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Announcements

Announcing CESTA-I/O: The New Interactive and Online Platform for CESTA Publications

The Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis (CESTA) is proud to introduce our new platform, CESTA-I/O (Interactive/Online), which will house the digital, online editions of our annual research anthologies. Each year, Stanford undergraduates from diverse academic disciplines join CESTA to collaborate with faculty and graduate students on pioneering digital humanities projects. Their contributions culminate in detailed research reports, which are showcased in our annual anthology.

This year, we continue the tradition of printing the anthology while also offering an expanded digital experience with CESTA-I/O (Interactive-Online). This interactive platform invites scholars, students, and the broader community to explore the data, visualizations, and tools created by CESTA researchers interns. CESTA-I/O is not just a publication but a collaborative space where users can engage with the innovative outputs of CESTA projects, delving deeper into the research in ways that print alone cannot provide.

Discover the vibrant world of digital humanities and immerse yourself in the work of our talented students. Visit cesta-io.stanford.edu to explore CESTA-I/O! Join us in celebrating a year of creativity, discovery, and collaboration! We will announce more details about the printed 2024 CESTA Research Anthology next week!

This platform and project was designed and developed by Nicole Coleman, Digital Research Architect at Stanford University Libraries, and Research Director of the Humanities+Design Lab at CESTA, and Deepak Dennison, current PhD student in Information Science at Cornell University and Master’s alum of Stanford Graduate School of Education. The website has been updated, maintained, and edited by CESTA Center Manager Eyüp Eren Yürek. Going forward, CESTA staff will administer and maintain the website.

Explore Now: cesta-io.stanford.edu

Below you can find an interview CESTA’s Center Manager Eren conducted with Nicole and Deepak in July 2024 about the technical and design choices of the new website.

Eren: Why did you choose Quarto and GitHub as the software and platform to create a webpage for CESTA projects?

Nicole: As Research Director for Humanities + Design, I believe in the power of visualization to convey research results. For many years, I wanted a static platform for CESTA that would allow researchers to share interactive as well as static visualizations online. Quarto is an ideal platform because it is versatile, enabling researchers to focus on their content without needing to learn HTML or CSS. GitHub complements Quarto because of its seamless integration, web server capabilities, and repository-level access management, which helps prevent accidental overwriting of work.

Deepak: GitHub was chosen for its user-friendly collaboration features and its ability to render code into web pages through services like GitHub Pages. Nicole recommended Quarto for its versatility in scientific publishing.

Eren: How is this webpage different from platforms like WordPress or Substack?

Deepak: WordPress and Substack are primarily intended for text-based articles, while the CESTA Anthology is designed for scientific publishing.

Nicole: Content produced via Quarto is more sustainable and portable. WordPress is a content management system with dependencies like databases and plugins, which require regular maintenance. In contrast, Quarto generates static pages that can be served anywhere without relying on a separate database. Quarto’s design for scientific publishing also makes it easy to format for both online and print, enhancing portability and longevity.

Eren: Why launch this platform now and with CESTA projects?

Deepak: This platform provides a space to share CESTA’s research with the public, increasing visibility for faculty and other stakeholders.

Nicole: CESTA is a hub for digital research, so it’s logical to have a digital platform to share that research. This also gives students an opportunity to learn digital publishing—a skill they can apply to other projects.

Eren: Can contributors without technical skills use this platform?

Nicole: We’ve designed a two-tier system for contributors. Those without technical skills can submit only text and images to create a beautiful anthology entry. For contributors interested in embedding code, interactive visualizations, and data tables, we provide step-by-step instructions.

Deepak: The platform is well-documented to help contributors with minimal technical skills. Additionally, Quarto has a large user community, offering guidance and support.

Eren: How does this platform support the diverse methodologies and research interests at CESTA?

Deepak: The platform is domain-agnostic and compatible with a wide range of industry-standard technologies like Python, JavaScript, and R. Its flexibility ensures it can accommodate projects ranging from mapping medieval travelers to analyzing human rights data.

Eren: What are the sustainability aspects of this platform?

Deepak: Sustainability has been a primary focus. The project’s modular structure supports scalability and long-term viability.

Nicole: This project prioritizes sustainability through three key principles:

1.         Static site design: Fewer dependencies and points of failure since it doesn’t rely on a backend web stack.

2.         Data-centric approach: Visualizations are representations of the core product—the data—which can be preserved and deposited in the Stanford Digital Repository.

3.         Simplified maintenance: Authors can focus on preserving data, code, and prose, ensuring long-term accessibility.

Eren: What is the vision for the future of this project?

Deepak: We hope to see the platform grow into a self-sustaining resource where authors can contribute independently, without requiring much guidance from CESTA administrators.

Eren: Is the platform open-source?

Nicole and Deepak: Yes, the entire website is open-source.

Eren: Do you have any final thoughts?

Nicole: Creating this platform has been a dream since CESTA’s inception. It encourages digital research and simplifies sharing it widely, advancing the incredible work done here.