Endangered Durham's Big Map O' Derm
My break from daily posting allowed me some time to begin to pull together something I've wanted to do for some time (and a lot of people have asked me for) - some form of geographic access to the content of Endangered Durham.
While far from perfect, it is:
ED's Big Map O' Derm
This is a work-in-progress, as links to content have to be done one-by-one. As a result, the map currently has ~200 links (out of ED's ~400 posts.) It will remain linked in the sidebar - if I can figure out how to stick a little map graphic in Blogger's template, it'll have one.
For the more geekily-inclined, it is a Google Map with the script hosted on my server using the Google Map API. Google Maps hosted by Google are annoyingly limited to displaying only 100 items at a time. I'm no javascript programmer, so the script is generated through a neat site: Map Channels. If you are versed in javascript and want to help me out, let me know. I'd love to customize this more.
The broader idea here is to generate a system - which several of us in the community are referring to as "Open Durham" - that is something of a Google Earth meets a Wiki with both current and historical information about Durham. This would, ideally, be community-driven. I love the idea of people uploading pictures and historical information about their own house, or compiling community stories by fine-grained geography. (I.e., while a book of "stories of Edgemont" would be compelling, I'd love to tag references to specific buildings, blocks etc., so that when you click on that location, you get the history of that building, park, stream, etc. told through the eyes of many different people.)
There is no shortage of ideas out there on what this would look like. What is needed is the labor and drive to do it. So if you have some good geek credentials, and want to take the ball and run with figuring out a robust system for linking mySQL databases, a GIS server of some sort, and various Web 2.0 content into a coherent framework, email me!
In the meantime, I hope this little baby step - a Google map - is useful and fun.
GK
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6 comments:
That looks really cool. You really put a lot of effort into what you do. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Joe - I hope it's a good resource.
GK
I'm with Joe. This is extremely cool, and you must put in a TON of hours documenting the history of Durham architecture and advocating for sustainable development.
I only hope it is work that fulfills you more than it sucks you dry (am too familiar personally with burnout not to be concerned.)
(I'm also kind of a worrier anyway)
(Which only means I care)
(We already know I'm a dork)
(My point is thanks AND take care!)
p.s. my word verification is pewwf. Heh.
Oh, and if anyone wants to stop by the sustainable agriculture table at the fair, I'll be there afternoon and evening on Thursday!
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Gary -- I don't know what to say. What an amazing and incredible index to an already-amazing resource. Great job with the Google map! I'll find a place to link the map back from Bull City Rising, too.
Stew:
Thanks for your appreciation (and concern) - I do spend a lot of my time on this, but I'm passionate about it, which helps.
Kevin: many thanks for the kind words, and I appreciate the link in advance. I hope it's helpful if you need to more quickly look up the history of a site.
GK
Gary -
Love your work here! I've only been in Durham for two months, but thanks to your efforts, I feel as if I know it better in some ways than places I've lived for two decades.
You might want to take a look at Semantic Mediawiki as a way to capture free-form and structured information in a wiki. Some links of interest:
http://ontoworld.org/wiki/Semantic_MediaWiki - a description of this exciting (to me anyway!) new software.
http://www.placeography.org/ index.php?title=Main_Page - a cool implementation of SMW for recording information about places.
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