Posted In: Reflections
This week in the reading “What is Data?” we learned about different data structures commonly used in blogs. Specifically for blogs, this typically includes lots of text scalars (blocks of text, titles, subtitles, etc.). But it can also include other lists and dictionaries (for visualizations, pictures, and more).
The example given in the text for a dictionary was an Aggie ID card, with four keys: name, title, UIN, and photo. A list of items of this dictionary could include a stack of Aggie ID cards of different students (or simply finding a digital file filled with all of this information).
To find a real world example of this idea, I found a “Full List of What’s on Netflix” on https://reelgood.com/source/netflix. On this website, you will find a long list running down the page and continuing on further pages of all the shows, movies and other content currently available to watch on the Netflix platform.
When you first reach the website, you will see each show or movie, currently ordered by its Reelgood ranking, with each key in its dictionary in a horizontal line. The keys we see are title (text scalar), year (number scalar), rating (text scalar), IMDb score (number scalar), Reelgood score (number scalar) and where it is currently available (text scalar).
If you scroll down the page, you will find the most popular shows and movies with all the information of their dictionaries. For example, the top show’s data is filled as follows:
• Title = Breaking Bad • Year = 2008 • Rating = 18+ • IMDb = 9.5/10 • Reelgood Score = 100/100 • Available On = Netflix + Rent or Buy
Not only does this website allow you to go through this premade, default list to find shows and movies currently available on Netflix, but it has filtering options to find exactly what you are looking for.
First, you can change the search results by specifying the genre you are looking for. From action to drama to children to documentary, you can filter your search so that what is listed are different items in the list of all content available on Netflix, but the list has changed to a more specified one.
In fact, we can technically call these filtered lists a list within a list (a list of action movies for example contained in a list of all Netflix shows and movies).
Other filtering options include Movies and Shows (or just movies or just shows) and service available (meaning you don’t only have to see content available on Netflix but on other streaming platforms or on multiple platforms at once).
The side bar offers even more filtering options, including genre, IMDb score, Reelgood score, release year and more.
Overall, this is a very good way to display a list of this specific dictionary (info on show/movie). Rather than overwhelming you with an unnecessarily long list of all shows, impossible to get through or find exactly what you are looking for on your own, there are options to filter your search (look through separate lists with less items, these items most likely be the ones you are looking for).
By creating shorter lists, the user is able to more easily find the item or items they are looking for, along with the data included in that dictionary.