Mapping software

[Susan B Klein]

I want to create a map that corresponds to a historical journey. I suspect that there are folks on PMJS that have done this already. 

Can you recommend software, along with pros and cons?

~~Susan

Susan Blakeley Klein
Professor Emerita of Japanese Literature and Culture
East Asian Studies Department
University of California
Irvine, CA 92697-6000
sbk...@uci.edu
949-232-2122

[Elijah Bender]

You have probably already thought of this, but ArcGIS online, the simplified version of the full software, would be my first choice. 

It has a bit of a learning curve at first, but once you get the basic mechanism of layering down it is pretty straightforward to do what you're asking here. ESRI, the company that produces the software, has some very useful training modules that can help you get functional with the software relatively quickly. I would suspect that UC Irvine has institutional access.

The only real issue I can think of is if you're mapping this journey onto a contemporary map (such as satellite imagery) or onto an historical one. If it's the latter, you may have to search around a bit for what is called a "base map" in ArcGIS that suits your needs. There are many user-produced base maps available, and I suspect other list members may know where to find good ones for historical Japan.  

Yours,

Elijah Bender, PhD
History Department
Concordia College

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[Siva Kalyan]

I haven’t used it myself, but QGIS is a popular open-source alternative to ArcGIS.

Siva

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[Mac Gill]

There's a variety of options and it depends on what you want it to do.

Do you want to integrate it into a website/make it interactive? ArcGIS StoryMaps is probably going to be what you're looking for, your university might have a subscription for it, or there is a free option.

Something easy to learn/use and able to integrate into websites? Google MyMaps.

QGIS is nice as well but I think has a steeper learning curve and less usability outside of just making maps.

Mapbox is also an option if you want to stay away from Google or ArcGIS, but is probably more GIS-focused than you will need for a project like this and lacks the "storytelling" option of ArcGIS StoryMaps.

Best,

Mac Gill

Project Manager

Digital Museum of the History of Japanese in New York

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[Megan Gilbert]

The Knight Lab project at Northwestern basically designed StoryMap JS for the purpose of telling a linear spatial story. It has less of a learning curve than ArcGIS Storymap because there are a lot fewer options: pick locations and add text+images/media, then put the locations in order.

While the basics, using knightlab.com, are very simple (great for teaching!), the code itself is open-source, so if you want to have greater control over who hosts your map, that's possible, too. At a more middling level of tech savvy, you can embed the map in another website, or you can replace the base map if you have a geo-referenced historical map hosted online, but that's actually harder to do in StoryMap JS than in ArcGIS. Basically, StoryMap JS is better if you just want the map+journey, while ArcGIS StoryMap is easier if you also want to build in an explanatory website with cool backgrounds. 

I've had multiple students create brilliant StoryMap JS maps using Robert Borgen's Sugawara no Michizane, but the ones who wanted to do less strictly linear things, like "Sites of Hachiman worship in Japan" or even "the Mongol invasions," have swapped to ArcGIS in exasperation.

Best,

Megan

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[Travis Seifman]

Dear Susan, all,

If anyone is interested in using ArcGIS but does not have access to a paid account through their own institution, we at the Art Research Center at Ritsumeikan University would be eager to hear about your project and to provide access to resources such as ArcGIS. We are glad to support not only projects related to Japanese art, but also to topics within the broader scope of Japanese history, literature, or culture.

For those interested, please see here for some further information on the provision of ArcGIS accounts: https://www.arc.ritsumei.ac.jp/e/news/pc/020826.html.,

and here for further information and application forms for applying to become an affiliated researcher with our Center: https://www.arc.ritsumei.ac.jp/e/news/pc/020787.html.

Affiliation with the ARC as a Project Leader or Project Member also includes access to our online digital Research Space, database systems, digital tools (e.g. kuzushiji deciphering tools), and space to create an explanatory website for the project.

Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions.

All my best,

Travis

Travis Seifman

Research Manager

Art Research Center, Ritsumeikan University

sei...@fc.ritsumei.ac.jp.

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