Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Frappring the Consortium
Before the break, I spent part of an afternoon mapping all of the programs from the Composition and Rhetoric Consortium web site into Frappr, then copying/pasting the associated informational bits and URLs. Once finished: a Frappr of the Comp/Rhet Consortium. Sing sweet confessions, it was a fit of uninhibited geekiness, motivated in part by my recollection that, when I decided to apply to doctoral programs, I didn't have a simple way to single out the programs proximate to the Great Lakes--closest to where we ultimately hoped to move after KC. Of course, the map stands the chance of amplifying other (surprising-insightful?) qualities of the consortium's East-leaning geography. It's possible that I've missed a program or two. If you spot one, please let me know. I'll add it (as long as its affiliation is undisputed).
Beyond that, there's another practical motivation: I'd been meaning to give Frappr a whirl (initially, I was thinking a collective From project with a DL course). It's free and relatively easy. The groups systematically associated with the CR Consortium seem a bit off. The Crochet Dude and Dr. Vino? Uh...if you insist. Also, the system wants to remain open for others to add themselves. It would be nice if there was a moderator feature for sifting new member additions (the moderator is able to delete membrs and comments, fwiw, but anyone can add...I think). Also, the data and profiles are somewhat constrained. It's not possible--yet--to reorganize the listing of members. They can be sorted by location, but you'll see that Syracuse is listed at the top. I can't change that (well, right, maybe I wouldn't if I could, but still).
My hunch is that another mapping option (Google Maps EZ or a Google Maps API hack) would be better suited for the CR Consortium. And although Frappr does an okay job of making available what I'd hoped to, I just might tinker with switching the map to a different system in the months ahead--especially if the geography course I'm taking encourages experimentation with Google Maps/Google Local.
Posted by Derek Mueller at January 11, 2006 5:45 PM
to Rhetorico-Geography
Wow! This is pretty amazing. I didn't even know some of those programs existed.
Posted by: Nels at January 11, 2006 7:11 PMCool cool cool. Let me know if you come across anything that does something like what clustermaps do, but allow us control of the data. You and I have talked about this, but it'd be nice to be able to map intensities of particular sites a little more cleanly than Frappr does...
Posted by: collin at January 11, 2006 7:42 PMDerek, This rocks!!
Posted by: Marcia at January 11, 2006 11:09 PMYou remain my hero, D. If only the Vulcan Mind Meld were within my capabilities...it would be futile to resist!
Posted by: Denise at January 12, 2006 12:07 AMWhat everyone else said. I might take your from idea and use it in my classroom. Perhaps as a prelude to writing about an early memory--an early memory about learning or writing or being bilingual. Or maybe create map of the college campus and have the class do a labeled map for each building. Hmmmmm. Glad I stopped by.
Posted by: Joanna at January 12, 2006 3:08 PMEase of use would probably be enough to compel me to roll out a project with Frappr again. It's one of the simpler map builders, I think, considering that you can basically type in a zip code or click on the map to get a marker, then annotate the marker accordingly. Lots of possibilities with this, especially within a geo-graphies of writing framework.
I'll also continue to look for variations like you're talking about, Collin. I picked up _Mapping Hacks_ at Schine today, but I haven't had time to get into it yet. It would be double-cool to have the markers display place-associated metadata (with floating overlays). So yeah, I'm keeping an eye out.
Thanks, everybody, for the comments galore.
Posted by: Derek at January 12, 2006 8:57 PM