The class will learn to build a timeline by creating a simple timeline using Google Documents spreadsheet and and a Simile gadget.
Add at least 15 events to the Greenwich Village Google Docs spreadsheet. Chose to either add events related by a theme or highlight the key events in a specific set of years. Describe the theme of your entries on your student wiki page. We will go over the use of the spreadsheet in class. Your timeline entries are due Week 12.
You can choose from either the map or the timeline. You do not need to do both.
Make sure that your events are new and have not already been posted to the timeline. You can use the research that you have done for the collaborative writing project or the research teams as the basis of your timeline, or use the theme you have selected for your web exhibit.
To see the published timeline, click here.
If you need to edit your entries, open the Google docs spreadsheet and search for your netID in the initials column. Changes made in the spreadsheet will be made on the timeline automatically. Please do not edit any entries that are not yours
Examples of themes are:
- the history of Washington Square Park
- the folk music scene in the 1960s
- literary figures and their works
- famous taverns
- gay liberation movement
- Greenwich Village in the 1940s
- Greenwich Village in the 1870s
- Greenwich Village in 1968
Conventions
| label | A short entry for the event |
| start | The starting date, entered as 1912/01/01. If you only have a month or a year, use 01/01 for the day/month, or estimate (1912/06/21 for summer, 1912/12/31 for late in the year.) |
| end | The end date, entered the same way as above. If there is no end date, leave it blank. |
| description | Add a paragraph or or several sentences expanding on the description. You can add a source citation if needed. |
| image | Add the URL of an image representing the event, if needed. Make sure that permissions are cleared. |
| type | General description such as: Art, Biography, Business, Economics, Literature, Military, Music, Politics, Popular Culture, Science, Society, Sports, Other. |
| initials | Add your netID here, so we know who mounted each entry. |
Multiple Edits at the Same Time
Up to 50 people can edit the timeline at the same time. If someone else is also editing the spreadsheet you will see either the name of the collaborator or "unidentified user #" at the top of the screen.
Edits will appear in real time. You can click the arrow to the right of the user name to open a tab where you can chat with other editors within the document.
This timeline project was based upon Brian Croxall's "Build Your Own Interactive Timeline." For an example of a course-based timeline see .
Other timeline tutorials can be found at:
David Huynh "Visual Timeline Gadget,"
The Core Mechanic tutorial, for gamers, but you can adapt it for history.
