Tagxedo

I enjoyed having an opportunity to play with Tagxedo  again. I have used it before, albeit not often. 

For this activity I opted  to use one of the images available in Tagxedo, as I wasn't as successful in adapting an an image I use elsewhere so that it was evident as to what the shape was.  Plus, the key fit the word choices I made.

In the last century (!) when I was a law librarian, the library's collection consisted primarily of sets from the West Reporter system.  One of the features of the West system is its "key number system" a classification system in which the law has  been organized into major topics with hundreds of  subcategories. To save space in printing, these were given a number called a key number. The key number is identified in the books with a key number and a key symbol graphic.  In the electronic age, one can also "key cite."

For my word choices I used the titles of reporters and other services or publishers that I had in the collection, specifically those germane to Nebraska and Iowa.

I enjoyed using Tagxedo.  I've also used Wordle and did a similar word cloud to compare the two.  I find that I've been using Tagxedo the most.

One way I use it is as a brain-storming tool. When I'm stuck in a writing or research project, I'll stop for a few minutes and create some Tagxedo's of key words or ideas in my writing piece (although I may not save them).  I'm not sure if it's because I stop and do something other than write for a bit,  or because  am being creative in a different way, but this often helps me get "unstuck."

I'm also considering using Tagxedo images as illustrations in some of the pieces I write.