Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship
250 Hesburgh Library
cds.library.nd.edu
A "story map" is a digital interactive narrative that enables the use of both multimedia and textual contextualization of maps (a digital project that takes users on a journey).
Put another way, you can use a web-based application to create a webpage that will show images, video, audio, and text alongside maps (including still images of maps as well as interactive web maps) to further illustrate what it is you are trying to say in a project.
Check out the Library of Congress StoryMaps collections and the ArcGIS StoryMaps gallery to view a range of inspiring examples. NFCDS Pedagogy Fellow Jacob Swisher has highlighted some exemplary StoryMaps in a past workshop curriculum.
Course-specific examples:
Data for the tutorial (opens in new window) // example tutorial StoryMap (opens in new window)
The Travels of Ssu-ma Hsiang-ju 司马相如 (179-117 B.C.E.)
No GIS or coding experience is required to create a story map visualization using either the ArcGIS StoryMaps or StoryMap JS tool.
But those who have experience with GIS and/or coding would be able to leverage relevant knowledge they possess to use advanced features of the platforms.
| Platform | Access | Narrative Type | Data Type(s) | Prerequisite Skill(s) | Ownership & Privacy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ArcGIS StoryMaps (Esri) |
email msisk1@nd.edu or cds@nd.edu (N/A for this course) | mixed, linear, exploration, summary |
- all vector (point, line, polygon) and raster (including images) - you can use your own data or existing authoritative sources such as the Living Atlas |
none (you may customize map pop-ups without needing coding skills) | - items are hosted in the Esri cloud under the UND account - each StoryMap may be set to Private, Organization, or Public |
| *StoryMapJS (Northwestern University KnightLab) |
via your Google account | linear | annotated point | none (HTML/CSS customization is possible if you have the skills) |
publicly associated with your Google account |
*Today we will be talking about ArcGIS StoryMaps, which is very robust/fully-featured. When you graduate from Notre Dame you will not be able to access ArcGIS tools without a separate license of your own or via your workplace, etc. If you would like to make StoryMaps in the future, the StoryMapJS tool is free to use and is based on Google Sheets. As long as you will make publicly-viewable visualizations, it's an excellent choice to consider.
