The tools on this page can be used to expand, enhance, and share your digital scholarship projects. All are openly available for anyone to use. Most require setting up an account, and some may require programming or technical skills. We offer this list (organized by function) as a starting point - please let us know if have worked with other tools that you would recommend to colleagues.
Please note that the UW Bothell/Cascadia Library does not provide technical support for tools at this time.
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Hypothe.is
With the aim of improving the quality of information available for scholars on the web, Hypothes.is makes it possible to analyze everything from blogs and news articles to scientific articles and e-books. Collaborate with others to discuss texts and keep personal notes on what you read. Examples: Science in the Classroom, Live-annotate
Lacuna Stories allows multiple users to simultaneously read and annotate a digital text, transitioning the Western tradition of handwritten annotations to a 21st century format. Annotations can be searched and mapped to pinpoint particular types of responses or follow individual student reading experiences. Lacuna can also support long-form writing assignments. Assignment Ideas
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A platform for creating online narrative exhibits using maps, images, and timelines. Neatline is an add-on tool for Omeka, and requires Omeka installation. Examples | Case Studies
An open source project by Knight Lab at Northwestern University that lets users tell stories by mapping the locations of events and presenting the map in a slide-based format. Maps created with StoryMapJS have been featured by Al Jazeera, The Washington Post, and CNBC. Examples
TimelineJS is an open-source tool that enables anyone to build visually rich, interactive timelines. Incorporate media and images into your timeline. Examples
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NodeXL Basic is a free, open-source template for Microsoft® Excel® 2007, 2010, 2013 and 2016 that makes it easy to explore network graphs. With NodeXL, you can enter a network edge list in a worksheet, click a button and see your graph, all in the familiar environment of the Excel window. Examples
igraph
igraph is a collection of open-source network analysis tools with the emphasis on efficiency, portability, and ease of use. The igraph network-analysis package can be used with R, Python, C/C++. Examples
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Tableau
Tableau is a data visualization/business intelligence (BI) software that allows you to drag and drop fields in your data to build interactive visualizations and dashboards. Examples/gallery: Viz of the Day
Voyant
Voyant is an online text analysis program that gathers together many discrete text analysis functions into one program. It can generate a quantitative summary of a document or a collection of documents, including word count, vocabulary density, and most frequently used words. It can also generate interactive visualizations, such as word clouds, trendlines, and node and link graphs. Examples/gallery: Voyant in Research
RAW
RAW is an online visualization tool that allows you to choose from pre-selected visualizations and map aspects of your data to the view. The program focuses on chart types that are more difficult to create with other tools, so line graphs, bar charts, etc. are not available. Limited customization is available with color, size, and sorting, and you can download or embed the vector image you create. Examples/gallery: Video overview
Processing
Processing is an open source sketchbook and programming language for coding in a visual arts context. Both are programming languages that require coding. Examples/gallery: Exhibitions & projects, OpenProcessing favorites, Processing elements
D3: Data Driven Documents
D3 is an open source library of prebuilt visualizations you can apply to your data to create interactive data visualizations on the web. Customizing the view requires familiarity with javascript programming language and CSS for styling. Examples/gallery: Gallery, D3 elements
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TimeLine Curator: a web tool for turning text documents into an interactive timeline
CLAVIN: Cartographic Location And Vicinity INdexer: a web tool for turning text documents into a map of locations
Microsoft Power BI: A BI program for data visualization and reporting
Plot.ly: A web platform that produces D3 diagrams without programming
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Google Sites
Create your own website with minimal coding knowledge for free through Google Apps. Example: Gsite Gallery
Omeka
Omeka is a free, flexible, and open source web-publishing platform for the display of library, museum, archives, and scholarly collections and exhibitions. There are two versions of Omeka--server-side installation or on a centrally shared server, Omeka.net. Please note that several plug-ins including the Neatline plug-in are not available when using Omeka.net. Examples
Scalar
Scalar is a free, open source authoring and publishing platform that’s designed to make it easy for authors to write long-form, born-digital scholarship online. Scalar enables users to assemble media from multiple sources and juxtapose them with their own writing. Examples: New Media and American Literature, Scalar Showcase
WordPress
An open source project, WordPress is an full content management systems. Use the available plugins and widgets to expand the capabilities of your work. Examples: WordPress Showcase
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