-- Main Persona Page. Describes the types of users who will be using TAPoR tools.

Novice: Curious about Text Analysis Tools

Peter
Political Science Student
"I need an accessible tool I can pick up quickly."

Overview

• Has never used text analysis tools but realizes he needs them
  
• Would like to learn about tools in a non-intimidating environment
  
• Wants to test out a variety of tools
  
• Wants to learn quickly
  

Personal Profile

Peter is a first year Political Science student at the University of Alberta. One of the assignments in his elective Philosophy course has Peter analyzing trends in contract and property law, including the influence of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. While both philosophers were influential in developing the "social contract theory," Locke tended to liberalism, respecting man as a noble social animal honorable enough to fulfill any moral obligation, and Hobbes tended to authoritarianism, viewing the state as the only structure able to enforce some semblance of social order in man.

Peter wants to interrogate the languages used by each philosopher to determine the subtle distinctions in their views of the social contract and how they have each influenced early modern political structures. Peter knows a great deal of the work of searching and identifying can be done through close-reading, cutting & pasting key words and phrases, creating lists, and spotting the distinctions therein. However, Peter is convinced (from his long experience in key-word searching) that there must be a tool to help him quickly sift through words and spot occurrences of unique terms or phrases in the different texts, practices he is sure will help him understand where the two philosophers diverge. While looking at primary text would ground his research, Peter is also convinced that searching though secondary sources, like scholarly journals and encyclopedia entries, would also help him detect patterns of words and phrases that demarcate the ways in which these two philosophers wrote about the state and the citizen.

To enable him carry out this type of assignment, Peter understands he needs a text analysis tool.

Peter is overwhelmed by the volume and complexity of the many tools he finds online. Otherwise unsure of where to start, Peter begins surveying available tools, looking for those with a low barrier to entry. He also discovers from early experimentation that he wants to learn how to use tools in the doing, as opposed to feeling like he needs to read though voluminous instructions.

Computer Skills

• Intermediate Internet user. High speed connection. Regular PC use at home/school
  
• Peter occasionally visits online sites for news and legal information
  
• Knows how to refine his search on Google to get the specific information he wants
  
• Has not used any text analysis software before
  
• Not familiar with programming

Personal Attributes

• Experienced with computers and the Internet for learning and social networking
  
• Curious to learn
  
• Good organizational skills
  

Design Features

• Quick overview of text analysis and TAPoR
  
• Opportunity to learn about and try a variety of tools
  
• Simplicity and ease of use
  
• Minimal use of jargon or confusing terms
  
• Fewer clicks to access and use tools

PeterScenario

Intermediate: The Busy Researcher

Cindy
Comparative Literature
"I want to know how TAPoR can assist my studies and research."

Overview

• Has some knowledge of text analysis tools
  
• Interested in using visualization tools
  
• Would like to keep track of tools for academic purposes
  
• Willing to mix and match practical and interpretive techniques
  

Personal Profile

Cindy is a Graduate student in Comparative Literature currently feeling the pressure that comes having to track subtle shifts in language across multiple texts. She had taken a Digital Humanities course and is aware of the existence of some text analysis tools to assist her in her work, especially where there is a need to examine word frequency counts, count repetition, and visualize word clusters of the texts the is analyzing.

In many parts of the world with a multilingual population, English becomes a default or even an an official language. As the English language interfaces with indigenous dialects both languages gradually shift to accommodate and reflect concepts and ideas found in its polyglot environment. Common English words and expressions find completely new meanings in these environments. Cindy is particularly interested in writers from other world regions treat a given topic and how newer types of English expressions are emerging in those parts of the world. Cindy has been gathering a data-set of English language articles and selected literary texts from online sources from representative countries. Having done a preliminary read-through and annotation, Cindy wants to see if she can pin-point prototypical examples of how the different writers of a country or region treat a particular topic by running a set of text analysis tools on each article. Depending on the tool she uses, examples might be discovered with a word for word string matching; a synonym tool could also detect the same themes which contain different wordings. The context of these specific expressions are further extracted by a word co-occurrence tool where she gets to see the larger picture in which these words were used, either in a positive or negative context, including how they got articulated.

To enable her to carry out this type of work, Cindy understands that she needs a tool/ tools which will give her a bird's eye view of how people from different continents treat and express a topic in English.

Cindy is a a savvy digital theorist, an active participant in listserves and social discussions, and a blogger. Having already done one digital humanities course, Cindy is aware of the breath of tools available to her and is wiling to mix and match tools and techniques to produce desired results.

Computer Skills

• Avid Internet user, has a broadband account at home; carries her laptop between school and home
  
• Familiar with basic HTML and XML tagging but not with programming; cannot create DTDs independently
  
• Interested in visualization tools
  

Personal Attributes

• Busy with so many paper deadlines
  
• Does fairly well at multi-tasking, but can be persistent
  
• Willing to learn and improve her skill-set
  

Design Features

• Access to electronic text collections
  
• Easily accessible help guide
  
• Encourage exploration of projects
  
• Rich visualization tools

CindyScenarios

Advanced: The Analyzer

Friedman
Linguistics Professor
"I want to build and share tools that are useful."

Overview

• Loves to experiment with various text analysis tools
  
• Advanced knowledge of text analysis tools
  
• Interested in using tools for instructional purposes
  
• Would like to keep track of tools for academic purposes
  

Personal Profile

Friedman is a Linguistics Professor whose schedule involves teaching undergraduates and graduate classes. He is a self-taught programmer, a hobby which has evolved to become an integral part of his research. He likes developing tools for others to use. Friedman teaches an Introduction to Digital Humanities course where he points his students to the TAPoR website as a one resource they can rely on to do practical research on assignments.

Friedman is increasingly interested in the role evaluative responses on quantitative, qualitative, and visualization tools as part of their scholarly footprint. He wants the tools he uses and the tools he builds to benefit from scholarly peer review and the ongoing feedback gleaned from commenting. As he develops tools, he sees how they have impacted the study of texts and literature in different disciplines, and has become an advocate for the view that text analysis tools and tools generally can represent are not just a practical approach to investigating text, but are themselves a theoretical approach, like any other, which can be applied to text analysis.

To enable him to receive feedback on his work, and to become an advocate for a greater degree of communication between builders and between builder and user, Friedman understands he will need an platform and active community he can both go to and point to as part of academic rhetoric on tools.

Friedman is well-known in the DH community as friendly and collegial. He has a large network of students and associates. Friedman also knows that there are always numerous tools underdevelopment, or in second or third iterations, and is happy to work in a mutually beneficial collaborative settings to get and give evaluation and advice.

Computer Skills

• Advanced Internet user with high speed access
  
• Uses an iMac at work and Powerbook at home but also familiar with the Windows environment
  
• Familiar with many different programming languages, and likes to use the best tool for the job
  

Personal Attributes

• Demanding, not happy with "one size fits all" products
  
• Multi-tasker
  
• Wants to keep abreast of new tools
  
• Likes to share ideas with students and colleagues
  

Design Features

• Environment that encourages tool plugins
  
• A framework to easily review tools
  
• Encourage exploration of projects
  
• Visualization tools
  

FriedmanScenarios

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Other Scenarios

Media Analyst: The Tracker

James
Works in Media Relations

Personal Profile

James works in the media relations arm of a reputable in print and online newspaper. James tracks public opinions by tracking public reactions to stories published in the newspaper. This work involves reading, recording, and graphing comments, emails, and responses. To come up with an accurate snap shot of reader reaction, James wants to use a text analysis tool to automatically count the number of times emotionally charged language is used in reference to an event, a person, or a product. His editor recognizes the benefit of having James apply technologies to his research, but is unwilling to budget for new technologies themselves. In searching for open access statistical tools, James discovers TAPoR.

The Freshman: Needs New Skills

Rachel
The Undergrad

Rachel is a first year university student taking a Digital Humanities course. She plans to declare a major in History and knows technical skills are valued in the academy and the job market. In her Digital Humanities class she discovers the power of text analysis tools for historical analysis. She uses the word frequency tool and collocates to determine how many times a word like "suffrage" was used by both female and male writers in the early period of the Women's Liberation Movement. She hopes to illustrate that the resistance to women's liberation was not entirely gendered. In applying algorithmic approaches to historical studies, Rachel acquires additional analytical and practical skills.

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