The annotation interface - machines-reading-maps/Tutorials-Newsletters GitHub Wiki

Once you have selected something on the map that you want to annotate, Recogito shows a simple pop-up annotation interface. You can use it to enrich your annotation, and make the data more useful. There are a few options on the interface, from top to bottom.

  • Categories. There are three categories you can select, to better define your annotation:

    • Entity. Entities are representations of natural, built or administrative features that reproduce some of the characteristics of the real life element they represent. For example the outline of a building, or the course of a river.

    • Label. Labels are alphanumeric elements that appear on the map, like place names, or altitudes of mountains.

    • Symbol. Symbols are arbitrary representations of natural, built or administrative features, like geometric shapes or particular colours. Some symbol rely on established cultural conventions to be understood (like the use of the colour blue for water), others need to be accompanied by a legend.

Annotations will show with different colours according to their category: red for entity, blue for label, and green for symbol. Both uncategorised and multi-categories annotations will show in black.

  • Transcription. This field is to transcribe text that appears on maps. You are free to use Recogito in the way that is most suited to your research, but we recommend to use “transcription” only for annotations in the category “label”. This helps distinguish between text that is transcribed from the map exactly as it can be observed, and text added by the annotator as a complement.

  • Comments. This is a free text field where you can add any kind of extra information. As Recogito is a collaborative environment, different users can also comment on each other’s annotations.

  • Tags. To create tags just type in the tag field, and then press the “enter” key to confirm. If you see the tag encased in a rectangle, then you have successfully added a tag to your annotation.

By default, when you start typing in the tag field, you will see a list of suggestions. These suggestions show categories of entities that are semantically related to the word you have entered into the transcription field. So, for example, if you have annotated "Temple of Minerva", the system will suggest tags related to places of worship, such as "church", "chapel", or "mosque". If you see a match, you can select the tag from the list, and press "enter".

If you want to constrain the tags in the suggestions, you can upload your own vocabulary in the annotation preferences. Recogito will autocomplete while you are typing, suggesting only labels that appear in the uploaded list. To accept a suggestion, just press the “enter” key. There is no limit to the number of tags you can add.

In any case, you can always override the suggestions, and write free text.

* Grouping. Several signs on maps are intrinsically related: place-names composed of more than one word (for example like "Regent Street"), or names of buildings and their footprints. To express easily this relationship we have introduced a grouping function in Recogito. Click on one of the annotations you want to group, then click "Add or remove" in the lower bar of the annotation pop-up and then click on all the annotations that you want to include in the group. Confirm by clicking "done". Now, all the annotations that you have linked together will appear as a single selection. In the case of a building footprint and its name, the order of the group doesn't matter. In the case of composite place-names, on the other hand, we may want to record that information. In this case, after the first element to the group, also tick the "ordered" option. You will see a little number appear next to each annotation in the group, showing its position in the sequence.

You can delete a group, remove or add more elements, or change the order of the group using the options in the dedicated toolbar annotation pop-up.

More info

  • You don’t have to select a category to create an annotation. Categories are only meant to make certain kinds of analysis and visualisation easier, but are not a necessary step. Uncategorised annotations are perfectly valid.

  • One annotation can belong to more than one category, you will see them both selected in the annotation pop-up.

  • Tags lists are file specific, and will not extend to other documents you may wish to annotate.

  • Annotations can only be part of a single group. If you see a compelling case for enabling an annotation to be part of more than one group, we would love to hear more about it.