Visualizing Geographic Data

A couple of months ago, on a whim, I crunched some numbers from the National Center for Education Statistics. I was curious how employment opportunities for academic librarians in the United States might have changed in recent years. I decided to look at the change that had occurred between 2000 and 2010. I ended up visualizing the results with a mapping tool from Many Eyes. I didn’t share the results anywhere. When I visited Many Eyes again today, I was surprised to find that my visualization had been featured on the site. Apparently someone liked it, so I thought it I would share it here.

As shown in the graphic, there were significant shifts in academic librarian positions in various states, ranging from a decline of 15% in Alaska to an increase of 22% in Minnesota. Clicking on the static image here will link you to a more interactive version on the Many Eyes site. I suspect that other factors are at work as well. For example, unlike its neighboring states in the South, Louisiana experienced a decline, a change that may be related to the economic impact of Hurricane Katrina.

Want to learn more about data visualization and related topics?

Click the buttons below to see relevant entries in my bibliography, SmithFile.