Let’s jump right in with our first digital tool, StoryMap JS

StoryMapJS is a free tool created by KnightLabs at Northwestern University. It helps you tell interactive stories on the web that combine places and events.

Screenshot from a StoryMapJS

Tell Your Story

Where were you born? Where did you go to school? What were some of the books that you loved to read and remembered from these places?  Give us a sense of who you are as a reader.  Create between 5-10 points, divided up into a narrative, illustrated with photographs from your life or the covers of the books you loved best.  Share as much as you are comfortable doing.

Overview

StoryMapJS provides instructions, but all you really need are the following:

  1. Geographic points – It can be a street address, or just a town name. If you never moved, try choosing places where you did reading– schools, libraries, etc.
  2. Photographs – You can include photos of you, or photos of the places, or photos of the books you liked to read. You can upload the photos from your computer or you can link to them on the web.
  3. A Story. Take some time to think about what you like to read, why you think that you choose the books you choose, and how it has affected you.

Once you have created the storymap, you can edit the way that the map appears (using the options tab) and share the map, either as a URL or embedded in a web page.

Example

Here is one for guidance. Cathy: A Head in a Book….