HerdLink
NL livestock trade network analyzer — explore structure and geography side-by-side.
HerdLink
What it does
HerdLink is meant for the “first pass” on a dataset: spotting structure, checking whether patterns are geographic, and quickly drilling into a region/node when something looks interesting.
- Graph view for network structure (connections, hubs, clusters).
- Map view for geography and spatial intuition.
- Focus mode to isolate one node/region and its neighborhood.
- Time replay to compare dynamics rather than static snapshots.
- Export screenshots for slides, notes, and reports.
How to use
- Choose a dataset and time resolution in the top-left switches (data is fetched from the server).
- Use M to switch Map ↔ Graph and get both perspectives quickly.
- Click a node to enter focus mode; press Q to exit.
- If time controls are available, replay or step through time to compare changes.
- Export a screenshot with S.
Keyboard shortcuts
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| M | Toggle Map / Graph |
| Q | Exit focus mode |
| ↑ / ↓ | Switch focal node |
| ← / → | Step time (when available) |
| Space | Play / pause time replay |
| F | Jump back to the start |
| R | Restore links |
| S | Export screenshot |
| H | Toggle help overlay |
| Esc | Close help overlay |
(Buttons/mouse/touchscreen always work too — the shortcuts are just there to speed up exploration.)
Data & privacy
The goal is to keep analysis interactive without turning it into a heavyweight pipeline. HerdLink fetches the dataset from the server, then the browser takes over for exploration and rendering.
Data presented are anonymized and aggregated NL livestock trade records.
Roadmap
- More summary statistics.
- More map layers.
- More export options (for different statistics/timeseries).
- More datasets (other animals, synthetic data).
- Performance tuning for large networks.