A guide for Carto
Using Carto is an easy way to visualize your data as historians. Carto allows you to create interactive maps of your data providing the opportunity for your data to be created in an easy interactive way for members of the historical community and the general public to view. Carto can display your data without a whole lot of effort allowing you the ability utilize a variety of maps and data display models. Carto is a map creation application that utilizes Comma Separated Value or .CSV file you create in excel that include longitude and latitude coordinates. Once you have created your CSV file in Excel you simply create a Carto map file in Carto and upload your .csv file. Carto will then read the data from your .csv file as well as your longitude and latitude coordinates and generate a specific map centered on the longitude and latitude provided. Carto will then create a map like the one you see below. you can manipulate the type of map you use, create a legend, change the color and pattern of the data points, add & subtract data points, and publish your work to the public all in one place. Carto is a great way to visualize your data set and with easy to use tutorials like this and many more that can be found all over the web to help you walk through Carto are worth exploring. The applications of Carto are limitless for historians, GIS workers, Archaeologists, Data Collectors, and Cartographers. I have learned the basic function of Carto in a few hours and I have learned that Carto is a great way to visualize your data and get it out to the pubic quickly. I can see using this piece of technology for everything from Political polling and demographic analysis to mapping battlefields and studying tactics and decision making during war time. To check out the various types of mapping applications that involve Cart and many other mapping applications please click here.