Research Guides: ENG 208: Womanism/Feminism: Creating Timelines

Michael Schwartz Library

Tools For Creating an Interactive Timeline

Ah...the familiar PowerPoint. The linear nature of PowerPoint slides make them a suitable way to present a timeline about a topic, issue, or series of events. Each slide can be made to represent a specific event, or point on your timeline.

Pros:

Familiar
Lots of design + customization tools
Slide layout

Cons:

Constrained to the slide format
Not as dynamic for sharing online
Not designed for embedding other content

You can use the online version of PowerPoint by signing into your campus email, and accessing the app launcher 'waffle" in the upper left of your screen. https://www.csuohio.edu/sites/default/files/access_apps.pdf

Collaborating: Easily share a PowerPoint with other editors using the 'Share' function in the online version.

My timeline

Sway is a relatively new presentation + digital storytelling tool from Microsoft. It is also linear, but allows for more kinds of content to be inserted and embedded. It also relies on the concept of 'sections' rather than slides.

Pros:

Linear
Flexible organization through cards
'Born' online object is easy to share
Easily embed images, video, and other web content.
Table of contents makes it easy to navigate

Cons:

Less familiar
Layout within a card is less flexible - no 'slide' to move content around on

Access Sway as a Microsoft app through your campus email.

Collaborating: Easily share a Sway with other editors using the 'Share' function in the online version.

My timeline

Timeline.js is a free web tool developed by the Knight Lab at Northwestern University. It takes information from a user created Google Sheet (with rows for each point on the timeline) and uses that to represent points on an interactive timeline with proper scaling of days, months, and years. it can be viewed from a link, or embedded on a webpage.

Pros:

Designed specifically for creating timelines
Proper scaling of timeline points across the entire timeline
Easy integration of embeddable content like images and video

Cons:

Learning curve
Multi-part: create and edit a spreadsheet, then integrate into the timeline tool
Less flexible structure - can't include multiple images/sections per 'event'

Collaborating: You'll need to share the spreadsheet which feeds into the Timeline tool with other editors.

Creative Commons and Public Domain

It's important when you look for material to put in your project that you consider the copyright status of that work. Even if something is freely shared on the internet, it doesn't mean that content can be copied and shared freely without violating copyright. There are two kinds of works you should focus on in your searching that allow for straightforward reuse:

Materials that have a Creative Commons license on them, meaning they have been shared openly by the author
Materials in the public domain (most materials published before 1923)

See the Understanding Copyright tab to learn more about Creative Commons and public domain.

Sources of Content

flickrCC
Search for Creative Commons licensed images on flickr.
CC Search
Search multiple collections of openly licensed images at once.
Pexels
Royalty free stock images.
Pixabay
All images and videos on Pixabay are released free of copyrights under Creative Commons CC0. You may download, modify, distribute, and use them royalty-free for anything you like, even in commercial applications. Attribution is not required.
Public Domain Archive
A public domain image repository.
Public Domain Pictures
A repository for free public domain images. Download high quality HD photos or upload your own.
Wikimedia Commons
Repository of public domain images and other media content available in a wide variety of languages.
Europeana Art History Collection
Europeana searches various art collections from all over Europe. Copyright status will be indicated per individual images.
Getty Search Gateway
The Getty makes available, without charge, all available digital images to which the Getty holds the rights or that are in the public domain to be used for any purpose. No permission is required. Please use the following source credit when reproducing an image: Digital image courtesy of the Getty's Open Content Program.
Open Clip Art
Images submitted to Open Clip Art are entered into the public domain.
Flickr - Creative Commons search
Use Flickr's search and specify the license.
Public Domain Review
Highlights interesting and notable media collections belonging to the public domain.
Pexels
Royalty free stock images.

ccMixster
Musicians upload their music to ccMixster. Tracks that must be purchased for commercial licenses will indicate this.
Free Music Archive
Audio tracks on the Free Music Archive are curated by the website, and many of the artists are invited before submitting. Most of the material uses Creative Commons licenses or Public Domain, but as always, check before using.
Internet Archive Netlabels
Much of what is included in this collection is Creative Commons licensed.
MusOpen
MusOpen contains mostly recording of classical works. Most of the recordings are public domain or creative commons. Some are not licensed for commercial use, so check the license!
SoundCloud
Artists can upload their music to SoundCloud. Under "Filter results" click the copyright symbol (©) and choose "to share" or "to use commercially", depending on your need.
SoundBible
Collection of sound effects for use in video projects. The majority have creative commons license, requiring attribution.

Project Gutenberg
Many of the free ebooks hosted here are in the public domain. Check the copyright status under "Bibrec" to check.
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive Text and Ebook collection includes materials from many different contributors and library/museum systems. Not all collections are public domain or openly licensed.
Hathitrust
Hathitrust has partnered with institutions around the world to collect scanned books. Many of the books in the collection are in the public domain. Individual copyright status for each book will be indicated.
Chronicling America
Newspapers digitized by the Library of Congress. All the newspapers are printed before 1923, and the LOC presumes that they are in the public domain. Individual use should still be assessed on a case by case basis.

Vimeo
Put in a search for content, and use the filters on the left to choose a CC license (you may need to click 'More Filters')
Youtube
After you do a search in YouTube, you will need to find the 'Filters' option at the top of the results list. Select "Creative Commons" under Features.
Videvo
Collections of CC and Royalty free video. Make sure you check the license.