news industry, it is increasingly difficult to achieve high response rates. Editors are being asked to produce more content with fewer resources and have little time to devote to surveys, despite their potential value to the industry. Finally, to delve more deeply into research questions 2 and 3, follow-up interviews were conducted via phone and e-mail with four editors at news organizations that regularly display interactive graphics on their sites. The results of these interviews provide insight into how much and why interactive graphics are valued at those organizations, as well as what, if any, benefits they get from frequently developing them. Results Several key themes emerged from the content analysis, survey, and interviews. The sections that follows provide an overview of the most significant findings in all three areas. Content Analysis Of the 100 news websites surveyed, only 28 sites included a link to Multimedia, Interactives, or a related label or gallery of multimedia content on the homepage. In most cases (n = 19), the link label was Multimedia. But of the 19 sites that used the Multimedia label, only four featured information graphics prominently on the corresponding landing page. Those four were http://www.nytimes.com (New York Times), http://www.sun-sentinel.com (Sun-Sentinel), http://www.stltoday.com (St. Louis Post- Dispatch) and http://www.miamiherald.com (Miami Herald). The remaining 15 Multimedia landing pages included only photo and/or video galleries. Information graphics are a common story form on the four sites mentioned. The Multimedia landing page of nytimes.com features links to more than 100 multimedia stories, most of which are photo slide shows. However, during the period of this study, there were no less than 15 interactive graphics featured there as well. Likewise, data visualizations, interactive maps, narrative animations, and instructive graphics accompanied numerous written stories on the site. Although sun-sentinel.com did not feature any information graphics on the homepage during the weeks of the content analysis, the Sun-Sentinel has been known to frequently do so. For more than 10 years, the Sun-Sentinel site has contained a large multimedia gallery called The Edge, which regularly features more than 25 interactive games, graphic simulations, narrative animations, interactive information graphics, data visualizations, and links to full-page static graphics that originally appeared in the printed newspaper under a feature titled News Illustrated. The multimedia landing page for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://www.stltoday.com/news/ multimedia/) includes a Graphics menu listing as many as 12 links to interactive graphics that range from data visualizations to instructive animations. Finally, miamiherald.com features a Graphics link below the fold on the homepage, with subnavigation to an All Graphics landing page. The landing page features as many as 20 interactive graphics each day, with buttons allowing the user to browse as many as 60 additional interactive graphics that have been posted in recent months. Only two of the 100 sites examined prominently featured an information graphic on the homepage and/or linked to an information graphic from the homepage. Of course, this does not mean the other sites never do so. However, during the period of this content analysis, finding information graphics in this form of presentation was a rare occurrence. During the first week of the content analysis, http://www.usatoday.com (USA Today) featured a link to an interactive data visualization above the fold in the Top Picks menu. In week three, http:// www.pressherald.com (Portland Press Herald) included a link to an interactive data visualization toward the bottom of the homepage in the Special Features menu. Two sites featured a link to Media that included only photo and/or video galleries; an additional 22 featured links to Photos, Photo Gallery, Video, and/or Video Gallery. Six sites featured an Interact link that directs visitors to a page of user-generated content. Survey Interactive graphics, in general, received an enthusiastic response from editors. In all, 87% (46 of 53) agreed or strongly agreed that interactive graphics are valuable story forms and 96% (51 of 53) said they add value to the news product. The support, however, was not without some reservations, as one editor noted in his response: I think our constant internal debate is not whether these graphics have value, but whether their value justifies the amount of time needed to do them right. They don’t significantly increase traffic and rarely end up with more than a few hundred views. Another respondent wrote: Pages 20 - 27 Table 1: Daily Circulation of Papers Responding Circulation Number of Papers Fewer than 10,000 1 10,001 to 25,000 7 25,001 to 50,000 7 50,001 to 100,000 14 100,001 to 250,000 19 250,001 to 500,000 4 More than 500,000 1 Total 53 D ow nl oa de d by [ U ni ve rs ity o f Sh er br oo ke ] at 1 1: 27 0 6 N ov em be r 20 14Visual Communication Quarterly Visual Communication QuarterlyVolume 20 January - March 201322 23 Bogost, Ferrari, and Schweizer (2010) note that while news organizations finally have embraced web delivery, they remain wedded to traditional approaches despite evidence that games effectively prompt users to synthesize information and explore systems, and can be good journalism. Bogost (2011) also asserts that “instead, newsgames make the news harder and more complex. We shouldn’t embrace games because they seem fun or trendy, nor because they dumb down the news, but because they can communicate complex ideas differently and better than writing and pictures and film. Games are raising the bar on news, not lowering it.” One international study identified five factors that impeded the use of “news graphics”: high cost of production, media managers who lacked knowledge, designers who did not have sufficient skills, technical and communication limitations (e.g., bandwidth), and lack of appropriate software (Salimi, Masoud, & Mazaheri, 2011). Methodology This study employs a mixed-method research approach designed to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. The three-part approach includes the following: • a content analysis of 100 U.S. news websites to determine how interactive graphics are presented and accessed (e.g., how often interactive graphics are featured on the homepage, whether a news website regularly compiles a collection of multimedia content that includes interactive graphics, and the relative ease with which users are able to find this interactive material); • a national survey of multimedia editors to gauge the collective mind-set on the value of interactive graphics as storytelling tools, as well as the extent to which news organizations currently devote time, manpower, and space to these types of multimedia features; and • interviews with four editors at news organizations that regularly display interactive graphics on their websites to provide deeper insight into why they choose to produce this content and what, if any, benefits are realized. Specifically, the content analysis was conducted to address research question 1: How frequently do mid-to-large-circulation newspapers publish interactive graphics on their websites? Each site was visited four times, once each week during a 30-day period between the hours of 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Homepage navigation was reviewed to determine whether interactive graphics or multimedia were referred to in top-level links. Homepages also were examined for evidence of secondary links (hyperlinks) to graphics. Likewise, researchers looked for prominently featured graphics on the homepage and collections of graphics elsewhere on the site. Two researchers conducted the content analysis for intercoder reliability of 97% accuracy. A survey of design, multimedia, graphics, or web editors/producers was developed to address research question 2 (To what degree do mid-to- large-circulation newspapers value interactive graphics as a primary story form?) and research question 3 (What are the barriers to producing interactive graphics?). The survey was sent via U.S. mail to 216 editors of English-language general circulation newspapers. The newspapers selected were those with the top-five highest circulations in each U.S. state and the District of Columbia, as reported by the Audit Bureau of Circulations. (If the state had fewer than five newspapers in the data set, the highest number was selected.) The names of editors, producers, and others were identified from the 2010 Editor and Publisher member database and through the websites of the publications. The 30-question survey included items on which respondents were asked to rate their responses using a five-point Likert-scale, as well as open-ended questions designed to gather an in-depth response. Respondents could elect to complete the paper survey and return it in a preaddressed, postage- paid envelope or to access the questionnaire via a hyperlink to a web-based survey. Each editor was assigned a random personal access code that was kept separate from responses to maintain anonymity and security. Identifying information on the paper surveys also was separated from responses. Editors received three e-mail reminders to take the survey. A total of 53 editors completed the survey, resulting in a 25% response rate. The responses came from a well-distributed cross- section of circulation sizes (refer to Table 1). It should be noted that in an era of economic downsizing in the news industry, it is increasingly difficult to achieve high response rates. Editors are being asked to produce more content with fewer resources and have little time to devote to surveys, despite their potential value to the industry. Finally, to delve more deeply into research questions 2 and 3, follow-up interviews were conducted via phone and e-mail with four editors at news organizations that regularly display interactive graphics on their sites. The results of these interviews provide insight into how much and why interactive graphics are valued at those organizations, as well as what, if any, benefits they get from frequently developing them. Results Several key themes emerged from the content analysis, survey, and interviews. The sections that follows provide an overview of the most significant findings in all three areas. Content Analysis Of the 100 news websites surveyed, only 28 sites included a link to Multimedia, Interactives, or a related label or gallery of multimedia content on the homepage. In most cases (n = 19), the link label was Multimedia. But of the 19 sites that used the Multimedia label, only four featured information graphics prominently on the corresponding landing page. Those four were http://www.nytimes.com (New York Times), http://www.sun-sentinel.com (Sun-Sentinel), http://www.stltoday.com (St. Louis Post- Dispatch) and http://www.miamiherald.com (Miami Herald). The remaining 15 Multimedia landing pages included only photo and/or video galleries. Information graphics are a common story form on the four sites mentioned. The Multimedia landing page of nytimes.com features links to more than 100 multimedia stories, most of which are photo slide shows. However, during the period of this study, there were no less than 15 interactive graphics featured there as well. Likewise, data visualizations, interactive maps, narrative animations, and instructive graphics accompanied numerous written stories on the site. Although sun-sentinel.com did not feature any information graphics on the homepage during the weeks of the content analysis, the Sun-Sentinel has been known to frequently do so. For more than 10 years, the Sun-Sentinel site has contained a large multimedia gallery called The Edge, which regularly features more than 25 interactive games, graphic simulations, narrative animations, interactive information graphics, data visualizations, and links to full-page static graphics that originally appeared in the printed newspaper under a feature titled News Illustrated. The multimedia landing page for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://www.stltoday.com/news/ multimedia/) includes a Graphics menu listing as many as 12 links to interactive graphics that range from data visualizations to instructive animations. Finally, miamiherald.com features a Graphics link below the fold on the homepage, with subnavigation to an All Graphics landing page. The landing page features as many as 20 interactive graphics each day, with buttons allowing the user to browse as many as 60 additional interactive graphics that have been posted in recent months. Only two of the 100 sites examined prominently featured an information graphic on the homepage and/or linked to an information graphic from the homepage. Of course, this does not mean the other sites never do so. However, during the period of this content analysis, finding information graphics in this form of presentation was a rare occurrence. During the first week of the content analysis, http://www.usatoday.com (USA Today) featured a link to an interactive data visualization above the fold in the Top Picks menu. In week three, http:// www.pressherald.com (Portland Press Herald) included a link to an interactive data visualization toward the bottom of the homepage in the Special Features menu. Two sites featured a link to Media that included only photo and/or video galleries; an additional 22 featured links to Photos, Photo Gallery, Video, and/or Video Gallery. Six sites featured an Interact link that directs visitors to a page of user-generated content. Survey Interactive graphics, in general, received an enthusiastic response from editors. In all, 87% (46 of 53) agreed or strongly agreed that interactive graphics are valuable story forms and 96% (51 of 53) said they add value to the news product. The support, however, was not without some reservations, as one editor noted in his response: I think our constant internal debate is not whether these graphics have value, but whether their value justifies the amount of time needed to do them right. They don’t significantly increase traffic and rarely end up with more than a few hundred views. Another respondent wrote: Pages 20 - 27 Table 1: Daily Circulation of Papers Responding Circulation Number of Papers Fewer than 10,000 1 10,001 to 25,000 7 25,001 to 50,000 7 50,001 to 100,000 14 100,001 to 250,000 19 250,001 to 500,000 4 More than 500,000 1 Total 53 D ow nl oa de d by [ U ni ve rs ity o f Sh er br oo ke ] at 1 1: 27 0 6 N ov em be r 20 14Visual Communication Quarterly Visual Communication QuarterlyVolume 20 January - March 201324 25 A typical graphic tied to a news topic might generate 10,000 page views over its life for us. At typical CPMs, that won’t cover the labor involved in producing the graphic. We like to do the right thing by readers, but we have to carefully choose the topics we lose money on. In addition, while about 47% (25 of 53) of respondents agreed or strongly agreed their management saw value in interactive graphics, approximately one-third were neutral and about 21% (11 of 53) said managers did not see value in this story form. Despite the worry that interactive graphics are not cost-effective, a few editors reported that their news organizations are running graphics as often as 10 or more times a month. Most of those responding, however, produced only one to three per month, which averages less than once per week. A total of 19% of editors said they produced no interactive graphics (refer to Table 2). Nearly 70% (37 of 53) agreed or strongly agreed that “the production of interactive graphics is too time consuming,” but the jury may still be out on whether interactive graphics are important to overall website traffic. Nearly one-third of the respondents (32%; 17 of 53) agreed or strongly agreed that interactive graphics do not generate enough page clicks, but about 40% indicated interactive graphics do generate enough page clicks (21 of 53)—the same number who said that graphics increase website traffic (21 of 53). A possible explanation for the balanced responses could be that recently produced projects—good or bad—influenced the editors’ current opinion. While the bottom line was an obvious area of concern, 62% (33 of 53) of editors disagreed, strongly disagreed, or were neutral that cost kept them from hiring staffers capable of producing interactive graphics. The cost of software also was not an impediment to production. Nearly 53% (28 of 53) said they could afford the software, and about 21% were neutral (11 of 53); 26% (14 of 53) said the cost was too much. The expertise of staff members may hinder production at some news outlets. While 55% (29 of 53) of respondents agreed or strongly agreed their staffers have the necessary conceptual skills, approximately 19% (10 of 53) were neutral, and about 26% (14 of 53) said the staffers did not possess the skills needed. Slightly more than 47% (25 of 53) of editors agreed or strongly agreed that their staffers did not have the necessary technical skills (programming, Flash, etc.); about 13% (7 of 53) were neutral. Slightly less than 40% (21 of 53) said their staffs did have the requisite abilities. “Downsizing of overall newspaper staff means we are not able to hire people who already have skills to produce interactive graphics,” one editor wrote. “Training print artists to do this is a slow process and only works if they are really interested in learning it.” Personal interviews Personal interviews with editors at four newspapers (Sun-Sentinel, Boston Globe, New York Times, St. Louis Post-Dispatch) known for their high-quality work in interactive storytelling and graphics provided additional insight on the research questions. All agreed that newspapers, in general, and interactive storytelling, in particular, are in transition. Many papers have drastically cut staff during the past few years as publishers struggled to monetize web delivery and retain profits during a recession. These cuts put additional strain on graphics producers who were often tasked with creating static art for the print product as well as interactive graphics for the web. As noted in the survey results section, managers generally appreciate interactive graphics as a story form and value the staff members who produce them, but managers do not always understand the amount of time, technical skill, and effort it takes to produce a high-quality product. Some of the confusion may stem from the lack of universal definitions for interactive graphic content. While some editors have embraced high-level interactivity such as animation, data visualizations, and games, others might define an interactive as a slide show with simple text and photos or even a video. News managers who are inexperienced in planning for interactive elements and inserting them into the editorial process may also contribute to the confusion. This deficiency is not intentional; it is connected to the lightning speed in which story forms and software are changing. David Schutz, deputy design director/news and graphics of The Boston Globe, says his thinking about interactive graphics has been a moving target and he has adjusted his outlook over time. He now better understands technology, what a graphic artist can execute, and how readers take in the pieces of a story. He says it is not important to do an interactive graphic for every story: “Interactivity is a tool and does not define the work,” he said (personal communication, February 9, 2012). Steve Duenes, graphics director, New York Times, sees interactive graphics as storytelling devices that can be vehicles for serious journalism and should be treated as such (personal communication, March 12, 2012). Duenes also cautioned that page views should not be used to determine a graphic’s value. “Traffic isn’ necessarily the best indication that a piece of content is good,” he said. “But graphics do as well as all other forms of content; often they do better.” Will Sullivan, director of mobile news, Lee Enterprises, and former interactive director with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, agrees: “We need to shift from the notion of getting page views and clicks and more on what makes for good content” (personal communication, February 10, 2012). There is no one-size-fits-all approach to how interactive graphics are created. The process differs from paper to paper, depending on the size of the staff, how the graphics department fits into the overall newsroom structure, and whether the staff produces content for the web as well as the print product. The process also varies depending on the actual task. At times, staff might be asked to restyle a static print graphic to match web styling; at other times, data visualizations, animations, or motion graphics might be required. In general, graphics work is divided into what must be produced quickly (as in breaking news) and what is needed for long-term projects. However, interactive elements that do not change, are evergreen, and have a long shelf life are often valued. Sullivan says the planning process usually begins with collaborative meetings among reporters and editors to establish the need for graphics and/or graphics potential. Once the project is under way, the interactive staff starts to build relationships with others in the newsroom, which he says is important to the storytelling process. At the New York Times, Duenes says, ideas for interactives also come directly from the graphics department. No matter the source, once assignments are made small groups have an initial discussion before beginning the reporting process. Once the data collection is complete, it is a matter of execution, with editing along the way, Duenes says. Staff time and technical skills still remain a challenge for some newsrooms. Cindy Hulfachor, senior graphics reporter at the Sun-Sentinel, said she has access to an enormous amount of art created previously by staffers and that the newspaper sometimes uses stock art and templates to increase efficiency (personal communication, November 28, 2011). Sullivan notes that tools are getting cheaper, and some software is open source, which presents less of a problem than in the past. Schutz agrees that technical skills are important: “Software and training should be an investment in the future,” Schutz said. “You’re either willing to make it or not” (personal communication, February 9, 2012). He understands, however, that smaller papers may not have the resources. Schutz also values quality over quantity and sets high standards. Graphics editors say that interactives have to compete with traditional stories for space on the website. The graphics staffs often have to pitch their projects to web editors and producers to get prime placement on the websites in a process akin to a section editor who pushes to get a story on page one of the newspaper. Despite the challenges and the ever-changing landscape, editors are hoping the business model will rebound. “Newspapers are in an awkward stage of change,” Hulfachor said. “I’m hoping we’ll see an upswing” (personal communication, November 28, 2011). Discussion An interesting paradox emerges if the results of the survey of editors is compared to the content analysis of 100 news websites. While most editors (87%) assert that interactive graphics are valuable story forms and that they add value to the news product (96%), only a few news organizations regularly and prominently feature information graphics on their websites (four were identified in the content analysis). In addition, despite a clear concern that the production of interactive information graphics is not cost-effective and that the graphics do not generate enough page views (or clicks), the content analysis showed that even on sites that do produce information graphics, they are often difficult to find or not prominently featured on homepages or easy-to-find multimedia landing pages. This paradox raises Pages 20 - 27 Table 2: Monthly Interactive Graphics on Publication Websites % Number 19.2 10 61.5 32 11.5 6 1.9 1 5.8 3 100.0 52 (1 missing) 0 1 to 3 4 to 6 7 to 9 10 or more Total How many interactive graphics does your publication run on its website each month? D ow nl oa de d by [ U ni ve rs ity o f Sh er br oo ke ] at 1 1: 27 0 6 N ov em be r 20 14Visual Communication Quarterly Visual Communication QuarterlyVolume 20 January - March 201324 25 A typical graphic tied to a news topic might generate 10,000 page views over its life for us. At typical CPMs, that won’t cover the labor involved in producing the graphic. We like to do the right thing by readers, but we have to carefully choose the topics we lose money on. In addition, while about 47% (25 of 53) of respondents agreed or strongly agreed their management saw value in interactive graphics, approximately one-third were neutral and about 21% (11 of 53) said managers did not see value in this story form. Despite the worry that interactive graphics are not cost-effective, a few editors reported that their news organizations are running graphics as often as 10 or more times a month. Most of those responding, however, produced only one to three per month, which averages less than once per week. A total of 19% of editors said they produced no interactive graphics (refer to Table 2). Nearly 70% (37 of 53) agreed or strongly agreed that “the production of interactive graphics is too time consuming,” but the jury may still be out on whether interactive graphics are important to overall website traffic. Nearly one-third of the respondents (32%; 17 of 53) agreed or strongly agreed that interactive graphics do not generate enough page clicks, but about 40% indicated interactive graphics do generate enough page clicks (21 of 53)—the same number who said that graphics increase website traffic (21 of 53). A possible explanation for the balanced responses could be that recently produced projects—good or bad—influenced the editors’ current opinion. While the bottom line was an obvious area of concern, 62% (33 of 53) of editors disagreed, strongly disagreed, or were neutral that cost kept them from hiring staffers capable of producing interactive graphics. The cost of software also was not an impediment to production. Nearly 53% (28 of 53) said they could afford the software, and about 21% were neutral (11 of 53); 26% (14 of 53) said the cost was too much. The expertise of staff members may hinder production at some news outlets. While 55% (29 of 53) of respondents agreed or strongly agreed their staffers have the necessary conceptual skills, approximately 19% (10 of 53) were neutral, and about 26% (14 of 53) said the staffers did not possess the skills needed. Slightly more than 47% (25 of 53) of editors agreed or strongly agreed that their staffers did not have the necessary technical skills (programming, Flash, etc.); about 13% (7 of 53) were neutral. Slightly less than 40% (21 of 53) said their staffs did have the requisite abilities. “Downsizing of overall newspaper staff means we are not able to hire people who already have skills to produce interactive graphics,” one editor wrote. “Training print artists to do this is a slow process and only works if they are really interested in learning it.” Personal interviews Personal interviews with editors at four newspapers (Sun-Sentinel, Boston Globe, New York Times, St. Louis Post-Dispatch) known for their high-quality work in interactive storytelling and graphics provided additional insight on the research questions. All agreed that newspapers, in general, and interactive storytelling, in particular, are in transition. Many papers have drastically cut staff during the past few years as publishers struggled to monetize web delivery and retain profits during a recession. These cuts put additional strain on graphics producers who were often tasked with creating static art for the print product as well as interactive graphics for the web. As noted in the survey results section, managers generally appreciate interactive graphics as a story form and value the staff members who produce them, but managers do not always understand the amount of time, technical skill, and effort it takes to produce a high-quality product. Some of the confusion may stem from the lack of universal definitions for interactive graphic content. While some editors have embraced high-level interactivity such as animation, data visualizations, and games, others might define an interactive as a slide show with simple text and photos or even a video. News managers who are inexperienced in planning for interactive elements and inserting them into the editorial process may also contribute to the confusion. This deficiency is not intentional; it is connected to the lightning speed in which story forms and software are changing. David Schutz, deputy design director/news and graphics of The Boston Globe, says his thinking about interactive graphics has been a moving target and he has adjusted his outlook over time. He now better understands technology, what a graphic artist can execute, and how readers take in the pieces of a story. He says it is not important to do an interactive graphic for every story: “Interactivity is a tool and does not define the work,” he said (personal communication, February 9, 2012). Steve Duenes, graphics director, New York Times, sees interactive graphics as storytelling devices that can be vehicles for serious journalism and should be treated as such (personal communication, March 12, 2012). Duenes also cautioned that page views should not be used to determine a graphic’s value. “Traffic isn’ necessarily the best indication that a piece of content is good,” he said. “But graphics do as well as all other forms of content; often they do better.” Will Sullivan, director of mobile news, Lee Enterprises, and former interactive director with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, agrees: “We need to shift from the notion of getting page views and clicks and more on what makes for good content” (personal communication, February 10, 2012). There is no one-size-fits-all approach to how interactive graphics are created. The process differs from paper to paper, depending on the size of the staff, how the graphics department fits into the overall newsroom structure, and whether the staff produces content for the web as well as the print product. The process also varies depending on the actual task. At times, staff might be asked to restyle a static print graphic to match web styling; at other times, data visualizations, animations, or motion graphics might be required. In general, graphics work is divided into what must be produced quickly (as in breaking news) and what is needed for long-term projects. However, interactive elements that do not change, are evergreen, and have a long shelf life are often valued. Sullivan says the planning process usually begins with collaborative meetings among reporters and editors to establish the need for graphics and/or graphics potential. Once the project is under way, the interactive staff starts to build relationships with others in the newsroom, which he says is important to the storytelling process. At the New York Times, Duenes says, ideas for interactives also come directly from the graphics department. No matter the source, once assignments are made small groups have an initial discussion before beginning the reporting process. Once the data collection is complete, it is a matter of execution, with editing along the way, Duenes says. Staff time and technical skills still remain a challenge for some newsrooms. Cindy Hulfachor, senior graphics reporter at the Sun-Sentinel, said she has access to an enormous amount of art created previously by staffers and that the newspaper sometimes uses stock art and templates to increase efficiency (personal communication, November 28, 2011). Sullivan notes that tools are getting cheaper, and some software is open source, which presents less of a problem than in the past. Schutz agrees that technical skills are important: “Software and training should be an investment in the future,” Schutz said. “You’re either willing to make it or not” (personal communication, February 9, 2012). He understands, however, that smaller papers may not have the resources. Schutz also values quality over quantity and sets high standards. Graphics editors say that interactives have to compete with traditional stories for space on the website. The graphics staffs often have to pitch their projects to web editors and producers to get prime placement on the websites in a process akin to a section editor who pushes to get a story on page one of the newspaper. Despite the challenges and the ever-changing landscape, editors are hoping the business model will rebound. “Newspapers are in an awkward stage of change,” Hulfachor said. “I’m hoping we’ll see an upswing” (personal communication, November 28, 2011). Discussion An interesting paradox emerges if the results of the survey of editors is compared to the content analysis of 100 news websites. While most editors (87%) assert that interactive graphics are valuable story forms and that they add value to the news product (96%), only a few news organizations regularly and prominently feature information graphics on their websites (four were identified in the content analysis). In addition, despite a clear concern that the production of interactive information graphics is not cost-effective and that the graphics do not generate enough page views (or clicks), the content analysis showed that even on sites that do produce information graphics, they are often difficult to find or not prominently featured on homepages or easy-to-find multimedia landing pages. This paradox raises Pages 20 - 27 Table 2: Monthly Interactive Graphics on Publication Websites % Number 19.2 10 61.5 32 11.5 6 1.9 1 5.8 3 100.0 52 (1 missing) 0 1 to 3 4 to 6 7 to 9 10 or more Total How many interactive graphics does your publication run on its website each month? D ow nl oa de d by [ U ni ve rs ity o f Sh er br oo ke ] at 1 1: 27 0 6 N ov em be r 20 14Visual Communication Quarterly Visual Communication QuarterlyVolume 20 January - March 201326 27 two relatively simple questions: Have interactive information graphics been given a fair shot as a story form capable of increasing site traffic and/ or attracting and keeping users’ attention? How can website traffic for interactive graphics be evaluated effectively if the graphics are hidden deep in a site or displayed in a manner that defies logic, making it nearly impossible for users to find them? In addition, it appears that enthusiasm for producing interactive graphics may have waned in some newsrooms based on the responses to the open-ended survey questions and the frequency with which the graphics are produced. Just under 62% of editors responding said they produced one to three interactive graphics per month. Interactive graphics, once the “next hot thing” in multimedia content, now compete for time and attention with social media, news curation, and apps development projects. One might argue that before news organizations move away from one storytelling tool and dive into a new content or distribution strategy, they should do so with confidence that research supports the move. In the case of interactive graphics, evaluation must go beyond simply monitoring page views to include further studies on usability, user satisfaction, and user engagement. Ultimately, a complete analysis requires news organizations to first commit to regularly developing interactive graphics and prominently displaying them so that users come to expect this storytelling form as a regular fixture in the news landscape. Of course, with recent cuts in staffing at most American newspapers— especially in graphics and multimedia staffs—this may be a tricky proposition. Based on the findings of this study, additional research and tools are needed to assess the value and effectiveness of interactive graphics as primary story forms. Page views may not be the only useful metric in this pursuit. Journalists have an obligation to provide not only what the public wants to know but also what it needs to know using the best combination of storytelling forms. Schutz measures his Boston Globe product in terms of the “whole” menu. Sometimes, he says, the readers need to eat green beans. News organizations should be committed to telling stories in the most innovative, engaging, appropriate ways possible. Not every story needs interactive content, but it is counterintuitive to expect users to be satisfied with less interactive content as news delivery moves to the iPad and other tablet devices where interactivity and visual quality are key. Specifically, future research should address several key research questions: 1. Do interactive graphics prominently displayed on a news organization’s homepage or clearly marked landing page attract readers and keep them longer on a news site? 2. Do interactive graphics improve readers’ understanding of news stories? 3. Are younger audiences more interested in engaging with interactive graphics than other, more traditional story forms? The answers are essential to resolve the age-old question of which came first, the chicken or the egg? Although you are returning back to this chicken-or-egg idea that was mentioned early in the article, it was explained well there but here it seems awkward and incomplete. Please revise to either eliminate the chicken-or-egg reference here or flesh it out as was done in the early mention of it so it’s more clear to readers who may not remember what it means from its first mention. They also may prevent editors from prematurely undervaluing an important storytelling form that has not yet had the chance to realize its full potential. References Ariely, D. (2000). Controlling the information flow: Effects on consumers’ decision making and preferences. Journal of Consumer Research, 27(2), 233–248. Ancker, J. S., Chan, C., & Kukafka, R. (2009). Interactive graphics for expressing health risks: Development and qualitative evaluation. Journal of Health Communication, 14, 461–475. Bogost, I. (2011, April 13). Newsgames embrace hard complexity, not easy fun [Blog entry]. Retrieved from http://www.bogost.com/blog/newsgames_embrace_ hard_complex.shtml Bogost, I., Ferrari, S., & Schweizer, B. (2010). Newsgames: Journalism at play. Boston, MA: MIT Press. Burmester, M., Mast, M., Tille, R. & Weber, W. (2010). How users perceive and use interactive information graphics: An exploratory study. Presented at the Information Visualization International Conference, London, England. Cairo, A. (2005). The future is now. Design Journal, 97(16). David, P. (2006). News concreteness and visual-verbal association: Do news pictures narrow the recall gap between concrete and abstract news? Human Communication Research, 25(2), 180–201. Flavian, C., Guinaliu, M., & Gurrea, R. (2006). The influence of familiarity and usability on loyalty to online journalistic services: The role of user experience. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 13(5), 363–375. Nichani, M., & Rajamanickam, V. (2003, September 1). Interactive visual explainers—A simple classification. Retrieved from http://www. elearningpost.com/articles Rafaeli, S., & Ariel, Y. (2007). Assessing interactivity in computer-mediated research. In A. N. Joinson, K. Y. A. McKenna., T. Postmes, & U.-D. Reips (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of Internet psychology (pp. 71–88). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Salimi, M., Masoud, A. & Mazaheri, A. (2011). A survey on factors influencing the use of news graphics in Iranian online media. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 68(15), 174–178. Segel, E., & Heer, J. (2010). Narrative visualization: Telling stories with data. Visualization and Computer Graphics, 16(6), 1139–1148. Sundar, S. S. (2004). Theorizing interactivity’s effects. Information Society, 20, 385–389. Talk to the newsroom: Interactive news collaborative. (2009, January 17). New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/19/business/ media/19askthetimes.html?pagewanted=all Tufte, E. (2001). The visual display of quantitative information (2nd ed.). Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press. Vaughan, M. W. (2002). Why structure and genre matter for users of digital information: A longitudinal experiment with readers of a web-based newspaper. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 64(6), 502–526. Wojdynski, B. W. (2010a). Graphical depictions of quantitative data: Can interactivity affect recall and attitudes? Presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication annual conference, Denver, CO. Wojdynski, B. W. (2010b). Text is still best: Online editors’ attitudes towards news story platforms. Presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication annual conference, Denver, CO. Pages 20 - 27 Jennifer George-Palilonis is the George and Frances Ball Distinguished Professor of Multimedia Journalism and an associate professor of journalism at Ball State University. She is also the journalism graphics sequence coordinator and director of the Ball State Digital Publishing Studio. Her scholarly work centers on interactive media design, multimedia storytelling, and human- computer interaction. George-Palilonis formerly was the deputy news design editor at the Chicago Sun-Times and a news designer at the Detroit Free Press. Mary Spillman is an associate professor of journalism at Ball State University, where she is also director of the emerging media journalism certificate program. Her scholarly work centers on interactive storytelling, blogs, and cross-media partnerships. With George-Palilonis, Spillman created the interactive graphic development framework, designed to standardize definitions and study nonlinear storytelling. Spillman previously worked as a writer and editor for the Associated Press and was the first managing editor of TheIndyChannel.com. She also was a radio and TV reporter in Indianapolis. D ow nl oa de d by [ U ni ve rs ity o f Sh er br oo ke ] at 1 1: 27 0 6 N ov em be r 20 14Visual Communication Quarterly Visual Communication QuarterlyVolume 20 January - March 201326 27 two relatively simple questions: Have interactive information graphics been given a fair shot as a story form capable of increasing site traffic and/ or attracting and keeping users’ attention? How can website traffic for interactive graphics be evaluated effectively if the graphics are hidden deep in a site or displayed in a manner that defies logic, making it nearly impossible for users to find them? In addition, it appears that enthusiasm for producing interactive graphics may have waned in some newsrooms based on the responses to the open-ended survey questions and the frequency with which the graphics are produced. Just under 62% of editors responding said they produced one to three interactive graphics per month. Interactive graphics, once the “next hot thing” in multimedia content, now compete for time and attention with social media, news curation, and apps development projects. One might argue that before news organizations move away from one storytelling tool and dive into a new content or distribution strategy, they should do so with confidence that research supports the move. In the case of interactive graphics, evaluation must go beyond simply monitoring page views to include further studies on usability, user satisfaction, and user engagement. Ultimately, a complete analysis requires news organizations to first commit to regularly developing interactive graphics and prominently displaying them so that users come to expect this storytelling form as a regular fixture in the news landscape. Of course, with recent cuts in staffing at most American newspapers— especially in graphics and multimedia staffs—this may be a tricky proposition. Based on the findings of this study, additional research and tools are needed to assess the value and effectiveness of interactive graphics as primary story forms. Page views may not be the only useful metric in this pursuit. Journalists have an obligation to provide not only what the public wants to know but also what it needs to know using the best combination of storytelling forms. Schutz measures his Boston Globe product in terms of the “whole” menu. Sometimes, he says, the readers need to eat green beans. News organizations should be committed to telling stories in the most innovative, engaging, appropriate ways possible. Not every story needs interactive content, but it is counterintuitive to expect users to be satisfied with less interactive content as news delivery moves to the iPad and other tablet devices where interactivity and visual quality are key. Specifically, future research should address several key research questions: 1. Do interactive graphics prominently displayed on a news organization’s homepage or clearly marked landing page attract readers and keep them longer on a news site? 2. Do interactive graphics improve readers’ understanding of news stories? 3. Are younger audiences more interested in engaging with interactive graphics than other, more traditional story forms? The answers are essential to resolve the age-old question of which came first, the chicken or the egg? Although you are returning back to this chicken-or-egg idea that was mentioned early in the article, it was explained well there but here it seems awkward and incomplete. Please revise to either eliminate the chicken-or-egg reference here or flesh it out as was done in the early mention of it so it’s more clear to readers who may not remember what it means from its first mention. They also may prevent editors from prematurely undervaluing an important storytelling form that has not yet had the chance to realize its full potential. References Ariely, D. (2000). Controlling the information flow: Effects on consumers’ decision making and preferences. Journal of Consumer Research, 27(2), 233–248. Ancker, J. S., Chan, C., & Kukafka, R. (2009). Interactive graphics for expressing health risks: Development and qualitative evaluation. Journal of Health Communication, 14, 461–475. Bogost, I. (2011, April 13). Newsgames embrace hard complexity, not easy fun [Blog entry]. Retrieved from http://www.bogost.com/blog/newsgames_embrace_ hard_complex.shtml Bogost, I., Ferrari, S., & Schweizer, B. (2010). Newsgames: Journalism at play. Boston, MA: MIT Press. Burmester, M., Mast, M., Tille, R. & Weber, W. (2010). How users perceive and use interactive information graphics: An exploratory study. Presented at the Information Visualization International Conference, London, England. Cairo, A. (2005). The future is now. Design Journal, 97(16). David, P. (2006). News concreteness and visual-verbal association: Do news pictures narrow the recall gap between concrete and abstract news? Human Communication Research, 25(2), 180–201. Flavian, C., Guinaliu, M., & Gurrea, R. (2006). The influence of familiarity and usability on loyalty to online journalistic services: The role of user experience. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 13(5), 363–375. Nichani, M., & Rajamanickam, V. (2003, September 1). Interactive visual explainers—A simple classification. Retrieved from http://www. elearningpost.com/articles Rafaeli, S., & Ariel, Y. (2007). Assessing interactivity in computer-mediated research. In A. N. Joinson, K. Y. A. McKenna., T. Postmes, & U.-D. Reips (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of Internet psychology (pp. 71–88). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Salimi, M., Masoud, A. & Mazaheri, A. (2011). A survey on factors influencing the use of news graphics in Iranian online media. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 68(15), 174–178. Segel, E., & Heer, J. (2010). Narrative visualization: Telling stories with data. Visualization and Computer Graphics, 16(6), 1139–1148. Sundar, S. S. (2004). Theorizing interactivity’s effects. Information Society, 20, 385–389. Talk to the newsroom: Interactive news collaborative. (2009, January 17). New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/19/business/ media/19askthetimes.html?pagewanted=all Tufte, E. (2001). The visual display of quantitative information (2nd ed.). Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press. Vaughan, M. W. (2002). Why structure and genre matter for users of digital information: A longitudinal experiment with readers of a web-based newspaper. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 64(6), 502–526. Wojdynski, B. W. (2010a). Graphical depictions of quantitative data: Can interactivity affect recall and attitudes? Presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication annual conference, Denver, CO. Wojdynski, B. W. (2010b). Text is still best: Online editors’ attitudes towards news story platforms. Presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication annual conference, Denver, CO. Pages 20 - 27 Jennifer George-Palilonis is the George and Frances Ball Distinguished Professor of Multimedia Journalism and an associate professor of journalism at Ball State University. She is also the journalism graphics sequence coordinator and director of the Ball State Digital Publishing Studio. Her scholarly work centers on interactive media design, multimedia storytelling, and human- computer interaction. George-Palilonis formerly was the deputy news design editor at the Chicago Sun-Times and a news designer at the Detroit Free Press. Mary Spillman is an associate professor of journalism at Ball State University, where she is also director of the emerging media journalism certificate program. Her scholarly work centers on interactive storytelling, blogs, and cross-media partnerships. With George-Palilonis, Spillman created the interactive graphic development framework, designed to standardize definitions and study nonlinear storytelling. Spillman previously worked as a writer and editor for the Associated Press and was the first managing editor of TheIndyChannel.com. She also was a radio and TV reporter in Indianapolis. D ow nl oa de d by [ U ni ve rs ity o f Sh er br oo ke ] at 1 1: 27 0 6 N ov em be r 20 14

16a) Mdark = 1.1 × 10¹⁷ kg =5.5 × 10−14 M⊙ 16b)

AbstractTitle of Paper: TRANSCENDING THE ‘EDITORIAL THUN- DER’: ATLANTA’S NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE 1960 STUDENT SIT-INSName: Carl V. LewisB.A., Southern Studies, Mercer University, 2011.Directed byDoug Thompson, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, Mercer University.Perhaps the single most important news event to take place in the Atlanta civil rights movement was the student sit-in campaign launched on downtown department store lunch- counters in the fall of 1960. This essay will analyze coverage of the 1960 sit-ins in Atlanta’s two most widely-read broadsheets, the white-owned Constitution and the black-owned Daily World. In doing so, it will seek to demonstrate that the Constitution’s significant failures in reporting the movement have often been overshadowed within historical and popular memory by the progressive legacy of its two most prominent integrationist editors, Ralph McGill and Gene Patterson.Transcending the “Editorial Thunder”: Atlanta’s Newspaper Coverage of the 1960 Student Sit-InsIntroduction and ScopeOn the morning of February 26, 1979, a crowd of nearly 350 guests packed into the Uni- versity of Georgia Chapel in Athens to attend the first annual “McGill Lecture” in honor of famed civil rights-era editor Ralph McGill of the Atlanta Constitution. Presiding over the inaugu- ral lecture was McGill’s closest friend and editorial successor, Gene Patterson, who in the years leading up to McGill’s death in 1969 had carried on the torch of McGill’s integrationist crusades on an almost daily basis in the pages of the Constitution. “Ralph McGill’s legacy was the exam- ple he set for the rest of us in journalism,” Patterson remarked to the audience. “Perhaps never again in American life will one editor be thrust forward by destiny to take up so monumental an issue, so clearly-defined, and, starting nearly alone, to fight it to overwhelming victory.” As Patterson’s remarks serve to emphasize, McGill’s status as a civil rights hero had already become enshrined within cultural memory only a decade after his death, much in the same way Patter- son’s own legacy eventually would. This process of memorialization has led New York Times edi- tor Howell Raines to hail both McGill and Patterson in 2001 “as the South’s two most heroic voices on civil rights and race,” concluding that each man was to a great degree responsible for fashioning Atlanta’s image as “the city too busy to hate.”2

AbstractThe proliferation of data journalism in recent years has led to a democratization of data exploration and analysis on an unprecedented scale. Yet even as data journalism has become ever more important, cheaper and easier for news organizations to produce, one of the genre’s most compelling and engaging affordances – user interaction –has increasingly become sidelined as a luxury feature reserved for major data projects at even the most innovative digital news organizations. Some of the pioneering publishers in the field of interactive data journalism, such as The New York Times and Quartz, have begun to supplement, and in some cases, replace interactive news apps with static, image-based data graphics. This paper seeks first to understand and explain the growing external and internal forces pushing publishers to reverse course and cut back on interactive data journalism. Second – by way of synthesizing existing research in the fields of Human Computer Interaction (HCI), Information Visualization and Media Studies – it seeks to construct a cost-benefit analysis for assessing when to produce static and when to produce interactive visualizations. Finally, it proposes a broader adoption of a range of new open-source, code-free data visualization tools and techniques that would allow publishers and the general public alike to employ user interactivity in data storytelling projects without requiring significant additional financial or human capital, and while still adhering to the at times draconian standards of distribution platforms and the mobile web. (Abstract)

Fall 2017 - University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications “DATA JOURNALISM IS THE NEW PUNK. ANYONE CAN DO IT.” - **Simon Rogers_, The Guardian_ _“If it doesn't work on mobile, it doesn't work_.” -Brian Boyer, NPR Visuals Team Leader. * * * COURSE LECTURER/LAB INSTRUCTOR: CARL V. LEWIS - Contact Email: [email protected] (preferred contact method) - Contact Phone: 912.816.7007 (if any _urgent_ matters arise, you may send a brief text message to this number stating your name and the course). - Course Homepage: http://ddjjrnl263.github.io - Course Location/Time: _Weimer 204, MWF, 1 - 1:50 P.M. Lab: M, 2:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m._ - Dedicated Office Location/Hours: Weimer 103, MWF, 2 -3 p.m. - On-Demand Office Hours Reservations: http://bit.ly/dataj-office-hours ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I. RATIONALE Unlike any time before in our lives, we have access to vast amounts of free information––a phenomena scholars refer to as “big data.” With the right tools, we can start to make sense of all this data to see patterns and trends that would otherwise be invisible to us. By transforming numbers into graphical shapes of and interactive web apps, we can allow users to understand the stories those numbers hide. This process of gaining new insights from data and crafting visual stories to convey that data in an accessible and engaging format is part of what we call “_data journalism”–– _a specialty subset of journalism that reflects the increased role that numerical data is used in the production and distribution of information in the digital era. Data journalism, which typically uses _visualization _as its primary means of communication,  has rapidly emerged during the past decade as an in-demand skill-set across nearly all sectors of digital media--helping audiences understand complex social and public policy issues ranging from climate change, to the U.S. Electoral College, to the growing the influence of money in politics. Yet more recently –– as the majority of users worldwide now access the web via mobile devices with smaller screen sizes and touch-screen interfaces ––  the task of creating clear, usable and truthful data visualizations has taken on an added level of complexity. We now find ourselves forced to squeeze large amounts of data into limited screen real-estate, and having to rethink the way we approach the workflow of data journalism on a fundamental level to account for what we call _responsive design_ techniques. Developing theoretical models –– and possibly even practical solutions to –– this broader challenge of displaying big data on small screens will guide our thought process as we learn the history, theory, guidelines and basic technical workflow of data journalism.* * II. Overview and Learning Outcomes This four-credit hour lecture and lab course will approach data journalism from both a scholarly and a technical perspective. For purposes of this course, we define 'data journalism' in the broadest sense as both an art and a science, and do not differentiate between disparate yet closely-related sub-branches of data journalism such as 'data-driven journalism,' 'database journalism,' and its earlier predecessor, 'computer assisted reporting.'  As such, we will cover the entire data retrieval, analysis and communicative process, including data sourcing, reporting and computational processing methods* _in addition to_* data visualization, perceptual accuracy, design principles, front-end development basics, and publishing methods. The course has two high-level learning goals: _  To analyze, reflect and apply the historical, theoretical, statistical and ethical principles behind the nascent field of data journalism by engaging with key texts in the fields of information design, interactive visualization, computer-assisted reporting (CAR) and what Phillip Meyer calls “precision journalism.” _ To impart basic-to-intermediate technical skill-sets needed to tell data-driven stories visually and interactively on all screen sizes and devices via responsive design techniques. Partinformation design, part basic statistics, part computer science, part data science and part shoe-leather reporting, students should leave this course with a thorough grasp of both the _process_ and the _product_ of obtaining, processing, analyzing and visualizing massive datasets and spreadsheets to convey an accurate and cohesive visual narrative to a non-professional audience on large, medium  and small screen sizes alike. ** Students are not expected to become technical experts in data journalism, much less in responsive data visualization, in this course.**  Understanding the _concepts _behind* *the tools we use for data journalism will be much more important than learning any one discrete tool itself. This assumption aligns with my fundamental belief as a data journalism practioner: that practical knowledge of computational technology can only reach its full potential in practice when undergirded by sound academic reflection on how we create, perceive and interact with data displays for general audiences — either as journalists, as media consumers, or citizens of the world. That said, the successful student will complete this course having grasped the following more specific technical and analytical concepts on a basic level: - The use of visual thinkingand data storytelling to create order out of disorder and make sense out of abstract numbers in an era of information overload. - How to locate and retrieve data from the web in the correct format for the task at hand as well as how to request data from government agencies via a FOIA request— tasks that are analagous to “finding sources” in traditional reporting. - The use of spreadsheets for data analysis, formatting, manipulation, tabulation and exploration — or what Derek Willis calls “interviewing” the data. Using pivot tables, column sort, recurring formulas, and simple overview charts for analysis. - The journalistic ability to find the data _lede — _or main story — amid large, raw datasets often obscured by extraneous data and information overload. Specifically, deduping, finding fuzzy matches, using find and replace - The statistical ability to “fact-check” what the data appears to indicate with basic statistics; primarily, calculating the level of correlation, standard deviation and other important values such as the _median_, _percent change_, variance, _range, z-score_ and _p-value. _And why using just the average (mean) to describe a dataset should be avoided. - The application of computational thinking, numeracy, graphicacy and what Mary Jo Webster calls a 'data mindset' - How to analyze and critique visualizations in newspapers, blogs, books, TV, etc., and how to propose alternatives that would improve them –– otherwise known as “critique by redesign.” - A general grasp of best practices for selecting the appropriate visualization type that conveys the story at hand (a.k.a., choosing the right chart type or, possibly, no chart at all). - The role of visual perception of size, space, distance, position and color in giving meaning to data visualizations — and how those visual elements can distort the truth if used improperly. - How visualizations and graphical displays can mislead or confuse if overly-embellished or deceptively presented. - Mapmaking made easy, and common geospatial data formats such as GeoJSON, TopoJSON, KML and SHP. Also, binding geographic data to numerical data via column joins. - The power of design to enhance cognition and usability (emotional design, human-centered design) or, alternatively, when implemented for the sake of aesthetics alone, abstract and complicate the presentation, causing information overload. - The workflow of creating a basic modern web app (HTML _for structure_, CSS _for style_, JS _for interactivity_, JSON* for data*) and basic syntax structure for each. - What an iFrame is (translation:* a 'window' into another webpag*e), and how to make iFrames responsive without distorting the data dimensions of a visualization (tip: - The primary file formats of data storage for spreadsheets (CSV), geospatial information (SHP, KML, GeoJSON, TopoJSON) and fast-scaling data for web applications (APIs: JSON, XML). - Useful current tools to speed up and reduce the programming knowledge necesssary to create basic-to-intermediate complexity visualizations. - The value of exploratory visualizations, interactive web apps and immersive media in personalizing the user experience and providing greater relevance, lending an air of objective credibility, weakening confirmation bias and increasing engagement and time spent. - General strategies to apply responsive design techniques to data visualizations using Twitter Bootstrap and responsive iFrames _WHEN POSSIBLE (_in some cases, the scale of the dataset may be so large and multivariate that there is currently no acceptable solution to displaying it in a truly responsive fashion, but an AUTOMATIC A+, MY SCHOLARLY ADMIRATION, RECOMMENDATION LETTERS FOR LIFE, AND PROBABLY SOME SUPER IMPORTANT INDUSTRY AWARD AND FELLOWSHIPS IF YOU HAPPEN TO DEVISE A SOLUTION TO THIS VEXING PROBLEM IN THE FIELD!_)._ - How to achieve the modern-day version of what pioneer information design scholar Edward Tufte calls “graphical excellence.” These are all meant merely as _predicted_ outcomes for taking this course, not definitive requirements. The level of depth we reach will vary depending upon the class' ability to keep pace and your individual skill-sets coming into the class. What I do fundamentally expect you to gain is an understanding of and, hopefully, a _passion_ for data storytelling. In other words, I aim for you to make a sincere effort to explore what makes strong data visualizations both functional and truthful; what makes data journalism both an art and a science; what makes data journalism both emotionally persuasive and quantitatively sound. While no specific prerequisite courses or prior programming knowledge is necessary to take this course, at least one (1) introductory-level reporting class or equivalent journalistic experience is _recommended, _but not mandatory. While the subject matter may seem complex or daunting at first, I assure you that—with a little enthusiasm and self-belief coupled with sincere effort—you will eventually have an “Aha!” moment and get it. Trust me,* it's not rocket science*, but I'm confident it can be just as rewarding as rocket science if you come into class open-minded and eager to learn. Specific data journalism tools and technologies fluctuate rapidly, but key concepts such as numeracy, graphicacy and visual perception do not. Having said that, this course will – for purposes of experience, workflow and possible portfolio-quality end-products – cover the real-world application of current “Web 2.0” responsive data visualization technologies and standards. These conventions include the basic building blocks of a modern native web app –– HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript –– as well as the most commonly used data storage formats in currency today: CSV (comma-separated-value files) and JSON (JavaScript Object Notation). We'll also examine a number of JavaScript _libraries_ (basically, collections of goodies) for responsive data journalism such as d3.js and Leaflet.js. If any or all of these terms sound scary or foreign to you at the start of the course, DO NOT FEAR: They frightened me  initially as well. You will not be expected to leave this course as a JavaScript engineer, nor a data scientist, nor a web developer. But you will be expected to carry out simple, guided in-class assignments that will help you to begin to understand how these various technologies appear in text (or, more precisely, code) and how they interact together to render a web page in the modern browser. IN ADDITION, IF YOU AT ANY POINT FEEL LIKE YOU  NEED EXTRA HELP UNDERSTANDING _ANY_ CONCEPT OR TECHNOLOGY OUTSIDE OF CLASS, YOU ARE ENCOURAGED TO SCHEDULE ONE-ON-ONE INSTRUCTION TIME WITH ME USING THE SCHEDULE RESERVATION BOOKING PAGE AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS SYLLABUS. Please allow 24 hours before an upcoming deadline to schedule a meeting to ensure you leave adequate time for us to meet. As your instructor, I will be acting first and foremost in my official capacity as an educator, but also in an unofficial capacity as might a professional editor. For data journalism _production_ purposes, we'll primarily be employing a number of open-source, graphical, drag-and-drop tools that require little-to-no coding knowledge, and instead focus the bulk of our efforts more upon data sourcing, processing, analysis, design and presentation. _That said, we will still be conducting regular exercises and assignments that introduce basic programming concepts and practices_, as graphical user interface tools cannot in all cases do all the heavy lifting for us. The more complex the dataset, the higher the likelihood some coding may be needed (and, in turn, the higher the likelihood you will need to harness the interactive power of JavaScript). III.  Course Materials Each class will include different assigned readings from mostly free online sources (blog posts, essays, social media, open-source e-books or excerpts from other scholarly sources). Any readings not already listed in course schedule at the end of this syllabus will be posted to the course website and Blackboard schedule at least three (3) weeks prior the class in which we discuss them. That said, four (4) books will be required for purchase or loan for the duration of the course: 1. Cairo, Alberto. _The Functional Art: An Introduction to Information Graphics and Visualization. _Berkeley, CA :New Riders, 2013. Print. 2. Norman, Don. _The Design of Everyday Things. _Basic Books, 2013. Print. 3. The New Precision Journalism 4. Learning Responsive Data Visualization The three titles above will all be available in the Campus Bookstore, all less than $20.00 each. In addition, students will be expected to download and have on-hand the full-text of two free e-books: 1.  _The Data Journalism Handbook: How Journalists Can Use Numbers to Improve the News _from O'Reilly Press (available for free download at datajournalismhandbook.com). 2. Chiasson, Trina and Dyanna Gregory. (2015) _Data+Design: A simple introduction to preparing and visualizing information. _Infoactive_. _(available for free download at https://infoactive.co/data-design/) You will also want to follow _at least three_ of these blogs, as I will likely refer to them in class discussion time, thus benefiting your participation grade if you, too, have been following them: _  Evergreen Data: http://stephanieevergreen.com/category/blog/ _ FlowingData: http://flowingdata.com/ * Information is Beautiful: http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/blog/ * Junk Charts: http://junkcharts.typepad.com/ _  PolicyViz: http://policyviz.com/ _ Storytelling with Data: http://www.storytellingwithdata.com/ * Ann's Blog: http://annkemery.com/blog/ * Storybench: http://storybench.org * Data-Driven Journalism: http://datadrivenjournalism.net * Subreddit r/dataisbeautiful: * Visualising Data by Andy Kirk: We will also read other online posts and brief excerpts from a number of other works on the subjects of information design and data journalism, most of which are listed in the course schedule. All software used will be freeware or open-source licensed for educational use, with the exception of Microsoft Excel and Adobe Creative Suite, both of which are available on lab computers in the event you do not own copies yourself. V. Course Deliverables and Projects No exams or quizzes will be administered as a part of this course. Your grade hinges entirely upon the quality of the data journalism you produce, the intellectual rigor of your critiques and reading responses, and the level of participation you demonstrate by offering meaningful class discussion. Course grades will be determined by weighing the scores for each of  the following deliverables: - WEEKLY DATA JOURNALISM CRITIQUES (“MONDAY MAKEOVERS”) - 10% OF FINAL COURSE GRADE: Offer one (1) thoughtful, well-articulated  critique of a popular and/or novel example of data journalism of your choice each week in the form of a roughly three-hundred fifty (350) word blog post published no later than 8 a.m. the morning before each Monday class. The piece of data journalism you critique can be something you see in the news that week, or any memorable digital artifact you can find that blends design, data and interaction. Each Monday, at the start of class, two students will be chosen beforehand based upon the quality of their blog critiques and the novelty of the examples they find to present their critiques and findings briefly to the class for discussion. - BLOG POST RESPONSES TO CLASS READINGS -** 20% OF FINAL COURSE GRADE:** Reflect critically upon assigned readings for each class, and compose one (1) roughly two-hundred fifty (250) word blog post response to _one or more_ of the texts prior to each class on that day's assigned reading(s). The reading responses must be posted to your class blog no later than 10 a.m. the morning _before_ each class. _A high-scoring blog post will do more than summarize or paraphrase the author's argument. _It will, instead, seek to confront the text(s) at hand critically and with logically sound evidence. It will either (a) form an opinion in favor of or in opposition to the author's claims, backed by concrete examples, (b) evaluate the strengths or weaknesses of the author's logic, or (c) compare/contrast the author's stated views with that of another scholar or practioner's work. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CRAFT YOUR RESPONSES WITHOUT HAVING FIRST READ THE TEXT(S). YOUR ATTEMPTS _WILL_ NOT GO UNNOTICED. Discussing off-topic subjects, employing vague generalizations, failing to cite specific evidence from the text, or simply restating the author's introductory argument, among other ploys, are all red flags of posts written without having read the assigned text. Such ruses meant to shirk assigned readings can be easily detected, and will be pointed out to the student – especially if occurring more than once – in private email feedback. While no formal numeric scores will be assigned to individual blog posts, weak or shallow responses will result in a commensurate deduction in the 'reading responses' component of your final grade (which, again, accounts for 20% of your course grade). In addition, missing more than five (5) reading responses and/or composing more than seven (7) responses that reflect a clear failure to have read the text will automatically render your _reading response_ grade as zero (0), and could also lead to subsequent deductions in the _participation _component of your course grade as well (which also accounts for another 20 percent). This means, in theory, failing to read assigned texts and, thus, failing to compose sufficiently critical reading responses could, on its own, trigger an automatic D or F in the course. Feedback on reading responses will take place via occasional comments on your blog posts or, if necessary due to consistently poor performance, private email correspondence. So, take the readings seriously—even if they may seem unrelated at the time to the more practical components of the course, I assure you the readings and the lab work will tie in if you allow yourself to absorb the texts enough to recognize their practical applications. _In the highly unlikely event the majority of the class at any point reflects a continued pattern of failure to meet the minimum bar for critically-analyzed blog responses, the instructor reserves the right to begin instituting reading quizzes at the beginning of each class IN ADDITION to composing the responses already required. I neither expect nor want this to happen, as rote memorization of facts or concepts is not the goal of this course, and quizzes can cause undue anxiety that may distract students from absorbing the meaning of the readings. But, I feel compelled to add this cautionary disclaimer to the syllabus should it come to that point at any time._ - IN-LAB, GUIDED TUTORIAL WORK - 10% OF FINAL COURSE GRADE: Follow along with in-class/lab programming, data analysis, statistical and visualization tutorials and submit finished work from each tutorial via email no later than the start of the next class meeting. Tutorials will be paced in a manner that you should reasonably be able to complete them in-class as they are given. They will also as a failsafe be made available as screencasts uploaded to the class website for later review. But, if you still encounter difficulty completing the tutorial work before the next class, I encourage you to schedule time to meet with me outside of class for further assistance. I am more than happy to help. - 'DEADLINE' DATA JOURNALISM PROJECTS - 30% OF FINAL COURSE GRADE: Produce a total of three (3) individual 'deadline' data journalism/data visualization projects that might be reasonably produced in one to two (1-2) days of full-time newsroom work on a topic of current interest. Projects may take the form of a simple interactive chart, map, dashboard, data-driven game/animation or other visualization, and should include any necessary explanatory text or reporting to compliment the visualization. The projects will be evaluated on technique, design, clarity, truthfulness, the integrity of the underlying data and the story being told (_Note_: _Each project is not necessarily weighed equally here --greater weight will be assigned to higher scoring projects; thus, if you score poorly on your first project and then exceedingly well on your second and third, you could still in theory receive a high score overall in this category)._ - PARTICIPATION AND DISCUSSION - 20% OF FINAL COURSE GRADE: Participate meaningfully in class discussions on peer critiques and assigned readings and — to a lesser extent — during lab tutorials. This does not mean participation for the sake of participation. This means offering insightful, unique, critical analysis of the text and/or subject at hand that either contributes and furthers discussion or raises otherwise new insights. You will be given formal written feedback from me regarding your performance in this aspect of the course three times during the semester: once at week six (6), again at week twelve (12), then once again two (2) weeks prior to the end of term. Because data journalism is almost always a collaborative effort that requires a 'data mindset,' your ability to speak fluently the language of data, the web, and visual communications in a group setting is of paramount importance. - FINAL GROUP PROJECT - 20% OF FINAL COURSE GRADE: By the end of the course, you should be able to contribute meaningfully to a final group project in teams of five (5) that assumes one or more of the following formats, all in a journalistic context:     * An exploratory or searchable data-driven news application that allows the user to personalize his or her experience with the narrative. Think Dollars for Docs by ProPublica or Mapping America: Every City, Every Block by NYT Graphics.     * An interactive chart or data visualization that displays more than one (1) variable either in single or multiple views, preferably responsively. Because this format alone usually requires less effort and often benefits from further context, it should include along with it _at least one_ or more of the following additional components: a conventional text-based narrative, multimedia assets,  or animated illustrations. You may here also wish to cite anecdotal evidence collected through original reporting, including remarks from experts who specialize in the topic of your project.     * A visualization that allows for dynamic data exploration among multiple hierarchies of information and responds appropriately to a range of screen sizes . Accompanying the visual(s) may or may not –– depending on the project scope –– be a textual. image-based and/or video narrative describing the effects and providing human voices to complement the story conveyed by the data. This project will be presented in front of a panel of well-known data and visual journalists one (1) week prior to its final due date (Dec. 14) so that judges may offer constructive feedback on ways you might improve your project before it is officially submitted to me via email during the week of finals no later than Dec. 17 at 10 a.m. Upon each group member's written consent, I intend to publish the final projects on a dedicated server and domain under the team's bylines, as well as to make them available as open-source repositories on GitHub, for purposes of preservation and showcasing your work. Assessment BREAKDOWN READING RESPONSE EVALUATION CRITERIA: - _Clear Thesis_ – One-third (1/3). - _Thoughtful Thesis _– One-third (1/3) - _Illustrative Examples/Textual Evidence_ – One-third (1/3) DATA JOURNALISM CRITIQUES EVALUATION CRITERIA: - _Timeliness and/or novelty of chosen visualization_ – One-third (1/3). - _Critical analysis of strengths and/or weaknesses of visualization _– One-third (1/3) - _Suggestions for how visualization might be improved or, alternatively, ways in which it might have distorted the true visual meaning were it not well-thought out_ – One-third (1/3) DEADLINE DATA JOURNALISM PROJECTS EVALUATION CRITERIA: - _Effective use of data in conveying relevant information related to narrative _– One-third (1/3). - _Use of appropriate visual display of data (i.e. picking the right chart/medium, using color appropriately,  _– One-third (1/3) - _Clarity and truthfulness of visuals - _One-third (1/3) FINAL GROUP PROJECT ASSESSMENT CRITERIA: - _What is the story, why is it important, what data backs up conclusions? Is this publication-ready? - _One-third (1/3) - _Ability to improve project after feedback from judges _– One-third (1/3). - _Use of multimodal communicative media, if appropriate - _One-third (1/3) Redo Policy Given that data visualization is an inherently visual specialization often best critiqued by redesign, you will each get one chance to redesign or “redo” any single one (1) of the three (3) deadline data journalism projects if you are unhappy with your initial score. This effectively allows you to use the feedback given to you from me to improve the visualization design and/or journalistic strength of your original project and submit it again for re-evaluation within ten (10) days of the date the project score and feedback was returned to you. You also will receive one (1) free pass to use should you fail to submit a critique/reading before deadline. With this pass, as long as you complete the post within one week of the due date, you will not be penalized for the late submission. Final course grades will be determined using the standard academic format rounding to the nearest integer, with a grade of C or C+ roughly representing the average grade: Grade Percentage A 93-100 A- 90-92 B+ 87-89 B 83-86 C+ 77-79 C 73-76 C- 70-72 D+ 67-69 D 65-66 E/F Below 65 _As the course components above suggest, this course aims to blend theory/discussion equally with practice/production of actual data journalism. Producing stellar works of data journalism but failing to post reading responses and critiques – or to participate meaningfully in class dicussion – will NOT be sufficient to succeed in this course. Likewise, diligent blog posts and participation without a sincere attempt to put theory into practice with actual data journalism projects will also NOT meet criteria for course success._ VI. Attendance Policy and Other Miscellaneous Stipulations More than three (3) unexcused absences from lectures or lab time will automatically render your participation grade (which accounts for 20% of your total grade) as zero (0). More than eight (8) unexcused absences will automatically trigger failure of the class. Given that a large component of the class is structured around your blog post responses and critiques, I will offer feedback regularly in the form of posting comments to your blog entries. It is recommended but in no way mandated that you use WordPress, Tumblr or Ghost to host your blog; whatever platform or site architecture you choose, ensure I and your classmates can access it and leave meaningful comments. If a blog post is deemed to lack sufficient evidence of having read the text, and thus not deserving of serious critical commentary, I will instead email you with feedback privately. If you receive a comment on the post from me, consider that as effectively the equivalent of an 'A' for that day's response. If you receive neither a comment nor negative private feedback, that means you successfully showed evidence of having read the text that day and should not have cause for concern. I generally will attempt to leave a constructive comment on one of your posts at least once every two (2) weeks if you are successfully carrying them out. As previously mentioned, in-lab tutorial work should be submitted via email, and all blog post responses and critiques will be submitted by posting them directly to your blog (I will begin checking for posts at 8 a.m., so altering the published time on posts won't work if late—but nice try!). Any work submitted past the stated deadline will at most receive a fifty (50) score and may receive as low as zero (0) at the discretion of the instructor. Because this course will focus heavily on ensuring all or mostly all produced data visualizations adapt to a variety of different screen sizes, the use of mobile phones in class will be permitted as a prototyping tool during lab times to test  visualizations (having said that, please respect the time of your peers and do not use your phone to text, Snapchat or carry out any other unrelated social communication during lab times or lectures ad nauseum; _doing so overtly will result in an automatic deduction of twenty points from your participation score). _ You are welcome to bring your own laptop to class or to use the lab computers. If bringing your own machine, please either ensure it is running the Mac OS X operating system, or that you can follow along using the operating system you have without falling behind. We will be using MacOSX Sierra for purposes of in-class tutorials, along with Sublime Text (free; sublimetext.com), iTerm2 (free; iterm2.com), Cyberduck (free; Cyberduck.io), Python V 2.7 (http:// and Tableau Public (free; http://public.tableau.com). You'll also want to create a Google account in the incredibly rare event you don't already have one, as we'll be using Google Sheets for most spreadsheet-related data analysis. _For a more thorough list of possible tools and technologies you may wish to use in your individual and group work, I have previously put together a collection of curated tools for students of data journalism and data visualization technologies to use at http://dataviz.tools. Or , you may always ask me for a solution during lab time or office hours if unable to find help elsewhere._ VII. Academic Integrity Each student in this course is expected to abide by the UF Code of Academic Integrity. Any work submitted by a student in this course for academic credit will be the student's own work. You are encouraged to study together and to discuss information and concepts covered in lecture and the sections with other students. You can give "consulting" help to or receive "consulting" help from such students. However, this permissible cooperation should never involve one student having possession of a copy of all or part of work done by someone else, in the form of an e-mail, an e-mail attachment file, a flash drive or a hard copy. Specifically in regard to lab tutorial work, it is important that you show the process of your work, as the entire class will ultimately be creating the same visualization. Should copying occur, both the student who copied work from another student and the student who gave material to be copied will both automatically receive a zero (0) for the assignment. Penalty for violation of this Code can also be extended to include failure of the course and University disciplinary action. VII. Diversity The UF College of Journalism and  Communications values diversity, in the broadest sense of the word – gender, age, race, ethnicity, nationality, income, religion, education, geographic, physical and mental ability or disability, sexual orientation. We recognize that understanding and incorporating diversity in the curriculum enables us to prepare our students for careers as professional communicators in a global society. As communicators, we understand that journalism, advertising and other forms of strategic communication must reflect society in order to be effective and reliable. We fail as journalists if we are not accurate in our written, spoken and visual reports; including diverse voices and perspectives improves our accuracy and truthfulness. In advertising, we cannot succeed if we do not understand the value of or know how to create advertising that reflects a diverse society and, thus, appeals to broader audiences. Moreover, given that this course involves elements of traditionally 'STEM' disciplines such as Computer Science and Data Analytics, I pledge, as your instructor, to make the learning process as inclusive of students of all backgrounds as possible. Unnecessary abstractions, overly-complicated terminology, or 'state-of-the-art' code syntax that's hard for a non-developer to read, among other needless complexities, all help construct artificial barriers to entry that discourage the beginner from getting started in technology and contribute further to an already insider's culture (think Silicon Valley). This, in my belief, is one of the single largest reasons for the current lack of diversity in the tech community. VII. Course Schedule and Format This course is inherently interdisciplinary, combining elements of design, statistics, computer science, human-computer interaction and communication studies. But it is still, at its core, a _journalism_ course in the sense that its key aim is to help students learn how to distill complex information of public or societal importance into a cogent and engaging narrative for users. In that regard, then, the course schedule or reading list may be subject to change in response to a major news event, the publication of a relevant piece of scholarship that contributes to the flow of class discussion, or the release of a new technology that expands the possibilities of individual or group projects. I also reserve the right to adjust the course schedule as necessary depending on the pace at which the class grasps key concepts. The schedule will be embedded as a auto-updating Google Document into the course website as well as on Blackboard, and will be modified as we proceed to reflect any changes or recalibration of the curriculum pace that may occur. In the event any changes do occur, I will notify the class immediately via email. Disclaimer on Fair Use of Copyrighted Materials: *Any assigned readings from copyrighted works n**ot listed for purchase in Section IV of this syllabus will take the form of short excerpts of no more than one to two chapters which I will provide for you on Blackboard in PDF form at least three (3) weeks prior to the date of the class. The reproduction and distribution of these excerpts conforms as closely as possible to current “Fair Use” educational guidelines set forth by the U.S. Copyright Office. As such, it is incumbent upon you, the student, not to redistribute these materials outside of the classroom in digital or print form for any non-class related purposes during or after course completion. This restriction does not apply to non-copyrighted resources or readings directly, openly available and linked to on the web in the schedule below.* Date Reading(s) Lecture Lab M, Aug. 28, 2017 Your syllabus! No readings/blog posts due for first class. What is 'data journalism' and why should I care? Defining "The Many Words for Visualization" (available here). Visualization vs. infographic vs. illustration. Introduction to 'makeover Monday' critiques. HELLO, WORLD!: Data Journalism with Skittles (group activity); Data Visualization 101 (screencast on course website); Starting your course blog; Connecting via FTP (file transfer protocol) to your UF server space. Configuring our computers. W, Aug. 30, 2017 1.) S. Slovic and P. Slovic. Numbers and Nerves: Information, emotion and meaning in a world of data. 2016. Introduction, p. 1-21.  Chapter 12, p. 157-159.      AND.       2.) _The Data Journalism Handbook_, Ch. 1-2. Available: http://datajournalismhandbook.org       AND      Sunne, Samantha. (2016) _Diving into Data Journalism: Strategies for getting started or going deeper. https://www.americanpressinstitute.org/publications/reports/strategy-studies/data-journalism/_ How might we apply Slovic's "balanced or multidimensional approach to 'data'" to journalism and communicative media? What would that look like, given what you've read from _The Data Journalism Handbook_? We'll look at some classic data journalism examples, discuss their pros and cons and identify what exactly makes them successful.  n/a F, Sept. 1, 2017 _1.)_ Howard, Alexander. (2015) "The Art and Science of Data-Driven Journalism." Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University. P. 1-19. http://towcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Tow-Center-Data-Driven-Journalism.pdf.       AND                _  2.)_ BOYD, DANAH AND KATE CRAWFORD. (2011). "SIX PROVOCATIONS FOR BIG DATA." HTTP://SSRN.COM/ABSTRACT=1926431 TYPES OF DATA JOURNALISM; THE PUBLIC'S NEED FOR DATA LITERACY THROUGH STORYTELLING AND VISUALS; HOW "DATA-DRIVEN JOURNALISM" IS THE FUTURE; THE ROLE OF COMPUTATION IN JOURNALISM. N/A M, SEPT. 4, 2017 _1.)_** MANOVICH, LEV. _THE LANGUAGE OF NEW MEDIA._ 2001. CHAPTER 5, P. 213-236.   (AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD HERE: HTTP://CVLASSETS.S3.AMAZONAWS.COM/MANOVICH-LEV_THE_LANGUAGE_OF_THE_NEW_MEDIA.PDF).    AND    _2.)_ SHAZNA, L. "VISUAL LITERACY IN THE AGE OF DATA." BLOG POST, SOURCE BY OPEN NEWS. URL: HTTPS://SOURCE.OPENNEWS.ORG/EN-US/LEARNING/VISUAL-LITERACY-AGE-DATA            AND           3.) DIAKOPOLUS, NICK. (2013). _STORYTELLING WITH DATA: WHAT ARE THE IMPACTS ON THE AUDIENCE?_ BLOG POST. SOURCE: HTTP://WWW.NICKDIAKOPOULOS.COM/2013/04/12/STORYTELLING-WITH-DATA-WHAT-ARE-THE-IMPACTS-ON-THE-AUDIENCE/ WHAT IS, IN MANOVICH'S OPINION, THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DATABASE AND NARRATIVE? WE'LL LOOK AT THE NON-LINEAR STRUCTURE EMPLOYED IN MOST PIECES OF DATA JOURNALISM, DISCUSS HOW VISUAL LEARNING PATTERNS DIFFER FROM NARRATIVE LEARNING PATTERNS AND MANOVICH'S CALL FOR "INFOSTHETICS." DATA BASICS : USING DATA AS A JOURNALISTIC "SOURCE"  (GROUP ACTIVITY); THE SPREADSHEET AS MODERN DAY REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK; BASIC SPREADSHEET USE; ROWS, COLUMNS, RANGES, FORMULAS. W, SEPT. 6, 2017 1.) NORMAN, DON. (2001) _THE DESIGN OF EVERYDAY THINGS._ CHAPTERS 1-3.           _AND_        **  2.)** WALTER, A. (2001) _DESIGNING FOR EMOTION. _A BOOK APART. PRINT. CHAPTER 3. (_HANDOUT_)           _AND_            3.) KOSARA, R. (2008). "WHAT IS VISUALIZATION? A DEFINITION." BLOG POST. HTTPS://EAGEREYES.ORG/CRITICISM/DEFINITION-OF-VISUALIZATION THE ROLE OF EMOTION IN USABILITY; THE EFFECTS OF AESTHETICS ON COGNITION AND MEMORY; AFFORDANCES, SIGNIFIERS AND FEEDBACK; _EMOTIONAL DESIGN, DESIGN THINKING_ AND _HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN_. QUESTION: WHY DO YOU THINK NORMAN'S BOOK WAS ORIGINALLY TITLED "THE PSYCHOLOGY OF EVERYDAY THINGS"? N/A F, SEPT. 8, 2017 1. NYHAN, B. ET. AL. (2012). _OPENING THE POLITICAL MIND:_ _THE ROLES OF INFORMATION DEFICITS AND IDENTITY THREAT IN THE PREVALENCE OF MISPERCEPTIONS. _(AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD: HTTP://WWW.DARTMOUTH.EDU/~NYHAN/OPENING-POLITICAL-MIND.PDF. AND  2. TUFTE, EDWARD. _DATA ANALYSIS FOR POLITICS AND POLICY. _CHAPTER 1.   (HANDOUT) DATA STORIES MAY SEEM TO AUDIENCES AS 'MORE CREDIBLE' AND LESS PARTISAN. HOW MIGHT VISUAL DISPLAYS OF DATA CREATE MISPERCEPTIONS? HOW MIGHT THEY ENHANCE CREDIBILITY AND LEAD TO A HIGHER RATE OF CORRECT PERCEPTIONS? WHAT ARE THE ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITIES UNIQUE TO DATA JOURNALISM? N/A M, SEPT. 11, 2017 1.) CAIRO, A.* THE FUNCTIONAL ART._ CHAPTERS 1 AND 2.       AND                    2.) "TECHNOLOGY AND HISTORY: KRANZBERG'S LAWS." (1986). TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE, VOL. 27, NO 3. P. 544-560. HTTPS://WWW.JSTOR.ORG/STABLE/3105385     AND       3.) BELL, EMILY. 2012. “JOURNALISM BY NUMBERS.” COLUMBIA JOURNALISM REVIEW. HTTP://WWW.CJR.ORG/COVER_STORY/JOURNALISM_BY_NUMBERS.PHP?PAGE=ALL              AND               4.) SEGAL, E. AND JEFFREY HEER. "  HTTP://VIS.STANFORD.EDU/FILES/2010-NARRATIVE-INFOVIS.PDF NOT EVERY STORY IS JUST GOING TO FALL INTO YOUR LAP. BUT HOW DO YOU GET HOLD OF THE DATA THAT NO-ONE WANTS TO GIVE YOU? A LOOK AT MAKING FOIA REQUESTS. ALSO, A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF FLORIDA'S "SUNSHINE LAWS" THAT REQUIRE OPEN GOVERNMENT DATA BE ACCESSIBLE (SLIDES: HTTP://WWW.SLIDESHARE.NET/CARLVLEWIS/DATA-VISUALIZATION-IN-THE-NEWSROOM) OBTAINING DATA: USE OF OPEN-GOVERNMENT PORTALS TO DOWNLOAD DATASETS; STATE OF FLORIDA AND U.S. OPEN DATA LAWS; REQUESTING DATA FROM A GOVERNMENT AGENCY; SCRAPING DATA WITH PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES SUCH AS PYTHON; COLLECTING YOUR OWN DATASETS THROUGH AGGREGATION OR EXPERIMENTATION; BASIC DATA FILE TYPES TO LOOK FOR; TOOLS FOR SCRAPING DATA FROM WEBSITES AND PDFS (TABULA, IMPORT.IO). W, SEPT. 13, 2017 1.) MEYER, P. (1991). _THE NEW PRECISION JOURNALISM_. BLOOMINGTON: INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS. CH. 1-2.   AND                  2.) COHEN, SARAH. _NUMBERS IN THE NEWSROOM: USING MATH AND STATISTICS IN THE NEWS. _INVESTIGATIVE REPORTERS AND EDITORS, 2014._ CH. 1-3. HTTP://CVLASSETS.S3.AMAZONAWS.COM/NUMBERS_IN_THE_NEWSROOM_SECOND_EDITION.PDF _AND  _              3.) DATA JOURNALISM HANDBOOK, _CH. 5. BASIC STATISTICS FOR JOURNALISTS USING EXCEL/SHEETS. PERCENT CHANGE; RATES; STANDARD DEVIATION; PROBABILITY;  BIGGEST MATH MISTAKES FOR JOURNALISTS. N/A F, SEPT. 15, 2017 1.) NUMBERS IN THE NEWSROOM, CH. 4-9.      AND           2.) STRAY, JONATHAN. _THE CURIOUS JOURNALIST'S GUIDE TO DATA.* COLUMBIA JOURNALISM REVIEW, 2016. HTTP://WWW.CJR.ORG/TOW_CENTER_REPORTS/THE_CURIOUS_JOURNALISTS_GUIDE_TO_DATA.PHP           AND               3. )  CODDINGTON, MARK. (2014). _CLARIFYING JOURNALISM'S QUANTITATIVE TURN. _UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN. HTTP://DX.DOI.ORG/10.1080/21670811.2014.976400 HOW MIGHT YOU "COOK" RAW DATA? CLEANING DATASETS; REFINING DATA INTEGRITY; NARROWING DATASETS TO RELEVANT VARIABLES ONLY. "LIKE ALL JOURNALISM, DATA JOURNALISM REQUIRES EDITING." N/A M, SEPT. 18, 2017 QUARTZ'S "GUIDE TO BAD DATA." AVAILABLE: HTTPS://GITHUB.COM/QUARTZ/BAD-DATA-GUIDE/ 2.) INTERVIEWING DATA FOR NEWS STORIES: HTTP://DWILLIS.GITHUB.IO/INTERVIEWING-DATA/ INTERVIEWING YOUR DATA —(A) MEETING THE DATA: BACKGROUNDING THE SOURCE/GETTING TO KNOW THE DATA (B) ASKING QUESTIONS — FINDING THE FLAWS, COUNTING SUMS, INTERESTINGNESS AND (C) DRAWING CONCLUSIONS. ANALYZING YOUR DATA: "INTERVIEWING" YOUR DATA WITH GOOGLE SHEETS (EXERCISE); CAUSATION AND CORRELLATION; STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE, P VALUE, Z VALUE AND STANDARD DEVIATION. NORMAL VS. SKEWED DISTRIBUTION. ROLE OF OUTLIERS. PIVOT TABLES. TUTORIAL: CLUSTERING CAMPAIGN FINANCE DATA WITH OPENREFINE. W, SEPT. 20, 2017 _1.)**_ Lupton, Ellen.* Thinking With Type, 2010. *p. 97-101.      AND        **_ 2._) MCGHEE, J. (2010) _JOURNALISM IN THE AGE OF DATA. _DOCUMENTARY, STANFORD UNIVERSITY. AVAILABLE: HTTP://DATAJOURNALISM.STANFORD.EDU/                AND             _ 3.) _NORMAN, DON. _THE DESIGN OF EVERYDAY THINGS_. CH. 4-5. N/A F, SEPT. 22 1.) CHIASSON, TRINA AND DYANNA GREGORY. (2015) _DATA+DESIGN: A SIMPLE INTRODUCTION TO PREPARING AND VISUALIZING INFORMATION_. INFOACTIVE. AVAILABLE FOR FREE DOWNLOAD: HTTP://INFOACTIVE.CO/DATA-DESIGN           AND                 2.) WING, JEANETTE M. (2006) "COMPUTATIONAL THINKING." _COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ACM._ 49 (3). HTTPS://WWW.CS.CMU.EDU/~15110-S13/WING06-CT.PDF  TK N/A LABOR DAY - NO CLASS N/A N/A N/A W, SEPT. 26, 2017 1.) TUFTE, E. (1990). _THE VISUAL DISPLAY OF QUANTITATIVE INFORMATION._        AND           2.) ILLINSKY AND STEELE, DESIGNING DATA VISUALIZATIONS, CHAPTER 4  3.) NORMAN, DON. (2005) _EMOTIONAL DESIGN: WHY WE LOVE (OR HATE) EVERYDAY THINGS. _BASIC BOOKS. PRINT. CH. 1. CHARTS, CHARTS AND MORE CHARTS; CHOOSING THE RIGHT CHART TYPE FOR YOUR DATA; NEED TO GO BEYOND STATIC EXCEL CHARTS FOR BIG DATASETS; AVOIDING "CHARTJUNK." F, SEPT. 28, 2017 _1.)_** Wong, D. M. (2013). _The Wall Street Journal Guide to Information Graphics: The Dos and Don’ts of Presenting Data, Facts, and Figures._ United States: WW Norton & Co. Ch. 2-5.    AND       2.) Cairo, Alberto. The Truthful Art. Ch. 1. How to lie with charts; baselines, axes, why pie charts are almost never a good idea; importance of providing source. n/a M, Oct. 1, 2017 1.) Mollerup, Per. _Data Design: Visualising quantities, locations, connections. _Bloomsbury, 2015. Print. Ch. 2-4.   AND.         2.)   "Data Visualization Checklist" by Evergreen and Emery: http://stephanieevergreen.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/DataVizChecklist_May2014.pdf Primer to HTML and CSS; the iFrame as a "window" into another webpage; fluid grid system basics;  VISUALIZE YOUR DATA: Why make basic charts? There are large numbers of tools available to make simple embedable charts that help you tell your story. This session will show how to use a selection of open-source tools such as Google Charts, HighCharts, DataWrapper, Chart Tool and Quartz's ChartBuilder. Also, a walkthrough of eight chart tyoes from Plotly. W, Oct. 3, 2017 The Functional Art: Ch. 3-7. How Data Journalism is Different (American Press Institute): https://www.americanpressinstitute.org/publications/reports/strategy-studies/how-data-journalism-is-different/ n/a F, Oct. 5, 2017 DUE: First 'Deadline' Data Journalism Project by 10 a.m. n/a n/a COLUMBUS DAY - NO CLASS n/a n/a n/a W, Oct. 10, 2017 The Data Journalism Handbook, Ch. 4-8 n/a F, Oct. 12, 2017 "What Makes a Visualization Memorable": http://www.storybench.org/understanding-what-makes-a-visualization-memorable/ n/a M, Oct. 15, 2017 Mollerup, Per.* Data Design: Visualising quantities, locations, connections_. Bloomsbury, 2015. Print. Ch. 1.    AND Wolfe, Jeremy. "Visual Search." http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Visual_search               AND                      Cooper, Alan and  DESIGNING FOR THE EYE AND THE MIND: Color, hierarchy, typography, white space, grid systems,  W, Oct. 17, 2017 1.) Ayres, Paul and John Sweller (2010) "The Split-Attention Principle in Multimedia Learning."     AND.       "The Architecture of a Data Visualization": https://medium.com/accurat-studio/the-architecture-of-a-data-visualization-470b807799b4#.4269conf4 AND                  3.) Boardman, Richard. "Bubble trees: The visualization of hierarchical information structures." http://cvlassets.s3.amazonaws.com/Boardman%20-%20Unknown%20-%20Bubble%20trees%20The%20visualization%20of%20hierarchical%20information%20structures-annotated.pdf F, Oct. 19, 2017 Tufte, E. (1990) The Visual Display of Quantitative Data. M, Oct. 15, 2017 1. Hinderman, Bill. _Responsive Data Visualization for the Web.*       AND      2.) Lewis C. (2012) "Making the case for hover interactions in maps." Blog post. http://carlvlewis.net/making-the-case-for-hover-interactions-in-maps/ AND           3.) Ericson, Matthew. "When Maps Shouldn't Be Maps." http://www.ericson.net/content/2011/10/when-maps-shouldnt-be-maps/ MAPPING MADE EASY: Using CARTO to create interactive clustered bubble map of incidents of mass shootings from massshootingtracker.com. Building a choropleth map with Leaflet.js; cartograms; recognizing the various forms geospatial data takes. W, Oct. 17. 2017 F, Oct. 19, 2017 M, Oct. 20, 2017 Bubbletree. MAKING DATA INTERACTIVE: JavaScript Magic Show (d3.js, d3plus, DataWrapper, Excel2D3). Value of interaction in personalzing and bringing deeper engagement to data stories. W, Oct. 22, 2017 "Responsive Web Design": http://alistapart.com/article/responsive-web-design People hear statistics, but they feel stories M, Oct, 25, 2017 No assigned reading today but a blog post still expected. In lieu of a reading response, compose a blog post on the simultaneous rise of data visualization literacy (graphicacy) and growing mobile information consumption. You may cite sources on the divergence of these two trends, if you can find them. If not, form your own draft hypothesis MAKING IT RESPONSIVE: WTF is an SVG? W, Oct. 27, 2017 Wu, Ashley. "Why Mobile Data Visualization Shouldn't Hurt." Blog post. https://source.opennews.org/en-US/articles/mobile-data-visualization-shouldnt-hurt/             AND                    MobileV.is: http://mobilev.is/ F, Oct. 29, 2017 M, Nov. 1, 2017 1. Roam, D.  _The Back of the Napkin_ FROM DATA TO BROWSER: Wireframing and Paper Protoyping; responsive grid systems (Skeleton, Bootstrap), How to Choose the Right Chart; Picking Colors; CSS Deep Dive. W, Nov. 3, 2017 DUE: Second 'Deadline' Data Journalism Project F, Nov. 5, 2017 M, Nov. 7, 2017 FROM BROWSER TO WEB APP: The basics of HTML and CSS and how they interact to create the visual look of a webpage; iFraming in our visualization projects into a Skeleton template; a gentle introduction to JavaScript for interaction. W, Nov. 9, 2017 F, Nov. 11, 2017 M, Nov. 12, 2017 FROM VISUALIZATION TO DASHBOARD: Using Tableau to create a Florida state budget dashboard; using DataSeed to do similar task, then reproducing the same visualization in Quadrigram. Brief look at more advanced D3.js-based libaries (collection of goodies) including Crossfilter, Crosslet and C3.js. W, Nov. 14, 2017 F, Nov. 16, 2017 DUE: Third 'Deadline' Data Journalism Project M, Nov, 18, 2017 DISCOVERING THE OPEN-SOURCE LANDSCAPE: Basics of GitHub; creating repositories for your first and second class projects; finding tools to help tell final projects on GitHub. Specifically, we'll use Cloudstitch to pull data from a Google Sheet to create a zoomable treemap of spending data; then we'll create a force network visualization of our friend circles using Onodo. NO CLASS - THANKSGIVING BREAK Bored over break? Optional reading list here: <!—link to come--> n/a n/a NO CLASS - THANKSGIVING BREAK Bored over break? Optional reading list here: <!—link to come--> n/a n/a M, Nov. 29, 2017 PACKAGING YOUR DATA JOURNALISM INVESTIGATION: Deep dive into Bootstrap's responsive CSS grid system; adaptive vs. responsive design; combining text, multimedia and interactive JS visualizations into multimodal narrative;  W, Nov. 31, 2017 F, Dec. 2, 2017 DUE: Presenting group projects This class lecture time will be reserved for each group to deliver a 5-minute presentation of its final project, followed by feedback from judges. M, Dec. 12, 2017 http://www.r2d3.us/visual-intro-to-machine-learning-part-1/?utm_content=buffera0264&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer Machine Learning/Predictive Analytics 'EDITING' DATA JOURNALISM:  W, Dec. 14, 2017 F, Dec. 9, 2017 DUE: Final revised group projects PRO-TIP ON READINGS: Most classes will include two (2) or more readings tangentially related; typically, at least one of these readings will be more theoretical in nature, while at least one more will adopt a more practical or technical tone. The secret to writing successful reading responses and excelling in class discussion is for you to draw connections between the two. * * * ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR: _(Endnote: Add this syllabus to your phone's home screen at http://bit.ly/uf_bigdata)_ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ --30--(?)

Spiral galaxies, like our own Milky Way , are continuously forming stars from molecular hydrogen stored in the disks. Without additional gas supply from outside of the disks, galaxies’s star-forming activities would be halted in a few billion years due to the shortage of molecular gas – so called the gas consumption problem. To alleviate the crisis, both theories and simulations suggest that there may exist large amount of gas surrounding the disks of galaxies, which could potentially be accreted onto the disks to form stars (see other solutions in Putman+2012). Astronomers intensively search the evidence of the existence of such gas in the vicinity of galaxies – the circumgalactic medium (CGM). The CGM is loosely defined as the gas confined within the virial radius of a galaxy; i.e., gas is gravitationally bound to the central galaxy. Thus far, observers have found that for galaxies that are as luminous as the Milky Way, their CGM could contain as much gas as the stellar mass of the disks (e.g., Werk+2014), serving as gas reservoirs that would keep fueling the disks and maintain the star-forming activities. If the galaxies were able to accrete gas from their CGM to feed their disks’ star formation, one might expect some correlation between the properties of the CGM gas and that of the disk gas. The authors of this paper performed a statistical study on a sample of galaxies to search for such correlation. Specifically, they aimed to understand the difference/similarity between the neutral hydrogen (H $\rm \scriptstyle I$) in the CGM and that in the disks.

We present a single-photon frequency translation setup based on Four Wave Mixing Bragg-Scattering in fiber, able to achieve simultaneously close to unitary conversion while maintaining very low-noise.

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We present medium-resolution, near-ultraviolet VLT/FLAMES observations of the star USNO-A0600-15865535. We adapt a standard method of stellar typing to our measurement of the shape of the Balmer ϵ absorption line to demonstrate that USNO-A0600-15865535 is a blue horizontal branch star, residing in the lower stellar halo at a distance of 4.4 kpc from the Sun. We measure the H & K lines of singly-ionized calcium and find two isolated velocity components, one originating in the disk, and one associated with high-velocity cloud complex WD. This detection demonstrated that complex WD is closer than 4.4 kpc and is the first distance constraint on the +100 km/s Galactic complex of clouds. We find that Complex WD is not in corotation with the Galactic disk as has been assumed for decades. We examine a number of scenarios, and find that the most likely is that Complex WD was ejected from the solar neighborhood and is only a few kpc from the Sun.

This should be the abstract.

HOMEWORK 2 (Due on: Wed, April 15, 8:00PM) PROBLEM 1. A stochastic process is defined as x_{k}=x_{k-1}+m_k,\ \ \ x_{0}=0 Find the expected value E{xk} and the variance $E\{(x_k-_k)^2\}$ of this process. ANS: equation 1. can rewrite as: x_{k}=x_{k-1}+m_k=x_{k-2}+m_k+m_k=x_{k-2}+2(m_k) \\ x_{k}=x_{k-3}+m_k+2(m_k)=x_{k-3}+3(m_k) \\ x_{k}=...=x_{0}+k(m_k), \ \ \ where\ x_{0}=0 \\ x_{k}=k(m_k) Therefore, the expected value can compute as: E\{x_{k}\}=E\{x_{k-1}+m_k\}=E\{k(m_k)\}=k*E\{m_k\}=k*^\infty m_k\ p(m_k)\ dm_k \\ E\{x_{k}\}=k\ ^{1/2} m_k\ p(m_k)\ dm_k=k\ ^{0} m_k\ 4\ (m_k+1/2)\ dm_k+^{1/2} m_k\ (2-4m_k)\ dm_k \\ E\{x_{k}\}=k\ ({3}m_k^3+m_k^2 \left| {_{-1/2}^{0} } \right.+{3}m_k^3+m_k^2 \left| {_{0}^{1/2} } \right.)=k\ {6}\\ And, the variance can compute as: E\{(x_k-_k)^2\}=^\infty (x_k-_k)^2\ p(x)\ dx, \ \ \ where\ x_k=k\ m_k\ and\ _k=E\{x_{k}\}=k\ {6} \\ E\{(x_k-_k)^2\}=^\infty k\ (m_k-{6})^2\ p(m_k)\ dm_k\\ E\{(x_k-_k)^2\}=k(\ ^{0} (m_k-{6})^2\ 4\ (m_k+1/2)\ dm_k+^{1/2} (m_k-{6})^2\ (2-4m_k)\ dm_k) \\ E\{(x_k-_k)^2\}=k\ (m_k^4+{9}m_k^3-{18}m_k^2+18m_k \left| {_{-1/2}^{0} } \right.-m_k^4+{9}m_k^3-{18}m_k^2+18m_k \left| {_{0}^{1/2} } \right.)\\ E\{(x_k-_k)^2\}=k\ {18} \\

ABOUT The tables below list all parameters relevant to the formation and feedback associated with our individual star methods. Included at the very bottom are input parameters to set specific to chemical evolution and certain problem types, related to these methods. STAR FORMATION AND SUPERNOVA FEEDBACK ------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ENZO NAME DESCRIPTION VALUE(S) NOTES REFS. IndividualStarIMFUpperMassCutoff Upper limit of IMF 100.0 M⊙ IndividualStarIMFLowerMassCutoff Lower limit of IMF 1.0 M⊙ IndividualStarVelocityDispersion At formation, stars are given random velocity from Guassian distribution with mean velocity determined by the local gas velocity and dispersion set by this parmeter 1.0 km s−1 T.B.D, but 1.0 km s−1 is reasonable IndividualStarIMFSeed random number seed (arbitrary) 0 = Salpeter IndividualStarIMF 1 = Kroupa 0 2 = Chabrier IndividualStarIMFCalls Number of calls to IMF to reset rnum generator on restart – Not to be set by user, but saved at each dump file IndividualStarSalpeterSlope α for Salpeter 2.35 IndividualStarKroupaAlpha1 α for first mass bin 1.3 IndividualStarKroupaAlpha2 α for second mass bin 1.3 IndividualStarKroupaAlpha3 α for third mass bin 2.3 IndividualStarMassFraction Maximum fraction, $f_{\rm gas \to *}$, of baryon mass in cell that can be converted to stars in a single timestep. If $M_{\rm IMF,min} < f_{\rm gas \to *} M_{\rm gas} < M_{\rm IMF,max}$, then IMF is truncated for that cell such that $M_{\rm IMF,max} = f_{\rm gas \to *} M_{\rm gas}$ 0.5 PROPER VALUE REQUIRES TESTING AND DISCUSSION From method used in Goldbaum et. al. 2015 IndividualStarSNIIMassCutoff Stellar mass above which star produces CC SN 8.0 M⊙ T.B.D IndividualStarWDMinimumMass Lower mass limit for stars that turn into WD 1.7 M⊙ 1.7 M⊙ is lower limit of empirical intiial to final mass relation used to set WD masses Salaris et. al. 2009 for DTD IndividualStarWDMaximumMass Upper mass limit for stars to turn into WD 8.0 M⊙ Dahlen et. al. 2004, Mannuci et. al. 2006, Maoz & Mannucci 2012 IndividualStarUseSNIa Switch to enable SN Ia and turn on / of WD formation 0 or 1 Default ON IndividualStarSNIaMinimumMass Lower mass limit of a WD’s progenitor star that is capable of going SN Ia 3 M⊙ Not well understood value, but default is what is typically assumed IndividualStarSNIaMaximumMass Maximum mass limit “ ” 8.0 M⊙ “” IndividualStarSNIaFraction Normalizes probability distribution for SNIa rates, and is the fraction of stars in the above mass range that will explode as SN Ia given a Hubble time 0.043 Fraction is on order of a few percent, but depends on choice of IMF and normalization of the delay time distribution (DTD) IndividualStarDTDSlope β in power law decay (t−β) of DTD that sets the decay of probabilty as a function of time for our WD’s to explode as SNIa 1.07 Mean from Cote et. al. 2015. Values vary, but around 1.0-1.3 Maoz et. al. 2012 , Maoz et. al. 2014 and Cote et. al. 2015 for compilation IndividualStarStellarWinds Turn stellar winds on or off 1 Winds not yet coded IndividualStarRadiationMinimumMass Stars above this value are radiation sources if radiation is ON 8.0 M⊙ Used value is T.B.D. IndividualStarBlackBodyOnly Radiation is (by default) calulated using OSTAR2002 grid for stars with $T_{\rm eff}$ and g on the grid. When off the grid, a black body curve is used. This turns off OSTAR2002 for all stars if ON 0 0 or 1 IndividualStarFollowStellarYields If ON, and MultiMetals enabled, this tags stars with chemical abundances of their formation cells AND enables chemical ejection during feedback modes 1 Feedback of metals not in place IndividualStarWindTemperature Temperature ceiling for injection region in stellar wind model. Exceeding this temperature engages wind mass loading 1.0E6 A few million is ideal Weaver 1977, Koo & McKee 1992 a,b IndivudalStarUseWindMixingModel On or Off - If on, mass loads winds with grid averaged metal abundances in order to maintain IndividualStarWindTemperature winds 1 Strong recommendation to leave on IndividualStarFeedbackOverlapSample Number of sampling points per cell in volume overlap calculation 20 10-20 seems to produce reasonable spherical winds with few zone radius injection regions - much higher is expensive ------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cosmic Rays Cosmic rays are controlled by the adopted diffusion coefficient, the adiabatic index, maximum sound speed, and fraction of SN energy deposited into cosmic rays (and subtracted from the total thermal energy input). There will be an initial cosmic ray energy density that we need to decide what to do with... possibly we should just set it to be dynamically insigificant initially.... -------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- -------------------------------------------- ------- ENZO NAME DESCRIPTION VALUE(S) NOTES REFS. CRModel CR’s on or off 1 likely test on and off CRDiffusion Diffusion on or off 1 test on and off CRkappa Cosmic ray diffusion coefficent ?? This will require testing and conversation CRFeedback Fraction of SN energy converted into CR’s rather than thermal 0.25 Again, testing needed GalaxySimulationCR Sets initial CR energy density as fraction of thermal energy ?? -------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- -------------------------------------------- ------- RADIATION Below are new radiation parameters: ----------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------- ---------------------- ENZO NAME DESCRIPTION VALUE(S) NOTES REFS. self_shielding_method Switch between self shielding approximations in GRACKLE 0 = no shielding, 1 = e−τ, 2 = Rahmati et. al. 2013 in HI, e−τ in HeI and HeII , 3 = Rahmati et. al. 2013 in HI and HeI, none in HeII Rahmati et. al. 2013 IndividualStarBlackBodyq0Factors Fit factors to smooth HI ionzing radiation 0.1, 3.2 IndividualStarBlackBodyq1Factors ” 0.001, 4.0 IndividualStarBlackBodyFUVFactors ” 10−4, 2.3×10−5 IndividualStarBlackBodyLWFactors ” 5.0×10−5, 5.0×10−6 ----------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------- ---------------------- The radiation parameters specific to my stars are discussed above (i.e. how the ionizing rate is calculated for each star). These are the radiative transfer parameters relevant to our simulation. ------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------- ENZO NAME DESCRIPTION VALUE(S) NOTES REFS. RadiativeTransfer On or Off On Test both RadiativeTransferRadiationPressure Compute radiation pressure. Currently ONLY handles pressure felt by hydrogen (on or off) 1 RadiativeTransferRaysPerCell Number of photon rays computed in each cell (effectively a photon resolution) 5 may need to play with this, 5 is default RadiativeTransferSourceRadius Radiation sources are considered point sources, but will radiate as uniform sphere of desired value if > 0 0 I don’t think we need this, and i think it fixes the radius to a single value, not a value per star. But if we have R for each star anyway, this might be useful? Not sure if its relevant RadiativeTransferPropogationSpeedFraction Photon speed as fraction of c 1 Lower number is less accurate but computationally easier, ideally stick with 1 ------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------- MULTI SPECIES AND CHEMISTRY General parameters for turning multispecies and chemistry on / off for our simulations. The chemistry parameters (multi metals) are new. PROBLEMTYPE 260: CHEMICALEVOLUTIONTEST A new problem type was created that was meant to be used to test the physics associated with both the individual star formation / feedback as well as the chemical evolution. This initializes a star at the center of a uniform box of gas and lets it evolve. If one is impatient, one can manually set the star lifetime to an arbitrarily small value if one is concerned only with end-of-life (i.e. supernova) effects. This star is deposited within the first timestep, and is not present at t = 0. Star formation is turned off for the remainder of the simulation. -------------------------------------- --------------------------------------- ------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------- ENZO NAME DESCRIPTION VALUE(S) NOTES REFS. ChemicalEvolutionTestStarMass Mass of star (arbitrary) ChemicalEvolutionTestStarMetallicity Metal fraction of star (arbitrary) ChemicalEvolutionTestStarLifetime Manually set star lifetime 0 Value of 0 turns this off and lifetime is calculated as normal from stellar properties. > 0 is lifetime in Myr ChemmicalEvolutionTestStarPosition Coordinates of position in code units 0.5 0.5 0.5 center -------------------------------------- --------------------------------------- ------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------- PROBLEMTYPE 31: GALAXYSIMULATION A few parameters were added to the galaxy simulation problem type to set initial values for disk / halo chemical properties. A few of these new parameters below are stored in the TestProblemData struct that can be used in most simulations (see the next section) TestProblemData is used to set initial metal fractions for all species, and is coded to set two values per species for use with two different regimes in a given initial conditions set up. This is simple, but coding this for arbitrary locations is not trivial. For reading GalaxySimulation code, any TestProblemData with XX is used to set the disk initial values, and any with XX is used to set the halo / ambient medium initial values. If nothing is specified, the default is to set everything as primordial with the various metal fractions set to “tiny_number”. I’ve also added a bunch of parameters to set MultiSpecies initial conditions following IC’s in other problem types for doing so. ---------------------------------------- ------------------------------ ---------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------- ENZO NAME DESCRIPTION VALUE(S) NOTES REFS. TestProblemUseMetallicityField Enables metallicity tracking 1 This is unfortunate, but there is a GalaxySimulationUseMetallicityField parameter that already exists, but DOES NOT actually enable metallicity fraction tracking, but a different tracer field (disk, not disk). I made this parameter as to not break previous functionality, but naming is unfortunate GalaxySimulationInitialDiskMetallicity Metal fraction of disk GalaxySimulationInitialHaloMetallicity Metal fraction of halo ---------------------------------------- ------------------------------ ---------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------

INTRODUCTION Filaments are ubiquitous in the interstellar medium. They have been identified in molecular gas for some time , and with higher resolution and sensitivity surveys they are being found throughout the Galactic interstellar medium (ISM) . More recently the filaments have been identified in the Galactic ISM in atomic form . The properties of the HI filaments and their relationship to the molecular filaments largely remains to be determined. Filaments appear to precede star formation in the cold ISM and are thought to be linked to a process active in the gas cloud . The low density atomic filaments may represent the starting point of the filament formation process, i.e., the convergence of the gas that forms the molecular filaments. On the other hand, the structures may be created naturally in the ISM with no direct connection to the gravitationally dominated molecular filaments. The primary feature of the HI filaments that has been highlighted so far is their alignment with the Galactic magnetic field . This infers the filaments are linked to an aligned ionized gaseous component. characterized the filamentary structure he found in the all-sky HI survey with 11 − 16resolution, though it was all of the structures found after completing an unsharp mask on the data and therefore does not isolate individual filaments. identified the orientation of the linear HI features in the GALFA-HI data used here (4and 0.18 resolution) using a rolling hough transform (RHT). The RHT rolls across the image with a circular window and identifies structures that follow the diameter of the circle at the range of possible angles. This method gives alignment information, but does not extract the individual fibers in the cube to define them further as physical structures. It also requires setting a preferred velocity binning before applying the RHT. The focussed on denser structures in a cloud detected in HI absorption towards the Galactic Center. Though distinct from the diffuse HI filaments being examined in emission here, they serve as another useful comparison point. For the molecular filaments, numerous properties have been extracted and studied (REFS). One property in particular that has garnered much attention is the width of the filaments. This width could determine..... Though there was some initial excitement on the filaments having a uniform width of approximately 0.1 pc , this has since been found to ADD PANAU PAPER INFO The velocity structure of the atomic filaments indicates if the filaments are actively flowing across their length, or potentially rotating along the short axis. If no velocity gradient is evident, the dispersion is representative of the level of turbulence in the gas and the temperature of the gas. The width http://arxiv.org/abs/1608.02601 find similar results to C14 that the filaments are aligned with the Galactic magnetic field using a three dimensional shock compression model to represent the Local Bubble. They find that the likely formation of the HI fibers is the turbulent shear strain consistent with . Quoted from Panapoulo paper for reference In studies of sub/trans-Alfv´enic turbulence, where the magnetic field is dynamically important, filament orientations with respect to the large scale ordered field, depend on whether gravity is important. In simulations where gravity is not taken into account (e.g. Falceta-Gon¸calves et al. 2008) or structures are gravitationally unbound (Soler et al. 2013), filaments are parallel to the magnetic field. filaments in wind blown bubble sim ref http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011ApJ...731...13N Properties papers Striations in the Taurus molecular cloud: Kelvin-Helmholtz instability or MHD waves? http://arxiv.org/abs/1606.08858 arXiv:1607.00005 Date: Thu, 30 Jun 2016 20:00:05 GMT (4386kb) Title: The magnetic field and dust filaments in the Polaris Flare Authors: G. V. Panopoulou, I. Psaradaki, K. Tassis Categories: astro-ph.GA astro-ph.SR Comments: 14 pages, 12 figures, accepted by MNRAS In diffuse molecular clouds, possible precursors of star-forming clouds, the effect of the magnetic field is unclear. In this work we compare the orientations of filamentary structures in the Polaris Flare, as seen through dust emission by Herschel, to the plane-of-the-sky magnetic field orientation ($\rm B_{pos}$) as revealed by stellar optical polarimetry with RoboPol. Dust structures in this translucent cloud show a strong preference for alignment with $\rm B_{pos}$. 70 filaments (within 30∘). We explore the spatial variation of the relative orientations and find it to be uncorrelated with the dust emission intensity and correlated to the dispersion of polarization angles. Concentrating in the area around the highest column density filament, and in the region with the most uniform field, we infer the $\rm B_{pos}$ strength to be 24 − 120 μG. Assuming that the magnetic field can be decomposed into a turbulent and an ordered component, we find a turbulent-to-ordered ratio of 0.2 − 0.8, implying that the magnetic field is dynamically important, at least in these two areas. We discuss implications on the 3D field properties, as well as on the distance estimate of the cloud. ( https://arxiv.org/abs/1607.00005 , 4386kb) Title: Neutral hydrogen and magnetic fields in M83 observed with the SKA Pathfinder KAT-7 Authors: G. Heald, W.J.G. de Blok, D. Lucero, C. Carignan, T. Jarrett, E. Elson, N. Oozeer, T.H. Randriamampandry, L. van Zee We show that the magnetic field of M83 is similar in form to other nearby star forming galaxies, and suggest that the disk-halo interface may host a large-scale regular magnetic field. ( https://arxiv.org/abs/1607.03365 OBSERVATIONAL DATA AND ANALYSIS METHODS The observational data are from the Galactic Arecibo L-band Feed Array HI survey 2nd data release (GALFA-HI DR2; Peek et al. 2016). The survey covers HI velocities from -650 to +650 with a 0.184 channel spacing, 4$\arcmin$ spatial resolution, and a sensitivity of 150 mK per 1 bin (equivalent to a 5σ column density sensitivity of ∼1.4 × 10¹⁸ cm−2). Here we focus on HI fibers in regions with absolute Galactic Latitude greater than 30 degrees to minimize the background Galactic HI that needed to be removed and examined the velocity range +50 to -50 (see example channel in Figure ). The fibers were identified in the GALFA data with FilFinder ; however since this program was written to find filaments in two-dimensional data, we made substantial additions to recover the velocity dimension of the fibers. FilFinder identifies filaments in images with the following pre-processing steps: 1. Flattens the image with an arctan transform to remove the effect of small bright features, 2. Smooths the image with a median filter to limit the fragmentation of filaments WHAT DID WE USE FOR SMOOTHING RADIUS? 3. Applies an adaptive threshold in that the intensity of the central pixel must be greater than median of the neighborhood around it. PATCH SIZE WE USED? 4. Remove small spurious objects with a cut on the total area of objects and applying a small median filter. We chose a total area of 600 square pixels as the size threshold. The preprocessing steps prepare a mask that can be used to identify the filaments. Structures are identified within the mask with a medial axis transform that puts objects into 1-pixel wide skeletons maximized in one direction. The final step of FilFinder is to prune the skeletons to be filaments. This involves adopting the long axis as the body of the filament and removing small offshoots in other directions. See the paper for more details on the 2D filament identification process. To identify the velocity structure of the fibers we run FilFinder on each individual channel images and then determine the spatial overlap between fibers in adjacent channels. Specifically, the steps for identifying 3D fibers in the GALFA data with FilFinder are as follows: - An unsharped mask with a smoothing radius of 30$\arcmin$ was applied to each channel to remove the diffuse Galactic emission. A data cube with a smoothing radius of 15$\arcmin$ was also examined for comparison and the properties of several fibers were checked outside of the FilFinder with a 45$\arcmin$ unsharped mask. - FilFinder is run on the each channel of the GALFA-HI cube and the objects found are identified with a bottom left and top right corner set, and a velocity slice index. - The area encompassing objects in adjacent channels are compared and if there is a >75% overlap between the areas of objects in the two channels they are merged as part of the same structure. The object is discontinued when there is no longer a 75% overlap in an adjacent channel. - The final catalog of three dimensional objects was trimmed to exclude those filaments with sizes <5000 pixels and aspect ratios >2. This cut was necessary to reduce the large number of objects found and optimizes the filaments to be long, thin structures. This is different from how the HI fibers were identified in with the Rolling Hough Transform (RHT). With the RHT filaments were identified blah..... To extract the fiber properties from the cube we create three distinct maps: 1. an integrated intensity (moment 0) map to obtain column densities, lengths and masses, 2. an average velocity (moment 1) map to examine velocity gradients along the filaments, and 3. a velocity dispersion (moment 2) map to examine the velocity widths. These maps are created using the _moment_ task within Miriad on the USM cubes. The actual values are obtained from these moment maps by isolating the fiber in position and extracting the typical values for the fibers. Though somewhat labor intensive, the combination of using the USM cube and isolating in position was found to be the best way to isolate the fiber from the abundant additional surrounding diffuse Galactic emission. Signatures of velocity gradients were largely examined by eye (see Figure ). The typical width of the fibers is an important property to derive from the observations given how it factors in to other physical properties and the predictions from simulations. The width was not easy to obtain from the integrated intensity maps as there are variations in this parameter along the lengths of the fibers. We utilized the FiLTer program of on the RHT fibers to obtain the typical widths of the HI fibers. This therefore extracts the width properties of all of the RHT identified fibers in Figure . FiLTer...ADD BRIEF FILTER DESCR SHOULD PROBABLY COMPARE THIS TO WHAT YOU WOULD EXTRACT BY EYE FOR MIN/MAX. IF PROGRAM ISN’T BEHAVING GO BACK TO THIS IDEA WITH UG RESULTS The properties of the filaments are shown in Table [props.tab]. The physical properties of width, length, volume density, pressure and HI mass are derived assuming the filaments are at a distance of 100 pc. An estimate for the temperature is obtained from the linewidth of the fiber, which is derived from the average dispersion for the cloud, T (K) = 21.8 (2.355\sigma)^2 This is an upper limit on the temperature as any turbulent component to the dispersion is not removed. The thermal pressure can be estimated using, P_{\rm th}/k (K cm^{-3})= n_H T but this is an upper limit on the thermal pressure given the temperature is an upper limit. Given our data, a derivation of the total pressure from the dispersion is more relevant. P = \sigma^2 1.4 m_H n_H THESE TWO ARE DIRECTLY RELATED SINCE VARIABLES IN BOTH ARE THE SAME, SO PROBABLY ONLY INCLUDE ONE. DISCUSSION Following , we can constrain the strength of the magnetic field by assuming the alignment of the fibers with the field indicates it is the mechanism dominating its observed structure. The magnetic energy density should therefore be larger than the kinetic and gravitational energy densities. relevant section from Papadoulo paper on relevant other papers In a series of papers the Planck collaboration compared the magnetic field to ISM structure across a range of hydrogen column densities (NH). Planck Collaboration Int. XXXII (2014) considered the orientation of structures in the diffuse ISM in the range of NH ∼ 1020 − 1022 and found significant alignment with the plane-of-the-sky magnetic field (Bpos). Planck Collaboration Int. XXXV (2015) found that in their sample of 10 nearby clouds, substructure at high column density tends to be perpendicular to the magnetic field, whereas at low column density there is a tendency for alignment. Studies of optical and NIR polarization, tracing Bpos in cloud envelopes, show that dense filaments within star-forming molecular clouds tend to be perpendicular to the magnetic field (Pereyra & Magalh˜aes 2004; Alves et al. 2008; Chapman et al. 2011; Sugitani et al. 2011). On the other hand, there are diffuse linear structures termed striations, that share a common smoothly varying orientation and are situated either in the outskirts of clouds (Goldsmith et al. 2008; Alves de Oliveira et al. 2014) or near dense filaments (Palmeirim et al. 2013). These structures show alignment with Bpos (van den Bergh 1956; Chapman et al. 2011; Palmeirim et al. 2013; Alves de Oliveira et al. 2014; Malinen et al. 2015). The extremely well-sampled data of Franco & Alves (2015) in Lupus I show that Bpos is perpendicular to the cloud’s main axis but parallel to neighbouring diffuse gas. There are, however, exceptions to this trend (e.g. L1506 in Taurus, Goodman et al. 1990).

East Africa has two rainy seasons: the long rains (March–May, MAM) and the short rains (October–December, OND). Most CMIP3/5 coupled models overestimate the short rains while underestimating the long rains. In this study, the East African rainfall bias is investigated by comparing the coupled historical simulations from CMIP5 to the corresponding SST-forced AMIP simulations. Much of the investigation is focused on the MRI-CGCM3 model, which successfully reproduces the observed rainfall annual cycle in East Africa in the AMIP experiment but its coupled historical simulation has a similar but stronger bias as the coupled multimodel mean. The historical−AMIP monthly climatology rainfall bias in East Africa can be explained by the bias in the convective instability (CI), which is dominated by the near surface moisture static energy (MSE) and ultimately by the MSE’s moisture component. The near surface MSE bias is modulated by the sea surface temperature (SST) over the western Indian Ocean. The warm SST bias in OND can be explained by both insufficient ocean dynamical cooling and latent flux, while the insufficient short wave radiation and excess latent heat flux mainly contribute to the cool SST bias in MAM.

ABSTRACT Integrated sample-based geochemical measurements enable new scientific discoveries in the Earth sciences. However, integration of geochemical data is difficult because of the variety of sample types and measured properties, idiosyncratic analytical procedures, and the time commitment required for adequate documentation. To support geochemists in integrating and reusing geochemical data, EarthChem, part of IEDA (Integrated Earth Data Applications), develops and maintains a suite of data systems to serve the scientific community. The EarthChem Library focuses on dataset publication, accessibility, and linking with other sources. Topical synthesis databases (e.g., PetDB, SedDB, Geochron) integrate data from several sources and preserve metadata associated with analyzed samples. The EarthChem Portal optimizes data discovery and provides analysis tools. Contributing authors obtain citable DOI identifiers, usage reports of their data, and increased discoverability. The community benefits from open access to data leading to accelerated scientific discoveries. Growing citations of EarthChem systems demonstrate its success.

INTRODUCTION - Knowledge transfer is one of the key aspects of understanding the world, as we pass on learnings from one generation to the other. - International development is one of the critical sectors that needs major improvement in the way that we create, share, and apply knowledge. - This is because international development, encapsulates our efforts to improve the basic living conditions and opportunities of marginalized and underserved people around the world.

Since I am not going to upgrade yet, I will make these notes public. THE NON-VISCOUS BERNOULLI EQUATION The steady-state Euler equation reads \left( \cdot \nabla \right) + {\rho}\nabla P + \nabla \Phi_G -\nu\left[\nabla^2 + {3}\left(\nabla \cdot \right) \right] = 0 where it is understood that the gravitational potential ΦG and the coefficient of kinematic viscosity ν are time independent. Now use the identity $\left( \cdot \nabla \right) = {2} \nabla \left( \cdot \right) - \times \left( \nabla \times \right)$, neglect viscosity for now, and integrate the momentum equation along a streamline from a reference point to the point of evaluation \cdot \left[\nabla \left( {2}v^2\right) - \times \left( \nabla \times \right) + {\rho}\nabla P + \nabla \Phi_G \right]} = 0. Since DS is the line element of a streamline, it is in the same direction as V,so you get {2}v^2 - \Phi_G +{\rho}} = Which is Bernoulli’s equation for any steady, non-viscous flow. To evaluate the last term on the RHS let’s assume we are dealing with a monatomic ideal gas. Then P = \left(\gamma - 1\right)\epsilon \rho = RT \rho. where R is the ideal gas constant. The first law of thermodynamics says that the change in internal energy ϵ plus the work done by the system is equal to the heat added, dQ = d\epsilon + PdV. For an ideal gas d\epsilon &= {\gamma -1}dT \\ PdV &= -\left(\gamma -1\right)\epsilon {\rho} = -RT{\rho} Then dQ = {\gamma -1}dT - RT {\rho}. We can rewrite {\rho} = {\rho} {RT} - {\rho}{RT^2} dT so that dQ &= R\left( 1 + {\gamma-1}\right)dT - {\rho} \\ &= {\gamma-1}dT - {\rho} Let’s also introduce the enthalpy h in the limit that the number of particles in the system is constant, dh = TdS + VdP = TdS + {\rho} and also the Gibbs free energy G in the same particle conserving limit dG = SdT + {\rho} Now we assume two special cases, adiabatic and isothermal flows. First assume an adiabatic flow, dQ = 0. Then {\rho}} = {\gamma -1} RT which we could have also seen from the expression for the enthalpy when dQ = TdS = 0. For the isothermal case use the ideal gas equation P = RTρ and that T is constant to write dP = RTdρ, then \int^{\rho}_{\rho_0}{{\rho}} = RT {\rho_0}}. which we could have also seen from the expression for the Gibbs free energy with dT = 0. We can also write out these expressions in terms of the isothermal or adiabatic sound speeds by noting that for the adiabatic case, dS = 0 implies that {\rho^{\gamma}} = cst then the adiabatic sound speed is c^{}_{s} = {d\rho}} = {\rho}} = The isothermal equation of state $P=(c^{}_{s})^2 \rho$ gives us that $c^{}_{s} = $. So we can write % {\rho}} = }_{s})^2 }{\gamma -1} = }_{s})^2 }{\gamma -1} \quad \ % {\rho}} = (c^{}_{s})^2 {\rho_0}} \quad \ HYDROSTATIC BALANCE In a thin accretion disk around a point mass of mass M, hydrostatic balance gives {\partial z} = \rho {\left( r^2 + z^2 \right)^{3/2}} or when the disk scale height is much smaller than the disk radius, H ≪ r, {H} = \rho {r^{3}}. If we define the disk Mach number as the ratio of the isothermal sound speed to the keplerian orbital velocity $v_K=$, then we have an expression for the Mach number in terms of disk sound speed for hydrostatic equilibrium in the vertical direction, = {r} = {c^{}_s} Now we can rewrite ([dP_ad]) and ([dP_iso]) in terms of the disk Mach number {\rho}} = {\gamma -1} {^2}\quad \ {\rho}} = {^2} {\rho_0}} \quad \