A semantic-centric approach to information visualization

Abstract

A semantic-centric approach to information visualization is described in this paper. In contrast to the conventional document-centric approaches, the semantic-centric approach focuses on the intrinsic connectivity in an information space beyond the boundary of individual documents. The approach aims to visualize the profound interrelationships perceived by the scientific community through the literature. An application of this approach is demonstrated through an author co-citation analysis of the entire collection of the ACM Hypertext conference proceedings over the last decade. Sub-fields, or specialties, in the field of hypertext are visualized based on the results of a factor analysis of author co-citation patterns. Nine snapshots of annual author co-citation maps introduce a new way of knowledge discovering in an information space shaped by the contemporary literature.