Anticipating a spike in Titanic-related questions, reference librarians at the public library researched Halifax’s Titanic connections in advance of the 2012 centenary. A number of sites in the city with Titanic significance were identified, and various historic documents, maps, directories and photographs were used to pin-point their current-day locations. Recent advances in mobile technology enabled a novel approach to compiling the information for the public. A mobile-friendly self-guided tour was developed using a variety of social media and location-based apps including Google Maps, Foursquare, Flickr and Layar. These tools allowed us to capitalize on the geolocation and mapping capabilities of the powerful little computers people carry around with them, without the need for significant technical expertise on our part. By presenting history in geographic context we hoped to enhance the experience for users and bring to life the role our city played in the tragic events of 1912.

1. Titanic, The Halifax Connection
www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca/titanic
Alison Ambi: @futurecurious
Halifax Public Libraries: @hfxpublib

2. Background
• Port and city of Halifax actively involved in
recovery efforts after Titanic sank on 15
April 1912
• Left a legacy of grave sites, artifacts,
documents & stories about people and
places in the city

3. Project
Documents
& Images
Locations in
Mobile Geolocation Halifax, 2012
Stories from 1912 –
People & Events
• Budget: $0

4. A Community Effort
• Kelli WooShue, Emerging Technologies
Manager, Halifax Public Libraries
• Nova Scotia Archives, Maritime Museum of
the Atlantic, Dartmouth Heritage Museum,
Bedford Institute of Oceanography, St.
Paul’s Church

5. Books!

6. 1912 Newspapers

7. 1912 City Directory

8. Maps
HRM Archives - Map of City and Harbour of Halifax, NS (1910)

9. Church Documents

10. Photographs
Nova Scotia Archives

11. Free Mobile Geolocation Tools

Google Maps

Foursquare

Layar (+ Poistr)

12. Google Maps & Earth
• Determining Coordinates
• Collation
• Website Version
• Link: http://goo.gl/maps/9w5w

13. Google Maps & Earth
Features & Limitations
• Mobile-friendly (works better on Android)
• Widely used and well indexed by Google
• Allows long captions and easy hyperlinking
• User can compare their location to Points of
Interest (POIs) on the map
• Users must know the map exists (no
serendipitous location-based discovery
mechanism)

14. Foursquare
• Location-Based Social Network (Check-In
App)
• Others:
– Yelp
– Google Local/Latitude
– Facebook Places (Gowalla)

15. Foursquare
Features & Limitations
• Verging on mainstream
• Lists
• Serendipitous location-based discovery
• Game element & “check-in specials”
• Very limited captions & hyperlinking

16. Foursquare

17. Foursquare

18. Foursquare

19. Foursquare

20. (Flickr)

21. Layar
• Augmented Reality Browser (linking
electronic data to the real world)
• Others
– Wikitude
– Junaio

22. Layar
Features & Limitations
• Not yet widely used
• More challenging to implement (Poistr)
• Limited caption length, but
• Allows hyperlinking, embedding media,
triggering device functions (phone calls)
• Most sophisticated feature (superimposing
historical on current-day images) requires
budget>$0

23. Layar

24. Layar

25. Layar

26. Evaluation
• Enormous public & media interest
• Tracking – difficult to compare use figures
– Google Map: 62 569 views
– Foursquare: 74 friends, 21 saved the list
– Layar: …
• Worthwhile learning experience for us!

27. Future of Mobile GIS/AR Apps
• More wide-spread consumer adoption
• Location become a standard, integral part
of most apps
• Smart Cities
• AR in education (e.g.
Augmented Reality Sandbox)
• An AR project to watch: Google’s
Project Glass (concept stage)