Software and Tools for Researchers: Visualisation Tools

This LibGuide brings together, in one place, software and tools for researchers for digitisation projects and research data management.

Data Visualisation

Data visualisation allows users a way to understanding data by putting it in a visual context such as a word cloud, chart, graph, or layered on a map.

Tools are listed alphabetically below - look to the column on the right to see some which have further guides / instructions.

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See also the Promote Your Research website created by UCD Research and UCD Library

Visualisation Tools

The D3 Gallery
Wide range of graphs, charts, etc to which you can add your own data to visualise your Information
Datawrapper
Choose to visualise your data as an interactive chart, table or map. Datawrapper provides training materials, tutorials and has discussion forums on choosing best way to visualise your dataset.
Easy Timelines
Generate graphical timelines from a simple script
Exhibit
Provides a simple, but powerful means for scholars to analyse and display the relationships between their data, using timelines, and maps.
Gapminder
Visual animation of statistics.
Gephi
Gephi is open-source and free visualisation software for graphs and networks.
GraphViz
Graph visualisation software.
Histograph
Histograph provides a graphical relationship viewer for collections of multimedia repositories. It allows for exploration of such collections by identifying people, places, themes and creating navigable webs of relationships to allow for scholarly interrogation of the documents.
JSTOR Data for Research
Free, self-service tool that allows researchers to select and interact with content on JSTOR facilitating textual analysis and text mining.
JuxtaposeJS
Helps storytellers compare two pieces of similar media, including photos, and gifs, e.g. then and now.
Kesif
Keshif is a visual data browser that makes it possible to browse and understand your data. It presents visual summaries of your data properties, such as who, what, when and where, in its facets and timeline.
The KnowWhere Graph
The KnowWhereGraph improves data-driven decision making and data analytics, specifically data analytics that involve geographic data.
MALLET
MAchine Learning for LanguagE Toolkit - a collection of tools that facilitate document classification, sequence tagging, and topic modelling.
Music Box
Mapping and visualising music collections
Palladio
This product from Stanford University lets you visualise complex historical data. Explore your data through timelines, maps, relationship diagrams and share your findings through a relatively simple web interface.
Panoply
Animations of the ancient world - as well as information about vase design, the images on vases are brought to life. Themes range from scenes of athletics, to warfare, god & goddesses, mythology, monsters, chariot races, shields and citizenship.
R
Open source programming language and software environment for statistical computing and graphics.
RAW Graphs
RAW Graphs is an open source data visualization framework providing the link between spreadsheet applications and vector graphics editors.
Exhibit Simile
Exhibit lets you create web pages with advanced text search and filtering functionalities, with interactive maps, timelines, and other visualizations.
Social Networks Visualizer
Free and open-source tool for social network analysis
StoryMap JS
Helps you tell stories on the web that highlight the locations of a series of events.
Tableau Public
Free data storytelling application - lets you create interactive graphs, maps and live dashboards.
Timeline JS
Enables anyone to build visually,rich, interactive timelines.
TimeMapper
TimeMapper from the Open Knowledge Foundation Labs is a platform combining temporal and spatial data through an innovative and interactive platform for discovery.
Venngage
Free templates to help you tell your stories and present your data with infographics.
Vida
Vida is a software data visualisation tool that reads JSON files and turns them into visual dashboards. No coding skills are required.
Visual Complexity
Visualisation of complex networks.
Visual Thesaurus
This is an interactive dictionary and thesaurus which creates word maps.
Word Cloud Generator
A programme for generating word clouds.
WordNet
Large lexical database of English.

Datawrapper

Datawrapper
Choose to visualise your data as an interactive chart, table or map. Datawrapper provides training materials, tutorials and has discussion forums on choosing best way to visualise your dataset.

See Shawn Day's course material and tutorial: digitalnomad.ie/using-datawrapper-to-create-data-visualisations/

See also UCD Library's guides at libguides.ucd.ie/gisguide/show_your_data

Exhibit

Exhibit Simile
Exhibit lets you create web pages with advanced text search and filtering functionalities, with interactive maps, timelines, and other visualizations.

See Shawn Day's course material and tutorial on Simile Exhibit at: digitalnomad.ie/exhibit-vs-palladio/simile-exhibit-tutorial-v3/

Gephi

Gephi
Gephi is open-source and free visualisation software for graphs and networks.

See Shawn Day's course material and tutorial: digitalnomad.ie/walking-through-gephi/ and digitalnomad.ie/using-gephi-for-network-analysis-and-visualisation/

Palladio

Palladio
This product from Stanford University lets you visualise complex historical data. Explore your data through timelines, maps, relationship diagrams and share your findings through a relatively simple web interface.

See Shawn Day's course material and tutorial: http://digitalnomad.ie/exhibit-vs-palladio/

TimelineJS

Creating an Online Timeline with Timeline JS
Step-by-step instructions with links to media are provided to show how this Timeline named Events in UCD's History was created. Updated March 2024.

Click on this image below to open the TimeLine created with Timeline JS

45 Years of Referendums in Europe 1972-2017 [Scroll down page and click on Load Content to see the TimeLine]

Social and Employment Impacts of the Covid-19 Pandemic The European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) created this busy timeline - filled with data and events

Mapping a World of Cities is another example of a Knight Lab Timeline 'Covering four centuries, these maps show how world cities changed alongside the changing art and science of cartography' This is a timeline of historical and vintage maps of cities around the world.

The New York Academy of Medicine Library A timeline of major events and activities in the history of the Library from 1847 to 2012

Discovering Galapagos : a Journey through the History of the Islands

Diversity in the Women Air Force Service Pilots of WWII

TimeMapper

TimeMapper from the Open Knowledge Foundation Labs is a platform combining temporal and spatial data through an innovative and interactive platform for discovery. It is open source software that offers you a unique and effective way of sharing your research data and exploring temporal and spatial patterns. It is an easy to use and powerful tool for creating integrated timelines and maps in minutes to tell interactive data-driven stories.

Utilising Google Docs as a simple data source, you can expose dates and locations in an engaging and interactive format for your own use as well as the external presentation of your research findings.

See Shawn Day's course material and tutorial: digitalnomad.ie/an-introduction-to-timemapper/