The two Rich Maps in the Encyclopedia – "Labor Unrest in Chicago" and "Prairie Avenue" – use maps as starting points for personal explorations of the history of Chicago. You can initiate your own historical investigation, deciding what information you wish to see presented on screen, reading essays that provide broader context, or accessing historical sources that illuminate the information presented in the map. The "Prairie Avenue" map, for example, becomes an entryway into the lives of the people who resided along the street. By clicking on the outlines of homes, you can explore census records, photographs, legal documents, and family letters. Investigating the "Labor Unrest" map will allow you not only to read and offer your own interpretations of the historical sources used to create this map, but also to learn more about the individuals and institutions involved in the depicted events.

Rich Maps are divided into two main areas, the Map, which includes a Controls Menu and a Key Menu, and the Page Content. The Map is the point of entry into your investigation and resides on the left. Essays, historical sources, and other information appear on the right as the result of selections made when exploring the map. The Map contains two drop-down panels, a Controls Menu and a Key Menu. These can be revealed or hidden by clicking on the name of each at the top of the map.

Rich Map Table of Contents

Each Rich Map has its own Table of Contents, a listing of the essays and sections in the Rich Map. The Table of Contents appears near the top of the window above the Map and Page Content. Clicking on an essay title in the Table of Contents will cause the essay to appear in the Page Content area as described below.

Key Menu

The Key Menu explains the graphical features of the maps by defining icons, colors, and textual treatments.

Controls Menu

The Controls Menu allows you to define what information will be displayed on the map. Choices may include background, geographical features, or the date represented. Selections are made by clicking buttons (as in the example above) or by moving a slider along a timeline. In some controls, you have the option to view multiple layers of information. In others, the map displays only one selection at a time.

Page Content

Content that expands upon the mapped information is shown in the Page Content area to the right of the map. This content can include essays, historical sources, and tables of data associated with the map. You determine what appears in Page Content by selecting from the Map Menu as described below.

Rich Map content areas begin with introductory essays. By clicking on certain regions of the map, you can navigate through a variety of sources and information.

Map Menu

When scanning your mouse over Rich Maps, a white hand will appear to indicate a hot spot. When you see this icon , click to bring up a menu and access more information.

Once a selection is made, the Page Content area will load the requested information. Many choices lead to interactive materials which use the same viewer controls as those in Historical Sources. The chosen content may also contain links to addtional related material. For instance, in the example above, the historical source is linked to a transcription of the newspaper as well as other related newspaper stories.