Putting Storytelling back on the Map: A comparative analysis of online cartographic applications to map life stories
ISBN 978-85-88783-11-9
Authors
1Caquard, S.; 2Dimitrovas, S.
1CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY Email: sebastien.caquard@concordia.ca
2CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY Email: stefd87@gmail.com
Abstract
There is currently a range of online cartographic applications dedicated to the mapping of stories. While many applications such as Neatline, Maptia, Tripline, Mapstory, Tripper map and Atlascine have been originally designed to map stories, the leaders in online mapping services have also developed their own applications to tell stories with maps. For instance, Google proposes now an adaptation of Google Maps named Tour Builder dedicated to the mapping of stories, while ESRI has developed its own application named StoryMaps. Enabling people to map their stories online is becoming strategic from a business perspective, and has expanded the range of options and tools offered to storytellers. In this paper we propose an in-depth review of the different applications dedicated to map stories in order to (1) provide a practical guide designed to help the growing number of storytellers to identify a relevant application to map her/his stories; and (2) identify and discuss the main methodological, conceptual and technological issues associated with the mapping of stories. To reach these goals we have selected one story that we have mapped consistently with a selection of online applications. The selected story is the life story of a Rwandan refugee living in Montreal. In a first section we present the story, as well as conceptual and methodological challenges associated with the translation of an oral story into mappable spatio-temporal events. We also present the analytical grid used to compare the applications. In a second section we present the results of our comparative analysis, emphasizing the assets and limits of the selected applications for the mapping of this life story. Finally, building on these results we conclude by discussing the methodological and conceptual issues encountered in the practical activity of mapping a story and we propose further research directions to improve the process of transforming stories into meaningful cartographic representations. Throughout this project, we aim to put storytelling back on the map by acknowledging not only its spatio-temporal dimensions, but also its social, cultural and political values.
Keywords
Narrative cartography; Story maps; Online cartography