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Complete
Research Bibliography - Fall
2000
A
comprehensive bibliography of relevant literature complied
by Commission members - contains over 600 references. This
was used as a starting point for the current research agenda.
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Research
Agenda Development Process
Alan
M. MacEachren, Penn State University, USA
Menno-Jan
Kraak, ITC, The Netherlands
The
International Cartographic Association (ICA) Commission on Visualization
and Virtual Environments took the lead in developing a comprehensive
geovisualization research agenda, reported on here. The Commission
assembled international teams of researchers to address four themes:
representation of geospatial information, integration of visual with
computational methods of knowledge construction, interface design
for geovisualization environments, and cognitive/usability aspects
of geovisualization. The teams included both Commission members and
others active in geovisualization and related areas. Participants
represent a range of disciplines and include representatives from
government and the private sector as well as academic researchers.
Each team was assisted by an expert from outside geographic information
science who provided critical review of white papers prior to completion
of final manuscripts. The full set of manuscripts was then submitted
to formal peer review. Preliminary drafts of each paper are posted
here. Below, we detail the process that lead to this research development
effort, starting with a few comments about the roots of the Commission
itself and include discussion of the multistage review process used
to arrive at finished agenda documents.
The
ICA Commission on Visualization (predecessor to the current Commission
on Visualization and Virtual Environments) was charged, during its
1995-1999 term, with identifying and addressing the core research
problems associated with extending cartographic methods into an increasingly
dynamic technological environment. The second, equally important,
charge was to identify complementary research efforts in computer
graphics, information visualization, exploratory data analysis (graphical
and computational statistics) and related fields and develop mechanisms
for coordination between these and cartographic visualization efforts.
An important mechanism for such exchange of ideas was cooperation
between the Commission and ACM SIGGRAPH that resulted in creation,
within the later organization, of the "Carto Project" (a three year
project focused on cross disciplinary sharing of knowledge that was
led by Theresa-Marie Rhyne - a SIGGRAPH Director at large as well
as a Commission member).
One
step toward meeting the first charge was to organize a
special issue of Computers & Geoscience focused on the state of
the art in visual exploration of geospatial data (MacEachren and Kraak,
1997). Another was to organize a workshop
(held in GŠvle, Sweden, May 1997) to outline key research topics
that could provide focus for collaborative research by Commission
members over the next several years. An overview of that effort can
be found in (MacEachren and Visualization, 1998), available through
the Commission's web site at: www.geovista.psu.edu/icavis.
These initial discussions guided subsequent research, some of which
appeared in a
special issue of the International Journal of Geographical Information
Science in the summer of 1999 (Kraak and MacEachren, 1999). As
those papers were being prepared for publication, a plan for a second
4-year term under an expanded title and terms of reference was developed.
A primary goal in that plan was to develop a more complete, formal,
and updated research agenda that could serve as a guide for research,
not only by Commission members, but also by the geovisualization (and
related) research communities more generally.
The
first stage of the process involved creating four international teams
of geovisualization researchers to develop 'white papers' that addressed
the state of the art and associated research challenges within the
following themes: representation, integration of visualization with
geocomputation and spatial databases, user interfaces, and cognitive-usability
issues. We met in Ottawa (Aug. 1999) to consider the state of the
art within each theme and discuss research priorities, outlines for
the agenda papers, and ways to deal with crosscutting topics. At that
meeting, we also developed a formal process leading to this special
issue. This issue, thus, provides the vehicle for disseminating critical
research challenges delineated through our international discussions
to the wider research community.
Once
each agenda team completed draft white papers, the second stage in
the process involved solicitation of comments from the geovisualization
community (including members of other agenda teams) followed by a
three-day meeting in Melbourne, Australia to discuss and work on each
paper. Papers were revised based upon comments received and discussion
at that meeting. Then, further input was solicited from Commission
members generally and from four recognized experts outside geographic
information science whose own research is relevant to each paper (one
per paper). These individuals were asked to provide three kinds of
reaction: (1) an appraisal of the challenges identified with particular
attention to any critical omissions (as seen from the perspective
of their own discipline); (2) suggestions about ways in which the
research challenges identified for geovisualization might complement
work in related disciplines (through projects that advance geovisualization
by building on work in other areas, projects that advance visualization
generally by taking advantage of progress in geovisualization, and
joint work by interdisciplinary teams); and (3) an appraisal of whether
the challenges (and arguments for them) will be clear and compelling
to non-GIScienists and suggestions on ways in which the paper might
be strengthened in this regard. This stage in the process was not
a blind review. We requested input from individuals whose work we
respected and whom we considered able to offer constructive, while
critical, feedback at this important stage of the research agenda
development process.
Lead
authors and their teams considered comments from outside experts and
from other Commission members. Final versions of each paper were then
prepared and submitted to a formal, blind review (as is standard for
publications in Cartography & GIS, but as a set rather than individually).
Our
outside experts and the papers they focused on are: Representation
- Alex Pang, Department of Computer Science, University of California,
Santa Cruz; Integration - Daniel Keim, Department of Computer Science
Institute, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg; Interfaces -
Catherine Plaisant, Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory, University
of Maryland; Cognition/Usability - Mary Kaiser, NASA Ames Research
Center Moffett Field, CA. Their input was invaluable and we offer
our gratitude for the time and effort they committed to this task.
We believe that this critical feedback has allowed each paper included
here to do a substantially better job of delineating fundamental research
challenges and of identifying ways that these challenges share components
with those being faced in related disciplines. Each paper also benefited
from suggestions and reaction provided by other Commission members
and by the anonymous reviewers. Although, as is clear above, many
individuals provided valuable input to the process, the content, conclusions,
and recommendations detailed in each paper are the product of the
individual, dedicated teams.
Kraak,
M.-J. and MacEachren, A., 1999. Visualization for exploration of spatial
data. International Journal of Geographical Information Science,
13(4): 285-287.
MacEachren,
A.M. and Kraak, M.-J., 1997. Exploratory cartographic visualization:
advancing the agenda. Computers & Geosciences, 23(4): 335-343.
MacEachren,
A.M. and Visualization, a.I.C.o., 1998. VISUALIZATION - Cartography
for the 21st century, Proceedings of the 7th Annual Conference
of Polish Spatial Information Association. Polish Spatial Information
Association, May 19-21, Warsaw, Poland, pp. 287-296 (also: www.geog.psu.edu.ica/icavis/poland1.html).
Preliminary
Commission Agenda: 1997-1999
