DataMaps

(This site is under construction. More information on DataMaps and related links and publications will be added. Please visit periodically to check for updates)

DataMaps is a front end tool  for visualization and analysis of census data on the United States. Census databases are very large and retrieving data in a way that is useful for the purpose at hand is a challenge. Thousands of attributes (variables collected as census data) are recorded for each county in each state. DataMaps  (originally known as DynaMaps) aims to solve this problem using multiple coordinated views of data. It has a map view , a histogram view , a detailed spreadsheet and a scatter plot view.

The histogram presents a visual summary of how many states are present in each value range of the given variable. There is a histogram for each variable in the chosen variable set. Selecting a particular range in the histograms will highlight only those states whose variable value lies in that range. The map view  indicates variable values by color depth and highlights the selected states. The scatter plot aids in comparing two variables and also highlights the data-points representing the selected states. The detailed spreadsheet is activated on clicking on a region on the map and presents details in tabulated format.

                                                            A snapshot of DataMaps. This is only a static image, clicking does not function.

Further work on DataMaps

Several usability studies have been conducted on DataMaps, indicating what has to be done to improve the intuitiveness of the user interface. The histograms and sliders are the areas that need to be improved for intuitiveness of meaning, purpose and usage. Downloads of updated versions will be available on this site.

Instructions to download current version of DataMaps

1. Download the file DataMapsJan31.zip to the desired location on your computer.
2. Unzip the file DataMapsNov20.zip with a desired folder-name (e.g. fsDataMaps) to the desired location on your computer.
3. Open the unzipped folder and double click on setup.exe to start the setup.
4. Follow the instructions in the setup program. It will install DataMaps in your computer. Please be patient as the installation will
    probably require a few minutes.
5. During installation, the installation program might ask the user if he/she wants to retain a newer version of a file, because the file in
    in the user's computer is the newer one. Installation will proceed only after user's response. According to the recommendation  in
    the dialogbox, choose to retain the newer version.

Starting with DataMaps

Note to the user: This downloadable version comes with a limited dataset and does not contain the complete available census data. The USA counties CD has the complete data. When starting, this version of DataMaps will prompt the user to insert the USA Counties CD. If you have the CD, insert it into your CD drive and click "Retry". If you do not have the CD while starting DataMaps, click "ignore" at the prompt and proceed to use the limited dataset that is available with this version.

The "How do I get information and answers" section helps the user perform desired tasks. Choose from "How do I use the features" or "How do I get information" for help.

For students at Virginia Tech working on DataMaps

1. Download the file DataMapsMar13.zip to the desired location on your computer. This version comes without the DevPartner  
    Failsafe modules. So you will not get pop up error messages.
2. Unzip the file DataMapsNov20.zip with a desired folder-name (e.g. fsDataMaps) to the desired location on your computer.
3. Open the unzipped folder and double click on setup.exe to start the setup.
4. Follow the instructions in the setup program. It will install DataMaps in your computer. Please be patient as the installation will
    probably require a few minutes.
5. During installation, the installation program might ask the user if he/she wants to retain a newer version of a file, because the file in
    in the user's computer is the newer one. Installation will proceed only after user's response. According to the recommendation  in
    the dialogbox, choose to retain the newer version.

Last updated on 31-JAN-2004 by Sujatha Krishnamoorthy <sukrish2@vt.edu>