New GiS for History site

[Ben Loh]

Hi folks,

I just thought I'd share our new web site prototype for exploring 
historical census data intended for high school and college students. 
Obviously, it's based on mapserver.  We're using php-mapscript with 
AJAX for the interface.  I'd be very interested in any input that any 
of you have, as we're not GIS pros.

The main url:   <http://www.gisforhistory.org/>

A direct link to a map: 
<http://www.gisforhistory.org/projects/greatmigration/?defaultView=map>


A few highlights:

* We're using historically accurate county maps from NHGIS along with 
historical US census data from 1790 through 1970, and a few layers 
that we constructed ourselves.  (One big issue we have right now is 
that we aren't using simplified shape files for the counties, so the 
load time is rather slow.  My guess is that we can cut down the load 
time by about half with simpler shapes.).

* To help students keep track of what they're doing, we implemented a 
"Query History" that records each click/setting they make ala 
Photoshop's history feature.

* You can pan ala google maps by dragging the map.  (We're still 
troubleshooting a problem with Win IE where if you have the 
"Temporary Internet Files" setting set to "Every visit to the page" 
we run into caching issues while dragging).

* We're using AJAX to try to minimize bandwidth issues, as many 
schools have a narrow pipe.  (We're still trying to optimize loading. 
The legend is generated dynamically via javascript and css to 
minimize the number of files that need to be downloaded from the 
server with any single call).

* The site is intended for novices, so it is deliberately simple.

We'd love to hear any suggestions or rants!

Thanks,

Ben

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