Web Mapping My Weekly Campus Footprint

Thanks to the power of ArcGIS, I was able to create my own informative web map using this Excel spreadsheet.

This process of web mapping my Carleton footprint map was very enjoyable for me. I was just scratching the surface of the possibilities that ArcGIS has, but I was able to create a heat map and color-coded key for my map, along with labels and pop-up windows, in order to make my map more interactive and enjoyable for viewers like you who would be interacting with it. One issue I ran into was that because I have two feature layers on this map, depending on where you click on the building (the heatmap point, or somewhere else in the colored area), you would get a different pop-up window. At first, I thought about making both pop-up windows the same regardless of where the user clicked; however, I decided that it would be more beneficial to provide different information to be able to supplement the viewer with more overall information, and in a more compact and clean style.

This ability to digitally create information and visualizations for a map shows tremendous possibilities for the digital humanities. Earlier this week, I touched on how georeferencing is a very powerful tool, but it would be even more powerful if you could add more context and interactiveness to the map you create. Web mapping does just that. There are obvious limitations to what you can do with a physical map and the information you can provide in a sensible manner, compared to a digital one. Web mapping can provide 10x the educational/informational value, but still do it clearly and sensibly. I think it perfectly represents the ability of the digital humanities field to take physical sources and convert them into an enhanced and more enriched online version.

More particularly, ArcGIS offers many possibilities for its users. Like I said, I was just scratching the surface of what it truly has to offer with this project; however, there was something that caught my eye that I would be very interested to learn more about. While creating my instant app to present my map, I noticed there was an option for a 3D viewer. I also mentioned earlier this week in my previous blog post that I think the power to bring 3D viewing to a georectified map would improve the interactiveness and viewing experience of the map greatly. It seems like ArcGIS is able to do just that, and this function, along with all the other features of web mapping that ArcGIS provides, would be able to create what I imagine to be very beneficial and informational graphics to users of all ages.