We wanted our data visualization to be personal, highlighting individual experiences, while still providing users with a broad overview of all the Carleton programs that have been run. To do this, we used a combination of raw data, photos, and memories.

To obtain the raw data we needed, we met with Helena Kaufman, the director of the OCS office, and Leslie Will, Carleton’s OCS data manager. They sent us a spreadsheet detailing all the programs going back to 1965. This spreadsheet included the program title, director, number of participants, year and term, along with the base country and countries visited. This spreadsheet was vital for creating the points on the map and the timeline to see how programs have changed over time.

To make the map more personal, we added photos coming from Carleton’s 50th anniversary page. This page on the OCS website, allows Carleton alumni who have studied abroad at Carleton to submit a personal memory and photos. In using this source, we selected quote snippets from a number of the memories, along with relevant photos. Additionally, the Carleton photo contest was a valuable resource. The OCS photo contest is open to any Carleton student who has studied abroad. Going through this archive allowed us to find a number of photos dating back to 2006.