Afterword: Novel Knowledge, or Cleansing Dirty Data: Toward Open-Source Histories of the Novel

Abstract

This afterword discusses the most important, most under-rewarded, and most unsexy aspect of data visualization: the production and use of reliable underlying data. Starting from the premise that visualizations are only as good as their underlying evidentiary base, Freidman addresses the contributions of digital projects that have laid the foundation for such practices, including massive multi-institution projects like Orlando, mid-sized projects like The Early Novels Database (END), and the author’s own small-scale project, Manuscript Fiction in the Age of Print (MFAP). Following this assessment, the author proposes a set of guidelines for best practices in creating new data so that amendable, transformable visualizations can be produced, built on collective knowledge.