Information Architecture of CiteLens: A Visualization Tool for Context and Content Analysis of References in Traditional Humanities Monographs

• Author / Creator

  Ilovan, Mihaela

• This thesis investigates new avenues of conducting context and content citation analysis for long-form publications in traditional humanities, an area of scholarly output which has been, to a large extent, ignored by index-based citation analysis studies. The contributions brought here are twofold: first, I present the information architecture and the features of a prototype citation analysis visualization tool for context and content analysis of citation; second, I discuss the adoption of existing Digital Humanities tools and methodologies for the creation of a Problem Solving Environment geared towards collecting, enhancing, and analyzing citation data extracted from the full text of humanities monographs. The thesis identifies two significant gaps in citation analysis for humanities research: (1) the scarcity of such studies, caused primarily by the absence of comprehensive citation data in this area of knowledge and by the characteristics of humanities research that make it less suited to traditional, index-based citation analysis; (2) the absence of consistent research methodologies and reliable tools for content and context analysis of citation – the area of citation analysis research that I argue is best suited for studying humanities citation patterns. After examining the particularities of research and referencing in the humanities, I outline how they inform the requirements for the creation of a visualization tool for context analysis of citation. The information architecture of such a prototype tool is described in detail, with a focus on its technical specifications and the markup schema developed to enable the analysis and visualization of humanities monographs for content and context analysis of citations. Future directions identified include the creation of a prototype Problem-Solving Environment for citation analysis in traditional humanities rooted in Digital Humanities tools and methodologies that can be employed to collect, enhance, analyze and disseminate humanities citation data.I conclude that this methodological approach can lead to a better understanding of citation practices in traditional areas of the humanities, which – in turn – may result in improved evaluation strategies for research output in the humanities.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • citation analysis
  • visualization
  • digital humanities

• Graduation date

  Spring 2019

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Arts/Master of Library and Information Studies

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-19c5-4p09

• License

  Permission is hereby granted to the University of Alberta Libraries to reproduce single copies of this thesis and to lend or sell such copies for private, scholarly or scientific research purposes only. Where the thesis is converted to, or otherwise made available in digital form, the University of Alberta will advise potential users of the thesis of these terms. The author reserves all other publication and other rights in association with the copyright in the thesis and, except as herein before provided, neither the thesis nor any substantial portion thereof may be printed or otherwise reproduced in any material form whatsoever without the author's prior written permission.