I chose to look at the mapping of the website about the 19th century Caribbean cholera time map. This website is full of so much information it was kind of overwhelming at first. Once I looked at the map multiple times I was able to read what it was talking about. This is a good history timeline for people of the Caribbean to know what happened in their hometown. Also, this speaks to historians who are searching for information about the Caribbean. Also, if one was trying to look for natural disasters that happened here, they can look on this timeline. They can just search through this timeline and gather the information needed. This map shows the following: Cholera outbreaks, hurricanes, tropical storms, and news articles. The timeline is very effective and helpful because there are a lot of things that happen and finding one specific time can make it easier on other people. If they wanted to know what happened in March of 1832, they can easily click that on the map and it will show them what happened during that time. It will also drop a pin of where exactly it happened. However, what this mapping doesn’t show is everything else. I’m pretty sure there were more incidents that have happened in the Caribbean that are not shown on this map. It also doesn’t include how where is started, what exactly happened during the incident, or how long it lasted for in time. Overall, this map in my opinion in not very subject. It is not something I am pleased to look at because it is very overwhelming. The color coordination is nice, but I do not like how the timeline coordinates with the map because you can’t see everything at once. Also, I do not know exactly which year I am looking at or month I am looking at when I scroll over the timeline. If I were to create a map for this, I would put a picture of the Caribbean and apply colored dots based on the year something happened. For example, 1830’s would be blue and you can click on the dot and it would provide more detailed information of the exact year and what happened. I would just make it easier for the eye and the mind to comprehend. All in all, mapping has to be pleasing for the viewer by using shapes, colors, and for the map to be organized and easy to read.
3 comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Hi Kenzie! I agree that the map doesn’t really provide any details about each incident of a cholera outbreak/hurricane/tropical storm. I didn’t really like the timeline either for the same reason, and I like your ideas about what you would do if you were creating the map. An easy-to-understand map would definitely be more appealing to a reader.
Hi Kenzie,
Thanks for sharing! I applaud you for taking on such a daunting dataset – this website was pretty intimidating to me when I first looked at it, so I didn’t give it much of a chance, but I’m glad you stuck with it. I appreciate how you pointed out what you did and didn’t like about it, you were specific and made it easy to follow along.
I also looked at this dataset, and like you said, it was not user-friendly and was quite overwhelming. I like your suggestions of how you would change the map, I think it would certainly make it a lot easier to navigate!