Building a Public Web Interface for Historical GIS: The Keweenaw Time Traveler Explore App 2.0

Ryan Williams, Michigan Tech University

Since its launch in 2017, The Keweenaw Time Traveler Project's web-based Explorer App has permitted the public to search and explore decades of historical data about the people, places, and stories of Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula, all mapped to historically appropriate basemaps. The project team are currently in the process of launching a next-generation iteration of the Explore App that incorporates many new datasets and robust record linkages across datasets that substantially improve the user experience and research value of the project. Our new 'Explore App 2.0' utilizes common web scripting languages such as JavaScript and php and the free and open-source relational database management system PostgreSQL to manage, search, and share these similar, yet often disparate, datasets efficiently and effectively. This paper will discuss the tools and methods used to incorporate these datasets together into a common database, including the development of a custom application programming interface (API) that handles the searching and delivery of data results to the Explorer App or other end user applications.

No extended abstract or paper available

 Presented in Session 99. Project Development