Tutorial by Margaret Smith, IRIS Center, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Storymaps
A storymap is a type of digital storytelling project that anchors a narrative to a landscape. As you move through the narrative, you also move along the map. It’s a powerful tool for reflecting on the relationship between place and history.
There are several available tools for making storymaps. You might have encountered ArcGIS StoryMaps or StorymapJS. This tutorial walks you through creating a Leaflet Storymap.
Why Leaflet Storymaps? Unlike ArcGIS or StorymapJS, this tool doesn’t depend on any particular platform. It’s all code! That might sound a little intimidating, but don’t worry — you don’t actually have to write any code. All the content creation takes place inside a Google spreadsheet. The result is that you have more flexibility in creating and customizing your map, and you have more control over where you host it and who has access to it in the long term.
Example storymap
- Troubled Waters: Critical Hiking at Saint Stanislaus Conservation Area, Hazelwood, MO
- Troubled Waters Spreadsheet
Tutorial
The creators of this storymap tool, Jack Dougherty and Ilya Ilyankou, have written a full tutorial as part of their Hands On Data Visualization book. This tutorial differs in that it’s geared toward students, and it explains some of the jargon and technical concepts in greater depth. Take a look at both tutorials, and use either or both as needed.