DOI: 10.14714/CP108.2089

© by the author(s). This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0.

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Allen Carroll’s Telling Stories with Maps: Lessons from a Lifetime of Creating Place-Based Narratives utilizes theory and plenty of real-world examples—many drawn from Carroll’s own substantial body of published work—to show how geographic narratives have evolved within cartography, from printed maps and atlases to today’s web-based multimedia platforms. This book serves as a guide to creating and using maps, and in particular Esri’s StoryMaps platform, in ways that bring their data and message to life.

The author has had a long and distinguished career in mapping, including twenty-seven years at the National Geographic Society, where he served successively as Art Director of National Geographic Magazine, Chief Cartographer, and Executive Vice President of National Geographic Maps. Throughout that time he was an integral figure in the design and production of the Society’s renowned wall maps and atlases, and oversaw the production of hundreds of maps and graphics for the magazine. In 2010, Carroll joined the GIS software company Esri to found its ArcGIS StoryMaps team, dedicated to the development of web tools to enable the creation of web-based narratives combining interactive maps and other multimedia content. He is currently the Program Manager of Storytelling at Esri, and leads an editorial team that publishes, and assists in the publication of, many ArcGIS StoryMaps. Since the 1980s, he has continuously promoted the use of cartography of every sort to tell place-based stories, and Telling Stories with Maps lays out the fruits of this lifelong practice.

The first chapter, “Why Stories Matter,” opens with a discussion of the importance of storytelling—regardless of the medium—as a powerful way to share information and bring data to life, as well as the role that maps play in it. Carroll begins by asking what is meant by “story,” and then provides various examples of story structures. He shows that, while stories can take many forms, they all have a beginning, a middle, and an end. He asserts that the beginning should pique readers’ curiosity, the middle should inform, inspire, and provoke, and the ending should give readers some sort of call to action. This general discussion then leads into the initial focus of this book: the roles maps, and especially ArcGIS StoryMaps, can play in storytelling. In fact, Carroll very quickly segues away from a general consideration of maps and stories to a focus on the Esri product. He describes StoryMaps as “web-based narratives that combine maps and other multimedia elements—words, images, videos, audio, embedded content—to tell stories about the world” (8). As one might expect from an Esri Press publication, the author continues outlining the benefits of this web-based tool: its user-friendly interface, the flexibility of its templates and themes, and its ease of use in creating interactive and compelling stories that can be used to inform, educate, guide, and entertain a wide audience. There follow numerous pages outlining the use of ArcGIS StoryMaps by a multitude of agencies, groups, and individuals—each tied to an actual online example as indicated by a small link symbol and found here. This is a common feature for all chapters in this book.

“Why Maps Matter” is a question that I hope we all, as cartographers, have asked ourselves to some extent or another, and it is the title of Chapter 2. To Carroll, maps add dimensions to stories that other communication media, such as text, photos, and videos, simply cannot provide, because maps are written in the visual language of location. In addition to identifying location, they also reveal patterns (past, present, and future) and show interrelationships—referring back to geographer Waldo Tobler’s First Law of Geography: “Everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things” (34; Tobler 1970). In this chapter, Carroll discusses the three primary elements—text, images, and maps—of a StoryMap, their purposes, similarities, differences, and strengths, and how they can be combined to inform the reader about the who, what, when, where, why, and how of the story. He then goes on to remark on how StoryMaps have the ability to incorporate another, fourth, element: that of sound.

Chapter 3, “Maps and Minds,” illustrates how closely memories are tied to a sense of place. Many of us, Carroll included, utilize something known as a mental map—a map-like mental image composed of locational memories and other knowledge—when we think about past events. Much of this chapter is focused on reviewing some of the research literature related to spatial thinking and the brain, but there are also some interesting insights and conclusions that can help guide map-based storytelling; especially useful when that storytelling is geared towards a general audience.

The fourth chapter, “From Analog to Digital” starts with a historical overview of mapmaking at National Geographic. This ranges from the period of maps made using hand-scribed linework and glued labels, through the adoption of interactive computerized prepress systems from the Scitex corporation and the introduction of Esri’s Unix workstation-based GIS, ARC/INFO to, ultimately, desktop graphics software such as Adobe’s Illustrator and Photoshop. Having established this context, the author compares what he sees as the key similarities and differences in physical and web map storytelling. Physical maps have the advantage of simultaneously showing both fine detail and a synoptic overview, while computer-based maps can accommodate changes in screen form factors, can afford various forms of navigation, and can support the potential for multi-zoom-level data. Printed maps exist as physical artifacts that can be collected in libraries—where they can be preserved and conserved, or hidden away to be lost or rediscovered. Digital maps can be delivered to a user (almost) anywhere almost instantly, but are subject to file-format obsolescence or data corruption. Digital maps can be animated, corrected, or updated, where paper maps generally cannot. While the light emitted from a display screen can shorten the user’s attention span, and the mapmaker’s usable color choices are at the mercy of both ambient light and the vagaries of the digital display’s capabilities and settings, a physical map is limited by factors like the durability of its substrate and the lightfastness of its ink.

The journey referred to in the next chapter, “The Journey to Storytelling,” is that of Carroll’s extensive career in maps; an arc that runs from his early days as an art director at the National Geographic Society and his introduction to cartography, through a decade as its Chief Cartographer—an achievement many cartographers would consider a pinnacle—through the early years of his alliance with Esri. Over the course of this journey, his concept of storytelling—combining interactive maps, text, and images—grew and evolved. His narrative highlights several of his early multimedia experiments, and the many different formats each new prototype took. His path culminated in an easy-to-use, web-based app that allowed users to author, publish, and disseminate easy-to-access web maps—maps that told stories the way Allen Carroll had, over the years, come to understand as the best way to reach people. Essentially, this is the story of the conception, refinement, and continuing evolution of what we now know as ArcGIS StoryMaps.

Chapter 6, “Maps in Dramatic Roles,” outlines how maps, even single static visuals, can play an important narrative role in multimedia storytelling. Panning, scrolling, and utilizing pop-ups can allow maps to provide additional information whether they hold a starring or a supporting role. Carroll details how maps can be used to locate, compare, interpret, provide context, and illustrate any narrative, regardless of the choice of style. This chapter ends with a brief “Mapmaker’s Mantra” that provides guidance to anyone making maps: “Be honest and accurate. Be transparent and accountable. Minimize harm and seek to provide value. Be Humble and courageous” (139).

The “Nine Steps to Great Storytelling” that are laid out in Chapter 7 encompass the elements Carroll and his team recommend everyone should consider when building out an effective story. This chapter is an invaluable learning resource for anyone interested in storytelling; both new and veteran users of ArcGIS StoryMaps, and, for that matter, anyone else making maps.

Chapter 8, “Plan, Produce, Polish, Publish,” lays out the StoryMap creation process in detail. This step-by-step guide from story idea to publication is a companion to Esri’s online tutorial, providing guidance, advice, and templates that allow the user to be creative and flexible.

In a sense, Telling Stories with Maps tells two stories: that of Carroll’s own introduction to, and evolution in, cartography, and that of the use and usability of ArcGIS StoryMaps. The two are bound together so tightly, however, that one cannot simply say that one part of the book deals with the “Lifetime” and the other with the “Lessons” (from the book’s subtitle: “Lessons from a Lifetime. . .”). The first five chapters of the book lean very heavily on Carroll’s career narrative, and while it is an interesting read that provides helpful context and insights into his thinking on what eventually became ArcGIS StoryMaps, some readers may find that story to be less relevant than the lessons.

From a visual standpoint, the Telling Stories with Maps companion website is a powerful extension to the book, providing, as it does, links to the online collection of featured StoryMaps. While the screen captures in the book provide some clues as to the content of each story example, they cannot come close to replacing the interactive storytelling experience. There are a lot of featured StoryMaps, their bolded titles peppering the text, each followed by a link symbol indicating that it is included in the companion website. In addition, each chapter concludes with an “Exemplary Stories” section, with even more StoryMap links. I, myself, feel that there are too many showcased stories, and that the sheer number of examples significantly detracts from the flow of the narrative. It is interesting to note that the author does highlight how printed maps are still powerful tools, even as his discussion concentrates on the opportunities afforded by interactive, computer-based solutions.

There are a great many takeaways a reader can gain from this book. It provides useful guidance for a first-time user of ArcGIS StoryMaps—outlining the importance of storytelling, demonstrating different ways to utilize maps in conjunction with images and text, and offering practical tips for using Esri’s storytelling platform—but its readership should not be limited to beginners. Although it contains a lot of step-by-step instruction, it does not claim to be an instruction manual, and anyone interested in any method of storytelling can benefit from, and be inspired by, its content. Carroll has an impressive history in cartography and his writing clearly demonstrates his strong desire to share his insights with the community.

As with many Esri Press publications, the quality of the printing and layout does leave something to be desired. The design is less than cohesive: there is no clear structure, and the placement of illustrations and graphics seems almost haphazard, curiously contrary to Carroll’s own storytelling advice. While the cover illustration certainly draws the eye, it is unclear how it relates to the focus of the book and, frankly, appears more suited to a kids’ book. These drawbacks aside, Allen Carroll’s Telling Stories with Maps: Lessons from a Lifetime of Creating Place-Based Narratives can be looked on as a useful addition to your library, and maybe even an opportunity to grow and expand your storytelling horizons.

Reference

Tobler, W. R. 1970. “A Computer Movie Simulating Urban Growth in the Detroit Region.” Economic Geography 46: 234–240. https://doi.org/10.2307/143141.