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Mapping Amazon(.com) emerged as an effort to create a “random interaction with books”–the experience you have browsing libraries and bookstores to find nearby titles on the same topic. As users zoom in, new layers of subtopics appear and the categorizations resolve into collections of works by individual authors and specific titles.
The graphic is more appealing and, in some ways, more effective than text-based subject indices (think of how often you’ve recognized a book by the cover illustration or color of the spine), allowing users to quickly explore related works. In many ways, the project doescapture the feel of browsing shelves: the playful curiosity that leads readers from one book to another, to new authors and subjects.
. Historian Shae Davidson's research interests include public policy and the relationship between culture and civil society. His publications range from articles on industrial history to absurdist poetry.
The graphic is more appealing and, in some ways, more effective than text-based subject indices (think of how often you’ve recognized a book by the cover illustration or color of the spine), allowing users to quickly explore related works. In many ways, the project does capture the feel of browsing shelves: the playful curiosity that leads readers from one book to another, to new authors and subjects.