Spyral
Spyral is a web-based notebook programming environment that allows beginner and intermediate technical users to interact with and customize Voyant’s tools. Spyral makes it possible for users to integrate text notes with live code to document a program and share it in an easily readable format.
Spyral and LINCS
At LINCS, Spyral is used to explore and refine data through advanced configuration of Voyant’s features. Spyral facilitates literate programming: a way of writing a program so it is explained via the intertwining of code and natural language instructions. Digital humanists can use Spyral to individually or collaboratively work through complicated textual analysis projects, to share their processes with others, and for teaching.
Prerequisites
Users of Spyral:
- Do not need to come with their own dataset
- Do not need to create a user account
- Need a basic understanding of JavaScript
Spyral supports the following inputs and outputs:
- Input: Plain text, JavaScript
- Output: Notebook URL, HTML
Resources
To learn more about Spyral, see the following resources:
- Land (2020) “Introduction to Spyral Notebooks”
- Sinclair & Rockwell (2019) “The Art of Literary Text Analysis with Spyral Notebooks”
- Spyral API Documentation
- Spyral.Util
Information about the team that developed Spyral is available on the Tool Credits page.