I found it both difficult and rewarding to make a map of my location habits at Carleton. The easiest part was definitely putting together a spreadsheet of the location data of the buildings which I frequent the most around campus, especially since I have a lot of experience using Google Maps. From there, I found it mostly intuitive to poke around on Arcgis and change the symbology and labels of my layers to make things more intuitive. For my symbology changes, I wanted to make my map as intuitive as possible while keeping it quite simple, since I did not have that much information that I needed to share. Therefore, I chose to change the icon of each location to a colorful spike which corresponds in size to the relative frequency that I visit each building. The step in which I outlined each building using the polygon tool was a bit more frustrating, however, since I kept screwing up and there was not an obvious “undo” button. I chose to keep the polygons which I drew simple as to not cover up or distract from my location labels.
Arcgis in particular seems to have a lot of potential for Digital Humanities as far as web mapping applications go, as it presents the possibility to add many layers which emphasize different kinds or aspects of data. Thus, it would be quite possible to ensure that the picture one is painting with a map is not at all incomplete, or at least not misleading. In this vein, one could perhaps even load in the data from an incomplete or misleading historical map, and then fill in missing or previously unknown information using the various layer tools, providing increased clarity and understanding which could spur future research.
I also found the polygon tool frustrating. The best way I found to undo it was either “Ctrl+Z” (which only worked half of the time) or going to “Layers” in the left menu within the map viewer, clicking the three dots, and then “Show properties” which brings up a list of all the items/objects within that layer that can then be edited (and deleted) from there.
I really wish there was a more obvious undo button, as you mentioned, because that process is too complicated.
Also, how did you change the symbology on your map?
I love the spikes on your map! I think this is a great way to represent how often you are in each location. I tried to use the heat map for mine, but I found that there wasn’t nearly enough differentiation, so I had to change it to altering the opacity of the points, but I honestly think yours looks better. I also found the polygon tool annoying and hard to work with, especially because it took me a while to figure out how to turn off the “snapping” feature.
Luke, I appreciate your honest reflection! It is true that more layers can fill gaps, but I also think that whoever picks the layers still decides what the map shows, so I’m not sure stacking data makes a map less misleading. Your spike symbols show that sizes come from your own guesses about how often you visit each building, and a reader has no way to tell that from the map.
Luke I enjoyed your post! Your spikes work well because they show frequency without cluttering the map. Your idea about layering onto historical maps got me thinking; overlaying an old Carleton campus map could reveal how buildings and student routines have shifted over time. That would be a fascinating project.