Atlascine is a free, open-source and online platform dedicated to annotating, visualizing and exploring stories with maps (https://atlascine.org/). This application was developed to address theoretical and ethical issues raised in oral history, post-representational cartography, feminist data visualization and deep mapping, and today occupies a unique niche at the intersection of story mapping platforms liked ESRI StoryMaps, Nunaliit and StoryMap JS, and oral history tools such as Oral History Metadata Synchronizer and Recogito. It combines the spatial visualization tools and techniques of the former with the indexing and annotating features of the latter to produce maps and atlases that open up and mobilize archives of recorded media to the research communities and to the educational benefit of wider publics.

The latest version of Atlascine presented in this paper is organized as three modules: A Data Management Module for uploading, modifying and browsing the data displayed in an atlas; A Stories Module in which stories on an atlas are tagged and mapped individually; and a Themes Module in which all the stories of an atlas are connected and overlaid based on common themes and places. This structure and associated features have been designed to address key principles in the mapping of stories that pertain to a range of cartographic projects, the first and most fundamental of which being that (1) the map does not replace the story. Given all the transformations that cartographic processes can impose on source data, this key guiding principle is especially relevant for sensitive story data whose multidimensionality is still beyond what a map can represent. As such, the mapmakers’ and storytellers’ voices remain clearly differentiated. (2) The integrity and completeness of each mapped story (i.e. dataset) must also be preserved. While mapping stories is usually associated with a selection and curation of segments and materials that are of particular interest to the mapmaker, Atlascine makes no such fragmentation, preserving necessary context and meaning amid any cartographic transformation. (3) The mapping process is also exposed and made to be transparent. As a core principle in contemporary cartography, such transparency acknowledges the impact that cartographic decisions and processes have on their mapping outcomes and opens them up to critique, contestation and discussion. Three additional principles help to outline a practice of mapping for story collections put forward by Atlascine: (4) The narrative pathways of the story are exposed as a visualized spatial trajectory, revealing the spatial complexity of its narrative structure. These narrative pathways are (5) connected through places, which emerge as plural and collective in that they assemble multiple mapped stories, allowing us to explore the collective knowledge and experiences embedded in story collections to reveal similarities and differences among and between them. Finally, (6) the map acts as an interface, or as a “portal” into these narratives. The map services itself to the stories and acts as an invitation to explore them both analytically and affectively.

These different functions and features have made Atlascine appealing to a range of mapping projects. At the time of writing this paper, about 150 stories have been mapped in different atlases. The Atlas of Rwandan Life Stories contains 20 oral history interviews from members of the Rwandan community living in Montréal, including many from survivors of persecution and genocide. Mapping these life stories raised challenging ethical, methodological, and technological questions that shaped the early stages of the platform’s redesign. The La Ville Extraordinaire atlas presents over 70 oral history interviews of elderly Montrealers from multiple origins and backgrounds that provide a community-based perspective on its cityscape and history. Meanwhile, the atlas of Intangible heritage of Parc-Extension , a multicultural neighborhood in Montreal facing intense gentrification, includes 14 interviews of residents who share their memories in the context of urban change. Finally, the Raconte-moi Riopelle atlas is part of an oral history project intended to deepen our understanding of the life and career of visual artist Jean Paul Riopelle through the mapping of 17 interviews about their work and vision.

Atlascine is a unique platform that addresses ethical issues raised by the mapping of stories of violence and genocide, methodological issues raised by the mapping of stories more generally, technological issues raised by the navigation between and within stories and maps, and theoretical issues raised in contemporary cartography. Atlascine’s unique combination of textual, visual and cartographic elements, coupled with the immersive power of the stories themselves make it a valuable tool for recording and communicating nuance and emotion about events, people and places.