Notes on Online Timelines

It is now very easy to create an online historical timeline. This was not the case just a few years ago, but the world of online applications has exploded in the last year, making timeline projects much easier to accomplish. Each of the different timeline apps that I have listed below has a lot of examples for you to look at. You should also take a look at my A Cultural History of the Last Fifty Years: An Interpretative Personal Timeline (something fun)--I did not use any online app for that timeline, which I am still working on, but set it up using Dreamweaver. I used this approach largely because I always have a fear that if I did something with a specific online app, then that app might someday disappear with all of my work.

When you are working on your timeline, it is a good idea to do your writing and collection of source images off-line. In other words, write up your event descriptions in Word, for example. That way you will always have a backup copy of your work in case you make some kind of mistake when working with one of the timeline apps below. You may not use Powerpoint or Google Slides for this assignment. Believe me, you will make some mistakes, but don't let that stop you.

Timelines are a great way for you to illustrate history and allow your audience to better understand chronology.

Here are some student examples of timelines; some are better than others:

• See this great timeline by Jameson Collins and Gabriel Cao.
• Morgan Blanks created one of the most innovative online exhibits in this course with her work on the late Baroque period in music.
• Morgan Thompson, HIS 111, Zhou Dynasty, 1045 BCE - 221 BCE (uses sutori, which has an interactive feature)
• Vietnam History 1945-89 (uses timetoast)
• Caitlin Huynh, Events Leading Up to the Paris Accords (use a JS template)
• Heidi Paddoc and her group created this superb timeline using Sutori, WOC in the North American Film Industry.
• Victor Rojas, Simon Bolivar 1783-1830 (uses Google docs)
• Lawana Harper, C.S Lewis (uses timetoast)
• Dutch East India Company (uses tiki-toki)
• Here is a great timeline, created by J. Hawk, T. Olson and B. Doran using tiki-toki, on key events in the development of the personal computer.
• Ashlei Sutton, Major Events of the Anglo-Zulu War (uses timetoast)
• February/March Revolution of 1917 (uses timetoast)
• US Involvement in World War I (uses timetoast)
• Major Events of the Cold War (uses timetoast)
• Vietnam War (uses timetoast)
• Prohibition (uses timetoast)
• German Unification (uses timetoast)

 

Here are some other good timeline examples (there are many others on the sites of the apps listed below):

• European Explorers, 1450-1800
• The JFK Assassination Timeline

 

Here are some approved timeline apps that you can use for this assignment. You may not use Powerpoint or Google Slides for this assignment. Also, Visme is not approved for this assignment.

• Simile timeline a simile widget for Omeka
• Beedocs has two timeline products, one free, one for $19.95
• timeglider.com was a web-based timeline application
• Neatline at UVA digital to interlink timelines
• Timetoast also allows you to create and share timelines on the web, as does Tiki-Toki
• myHistro is something relatively new that claims to allow you to combine maps and timelines together.
• Sutori can also be used to create a timeline, or story, on the web.
• Timegraphics
• It might be possible to use smartdraw to create an online timeline.
• If you are up for more of a coding challenge, you can try knightlab.
• Let me know if you find any other timeline apps.

 

Of course, if you know some coding, you are welcome to create your own timeline from scratch somewhere on the web, as I did with my cultural history timeline.