What is StoryMapJS?
StoryMapJS is a free tool to help you tell location based stories on the web. Especially good for highlight the locations of a series of events and adding layers of context.
Why choose it?
It features a user friendly authoring tool, unlike Timeline JS, which still requires a google spreadsheet to input information.
StoryMap JS can pull in media from a variety of sources. Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, Vimeo, Vine, Dailymotion, Google Maps, Wikipedia, SoundCloud, Document Cloud and others.
Learning Curve/Drawbacks?
This tool is quite straight forward to learn and use thanks to its authoring tool interface. StoryMap JS includes a decent amount of basic customization built in, including some intermediate level customization. For instance, StoryMap allows you to import a custom map background from Mapbox.com, it will but some users who’ve become advanced with StoryMap JS may find the basic customization limiting. Knightlab provides Advanced Instructions for Technical Users.
What you will do in this module:
This module will guide you through the creation of your own StoryMap based on one of the following three prompts:
Choose one prompt:
- Tell us about 5-7 important places or sites associated with a specific project, process, or practice in your research or teaching.
- “How I assembled my ethnography,” “my academic conference experiences,” “where I met my colleagues,” or “seven research sites I visited during my trip to Argentina.” Where does/did your intellectual work take place? Why are/were these places significant?
- Take us on a tour of 5-7 locations where you feel as though you have developed as a (lifelong) learner.
- “The trip(s) that finally taught me Spanish,” “five teachers who inspired me to teach,” or “most enlightening museum experiences.” You could talk about classes or schools you attended from childhood through now, work/life/travel events, or learning through family, community, or other social experiences.
- Tell the story of an important object or artifact involved in your research or teaching (like the tale of its creation, circulation, usage, or societal or disciplinary attitudes towards it).
- “The microscope I use in the lab” “the only brand of pencil I love,” or “my perfect reading lamp.” Feel free to be creative!