Palladio is a digital humanities site that allows users to upload a dataset via a .csv file and display the information either through a traditional map or a word map. The spreadsheets themselves are uploaded by simply dragging and dropping the file into a box on the webpage. It is possible to add datasets within others by clicking on the name of the information the new file is a part of and adding the table there.

Once uploaded, the data can be manipulated in a number of way. If there is any geographic information within the data, users can add the set to a map as seen below. The information was provided through the WPA Slave Narrative dataset available from the Library of Congress, which was also used in the previous post regarding CartoDB.

One of the more robust aspects of Palladio is the creation of word maps. The site allows users to choose which information is displayed, and a specific topic that information is mapped to. The next map splits the narrative into the interviewees’ sex, and then maps the topics that were discussed within their interviews.

As seen here, Palladio is able to show which topics were discussed by only one sex, and then link the ones that both discussed in between them. Some of the maps can get a bit convoluted if there are a lot of points that do not connect with each other. In this particular dataset one interviewer may have only one interviewee, so mapping this particular set gets very clustered.

Palladio can be a powerful and useful tool. The key is to use datasets that will give clear visuals that provide insights that mere text cannot do.