SOPS Mapping User Stories

[PeterC]

This is a summary of SOPS Mapping User Stories provided by members in the very early days of the project

People said they would like to be able to:

• easily find out what (free) current and historic maps are available for my 'place' online
• find out what copyright restrictions I need to adhere to when I find a map I want to use (in a book, on a website etc)
• understand how the base and layer aspects of the mapping work so they can be easily interchanged
• drill down from a road to a specific series of houses
• put annotations on current and historic maps electronically (either freehand or with icons)
  • have a misc identifying feature this can be a simple pin and the ability to indicate any random issues
  • annotate maps with a form of 'neighbourhood mapping notation' to detail the landmarks, landscapes of my one-place community today
  • use historic maps to identify the locations of specific features/buildings
  • identify various markers: local markers such as the mill or church, historical markers - blue plaques, geographical - the river & railway
• show data from my records on maps
  • annotate maps to show where different people lived – e,g. I might want to mark all those serving in WW1 or annotate with different symbols to indicate the occupation of the head of household or household size
  • use a map and cross reference against deaths recorded in a given period, in a given location
  • annotate maps to show incidences of a surname in different records eg 1881 census, pre 1600 parish registers
  • use historic maps to visually track changes in population over time, both in terms of residents of particular properties and the village as a whole
  • align the maps to a census entry or directory listing? So can we plot that in Primrose Cottage Mrs Jones is there in 1881 and Mrs Smith is there in 1891
• use maps to consider route ways and transport links into and out from my community and how these change over time
  • use maps to consider emigration and immigration patterns over time
• enable different countries and languages
• screenshot or save material to webspaces, blogs, documents and share amongst social media channels

Specific 'ideal' needs were prioritised by one member as:

Must be able to:

• have access to free current digital maps for my place of interest
• identify a point of interest, e.g. postcode, address, place on current map, lat-long
• mark locations within my place of interest, such as houses, buildings, cemeteries, parks etc
• make notes against my marked locations
• place predefined icons on maps, e.g. icons for roads
• know copyright restrictions for any maps I use
• know source for any maps I use
• identify places in the British Isles
• zoom in and out on maps
• save 'my' maps in a standard format, e.g. JPEG
• see all the maps I have created
• use this tool without training if I am able to use MS Office products
• (eventually) identify places in Continental Europe and overseas

Should be able to:

• have access to free historic digital maps for my place of interest
• put sources for my notes
• see my notes on hover or click
• 'turn on' my notes so they stay displayed on the map
• put URLs against my marked locations, e.g. link to an historic record, website etc
• put photos against my marked locations
• put information from different times against my marked locations, e.g. death in 1830, death in 1911, residents in 1871 etc
• view events within specific timeframes
• distinguish different types of events for my marked locations, e.g. residents, births, deaths etc
• view specific types of events, not just all events
• view specific types of icons, not just all icons
• layer historic maps on top of current OS map
• see marked locations and notes of current and historic layers together
• associate property names and addresses with marked locations
• associate surnames with marked locations
• draw on maps using standard shapes, e.g circles, lines, arrows etc
• add text to maps
• view the same property across historic map layers
• know what other digital maps are available for my place
• use the mapping tool on my mobile device
• print my maps
• embed my maps in a blog or on a webpage
• share my maps via Facebook, Google, Twitter
• share my maps with other named users of the mapping tool
• get help from this tool when I get stuck

Could be able to:

• identify the boundaries of my place of interest, which might be a house, street, town, part of a city, parish, group of villages etc
• visually distinguish events in different timeframes
• access different types of maps, e.g. road networks
• access different map views, e.g. terrain, satellite
• set which map type I prefer, e.g. OS, Bing etc
• view all events for a specific property name
• view all events for specific surnames
• draw on maps freehand
• add new icons , 'define your own'
• identify the start and end points for migration/movement and show them connected
• show number of occurrences of an event , e.g. number of migrants, surname occurrences
• visually distinguish events based on number of occurrences
• specify source and copyright restrictions (for maps that I have added myself)
• look up general advice on copyright
• accommodate foreign languages, e.g. Dutch, French
• buy the part of the map for my place (for digital maps that cost money)
• know any maps available for my place, including printed ones or ones available on other websites
• customise what I see on my tool based on my place of interest
• add digital maps that I have sourced myself to the mapping tool
• take a JPEG image of a map, e.g. from a book, and be able to layer it on top of a digitised map
• access to FamilySearch 1851 jurisdictions to get parish and other boundaries (http://maps.familysearch.org/)
• layer FamilySearch jurisdiction map on top of other maps
• see examples of what I can create with this tool
• password protect my maps if I choose to
• allow others to annotate my map
• identify groups of users
• have 'community' maps that are available to all users in a group to see
• have 'community' maps that are available to all users in a group to annotate
• limit functionality for different user groups, e.g. only Society members can use our icon library
• use an online service (paid) which will digitise maps of my place of interest that I source myself