Category: Digital Tool Reviews

What are the key features of this digital tool? How is this digital tool distinct from other ones similar to it?

Google Tour Builder uses Google Earth to allow people to chart their own journeys, or the journeys of others. Similar to StoryMap JS, Tour Builder uses a powerpoint-esque layout where each location and event is the equivalent of a slide. Events are connected linearly so that the user follows a line that connects the first event to the second, the second to the third, and so on.

What kinds of research questions might this digital tool help you answer?

This tool is most useful in complementing a journey with narrative. The “slides” provide ample space to contextualize each location and explain its significance.

What kind of documentation is available for this tool?

The site provides the user with an about page that answers many frequently asked questions about Tour Builder. There is also a gallery of previously made projects, and a place where users can submit feedback about their experience.

Is the digital tool free, or is there a cost to use it?

Google Tour Builder is free.

What kinds of data/input does the tool require?

The three main data concerns for Tour Builder are a location, and text and media that pertain to that location. One of the benefits of the tool is that a user can include up to twenty five photos or videos per slide. Tour Builder also allows the user to use google image search within the program, and any photos results are labelled commercial for reuse.

Are there any privacy concerns?

To use Google Tour Builder, a user has to sign in with their google account.

How difficult will this tool be to master? Does it require an outside expert or special technical skills, or can it be learned with practice?

Learning Tour Builder is easy to do and something that someone can learn without consulting an expert. The program itself provides some help for people who have not made a map before.

Could you use this digital tool for your project? Why or why not?

This sees like a good tool for more casual projects. However, if a project involved a high number of locations, or locations that were not connected linearly, Tour Builder may not be the best way to represent that data.

 

What are the key features of this digital tool? How is this digital tool distinct from other ones similar to it?

StoryMap JS is another interactive mapping tool that is extremely versatile. One of the key features of StoryMap JS is its gigapixel option. The gigapixel option allows the user to customize the background image. You now have to option to upload paintings, personalized maps, and images.  This is a really cool feature because many other mapping digital tools do not allow the user to upload their own background image. This feature gives the user much more control on how they want their map to look and function. Some other cool features of StoryMap JS is its ability tell a narrative. The tool is set up to jump to different locations on the image then has a slide of text to go with the point. You can either create a nice path where the reader can follow a linear narrative or the reader can choose to jump from point to point.

What kinds of research questions might this digital tool help you answer?

It can give background and geographical context to your audience when they explore your digital project. Also, because of the gigapixel feature and its ability to blow up images, you sometimes end up noticing small details about the image that you may not have seen previously.  This can lead to an explanation to a research question or more research questions.

What kind of documentation is available for this tool?

The website provides extensive information on its data format that can be accessed on the Advanced tab. There is also a Help page where frequently asked questions are answered and certain features explained.

Is the digital tool free, or is there a cost to use it?

This tool is 100% FREE. All you need is a Google account.

What kinds of data/input does the tool require?

The tool does require you to add map/image points and text on the slides but it can hold as little or as much information that is needed.

Are there any privacy concerns?

As of now, none that I know of. You can choose when you want to publish your map and you are the only one able to make changes.

How difficult will this tool be to master? Does it require an outside expert or special technical skills, or can it be learned with practice?

This tool is extremely user-friendly! In one sitting you are able to get the gist of how to upload images and text. It has text and icons that tell you where to add text or upload images. All you need to do is read and follow the directions provided.

Could you use this digital tool for your project? Why or why not?

I did end up using this tool in my project. It was extremely easy to learn how to use the tool and it was able to do everything I wanted it to do. I was able to create a narrative of women at Gettysburg College by structuring the map as a day in the life of a 1950s Gettysburg College women. What really attracted me to this tool was its gigapixel feature. I had found an old 1950 Gettysburg College map and need a tool that allowed me to customize the background. I would definitely use the map for future projects. It is extremely user-friendly and has a lot of cool features that make your map unique.

Digital Tool Review #1: FabulaMaps

 What are the key features of this digital tool? How is this digital tool distinct from other ones similar to it?

FabulaMaps is an interactive mapping tool with a narrative element. It’s different because it has many more mapping features than something like StoryMapJS but has the narrative element that is lacking in Google TourBuilder, ZeeMaps, etc. It also differentiates from tools like Neatline, CartoDB, and ArcGIS in that it is user friendly and can be learned with minimal frustration. It also has many more interactive features that differentiate it from any mapping tool that I have had experience with, like animated markers and polygons.

  What kinds of research questions might this digital tool help you answer?

It can tell an interactive story over time with its narrative features, document a growth or event, or map locations with giving background. This is especially helpful for historic projects because of its narrative elements you can map changes over time.

What kind of documentation is available for this tool?

The site has an about page and a blog in which popular questions and features are explained and the elements of FabulaMaps are discussed.

Is the digital tool free, or is there a cost to use it?

For students it’s free, there are versions that are paid but FabulaMaps is perfectly functional at a basic level without the extra features.

What kinds of data/input does the tool require?

The tool requires points on the map and information in the slides. It is possible to ditch the narrative element altogether by skipping the slides and simply having an interactive map. It can hold multitudes of text, media, and animations.

Are there any privacy concerns?

None that I know of. Once you start the map it is public facing, but only the creator of the map can edit it.

How difficult will this tool be to master? Does it require an outside expert or special technical skills, or can it be learned with practice?

This tool is incredibly user friendly, it has labels on the different icons and explanation tabs of what they do. It does require a bit of experimenting with the tool to fully understand it, but that is with any tool. If there are problems or questions FabulaMaps has many official tutorials on its site and many outside tutorials online.

Could you use this digital tool for your project? Why or why not?

I am trying to use this in my project because it has both the narrative element I need and the mapping features that I believe my project could benefit from. I have a StoryMapJS right now but FabulaMaps would allow me to follow every cadet individually which is incredibly important to me. With the many colors and options of markers it gives me the ability to differentiate between cadets and battles. Also FabulaMaps has an amazing feature that allows markers to travel along lines that could show how far the individual cadet travelled and how many of the cadets travelled together. The problem is that I have so much data and information and FabulaMaps has so many possibilities that I am unsure how exactly to format the narrative element.