The Mapped data of "Medieval Mediterranean" was created using MIT's open source program "Exhibit." This program allows you to take data and create a "dynamic exhibit" (in our case plot the data on a map). That data (including latitude and longitude) was first organized in an Excel spreadsheet, then (using MIT's open source "Babel") transformed into a JSON file (JavaScript Object Notation) displayable using Exhibit.
The map can expanded by adding to the present Excel Spreadsheet (request the Excel Spreadsheet)
Exhibit: http://www.simile-widgets.org/exhibit/
(http://code.google.com/p/simile-widgets/wiki/Exhibit)
Latitude/ Longitude Tool:
http://itouchmap.com/latlong.html
MIT program to convert Excel Database into Exhibit JSON file: http://simile.mit.edu/babel/
Seem too complicated?
An earlier form of these sites was created using Google Maps/ Earth. These were limited by the inability to search the data and, thus, to compare data points. Google Maps however is fairly intuitive for most students.
Dante's Florence at Google
Ibn Jubayr at Google
Egeria's Jerusalem at Google
Twelfth-Century Rome at Google
Thanks to Faculty Lab at Drew University and especially Gamin Bartle, Sarah Ashley and John Saul for investigating, mastering, and teaching these tools.