Information visualisation and library data: a case study of Public Library of Veria, Greece

Abstract

This paper comprises an attempt to create information visualizations for the Public Library of Veria city, Greece based on library data. Specifically, it is a formative study about the use of a visualization tool for analysing library data. The goal of this study is to make suggestions for the presentation of the public library’s data in order to be more accessible and understandable by the users and the librarians. The data were provided by the Library and the data types that were used were selected after a thorough consultation with the library staff. Consideration was given to the availability of data. The study employed information visualization techniques to create the visual displays of the data. Visualizations were created using the Tableau Public software in an effort to provide a quantitative, analytical, and evidence-based view of how libraries could manage their data. The study also aimed to gather any additional potential uses of visualizations that can be exploited by the libraries in the future. The current research was conducted in a single public library, thus further research in different, expanded settings and contexts is suggested.