Mapping with Timescape

Timescape is an online tool that allows a user to create a timeline which is then presented in a map-based format. As the timeline is played out for a viewer, a left pane shows detailed information on each event in the timeline while the right shows a map displaying the locations of each event. Each event is shown for about five seconds. There are also a number of “tags” at the bottom of the map that allow the events to be filtered by a specific subcategory. These tags can also be viewed in a pie chart format, and up to two larger categories are allowed. Timescape can be a very valuable tool in DH, as many times a user may have both location and date/time data, but there are not too many ways to convey both in an appealing manner. Though it is certainly fairly map-heavy, Timescape does so quite effectively; users and viewers alike will find an intuitive and smooth UI that has the ability to provide many insights about a particular subject. The site also allows for collaboration and even crowdsourcing, proving itself as an extremely well-rounded and practical tool. Some of the more successful uses of Timescape that I have seen include time-maps of Incidents of Intolerance in South Asia, the Appearances of Colonial Forts Across the Globe (pictured above), and Developments of Sustainable Businesses on Long Island. In my opinion, what makes Timescape so impressive is that it can take pretty much any dataset with data on both time and space and turn it into a meaningful presentation, which is clearly shown in the major differences between each of the time-maps I’ve linked to. One major drawback to the tool, however, is that importing spreadsheet data as well as crowdsourcing require contacting the admins directly, which I take to mean they are essentially premium services. This means larger datasets will be somewhat laborious to convert to a time-map, but the result is certainly rewarding.

Here is a brief tutorial to help you get started with Timescape:

The first thing you’ll see when you navigate to the Timescape homepage is a pane of featured projects with an accompanying map. To get started, you should click “Create and share map based stories” (1) and sign up for an account as prompted, then write a title and description for your project. For this example, I created a time-map showing the Minnesota Timberwolves’ season results.

Once you’ve been directed to a blank time-map, select “Add Event” (2). A window will open (3), in which you should enter all the information you can regarding the event: title, description, image, location, date, and reference link. For now, leave the two “Category Tag” lines blank. As you can see, in my example I obtained my information on the most recent Wolves game from a news article, which I used as the reference link. When you hit Save, your event should appear on the map. Congrats! One down. You should make a couple more so you have a good idea of how your time-map will fit together.

The next thing you’ll probably want to do is enter the settings menu (4) to deal with the Tags that we just skipped. At this point, you should think of one or two categories that will show comparisons between each event and may produce some kind of meaningful correlation. In my example, I used Game Results (i.e. win or loss) and the Wolves’ Leading Scorer as categories (5). Once you’ve entered some categories, you’ll be able to group events together by using the same tags in a category for multiple events. I’d also like to point your attention to the Tag Rename feature (6), which allows you to rename a tag that you’ve used across multiple events. This can be very useful if your dataset is somewhat large.

Now go back to the events you’ve created thus far and enter in the tags (7) that you left blank the first time through. Your event points on the map should begin to change color based on these tags.

Once you’ve entered tags for each event, click on the chart icon (8) to switch the left pane to a display of some statistics based on your events and tags (9). You’ll notice two pie charts displaying the ratios of various tags in each category, and you can roll over the sections with your mouse to see exactly how many of each tag there are. Also notice that your tags are displayed in the bottom left corner of the map, their colors corresponding to the points on the map itself (10).

Next, you should play around with clicking the tag names either on the chart (11) or in the corner of the map–I clicked the “win” tag in my example. This action will filter out all results that do not include the selected tag. With a tag selected, you can now look at the effects of that tag on the other category (12). You can select multiple tags, even between both categories if you’d like. This is undoubtedly one of the handiest features of Timescape, as it can provide tons of insights about site correlation.

Once you’re done playing around with tags, go back to the timeline tab and finish entering your events. You’ll see that if you hover over an event in the left pane, the corresponding point on the map will be blown up (13). The same is true in reverse; clicking a point will bring up the event in the timeline. Feel free to edit any finished posts with the pencil icon (14). You can also choose whether you want your map to be displayed as a 3D globe or in a more compact 2D view with street and satellite options (15). Once you’re satisfied with your project, click the big green “Share” button to publish and share your project!

Here is the link to my unfinished example. If you need some more help using Timescape, you can use this introductory video or visit Timescape’s Youtube page. I hope you found this tutorial helpful. Thanks for reading!

Author: Kenyon

3 thoughts on “Mapping with Timescape

  1. I found your tutorial to be very detailed with step by step instructions. Not only did your instructions make Timescape easier to use, it made more sense as I went along with the guide. I find it super interesting and possibly helpful in history projects. It would be cool to see the different events that happened in a certain era and how spread out they were.

  2. I really enjoyed going through your tutorial! Your instructions made Timescape easier to use and this could be a very important tool! I was thinking about creating a mapping journal project and this fits right in. I really liked the example you pick (Timberwolves.) There are also seems to be so much potential in this tool.

  3. I enjoyed using Timescape. I really appreciated your detailed instructions and the images you included. Your tutorial helped me work with the website. This tool is pretty cool to include both geospatial information and a timeline. The only suggestion that I have is that the images are a little bit blurry. It worked when I zoomed in. I think it may just be the decreased resolution when taking screenshots.

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