A Comparative Study of State-of-The-Art Linked Data Visualization Tools
In VOILA Workshop, jointly with ISWC 2020
2020
Conference/Workshop
- Contact persons: George Papastefanatos , Nikos Bikakis
- Relevant research project: VisualFacts
Abstract.
Data visualization tools are of great importance for the ex-
ploration and the analysis of Linked Data (LD) datasets. Such tools
allow users to get an overview, understand content, and discover inter-
esting insights of a dataset. Visualization approaches vary according to
the domain, the type of data, the task that the user is trying to perform,
as well as the skills of the user. Thus, the study of the capabilities that
each approach offers is crucial in supporting users to select the proper
tool/technique based on their need.
In this paper we present a comparative study of the state-of-the-art LD
visualization tools over a list of fundamental use cases. First, we define 16
use cases that are representative in the setting of LD visual exploration,
examining several tool’s aspects; e.g., functionality capabilities, feature
richness. Then, we evaluate these use cases over 10 LD visualization
tools, examining: (1) if the tools have the required functionality for the
tasks; and (2) if they allow the successful completion of the tasks over
the DBpedia dataset. Finally, we discuss the insights derived from the
evaluation, and we point out possible future directions