DocBlocks: communication-minded visualization of topics in U.S. congressional bills

  • Authors:
  • Yannick Assogba;Irene Ros;Matt McKeon

  • Affiliations:
  • IBM Research, Cambridge, MA, USA;IBM Research, Cambridge, MA, USA;IBM Research, Cambridge, MA, USA

  • Venue:
  • CHI '10 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems
  • Year:
  • 2010

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Abstract

US Federal legislation is a hot topic for discussion and advocacy on the web. Yet legislative bills present a significant challenge for both experts and average citizens to navigate and understand. To explore solutions to this problem, we have created DocBlocks: a prototype visualization and website that enables users to explore the content of congressional bills and communicate their findings to others. Our technique enables us to take any document from a categorized corpus, classify its sections, and visualize its topic structure. With the launch of this service, we hope to provide a valuable tool for open governance and learn from our users at this critical intersection of visualization, advocacy, social software, and civil society.