Neatline!

     Neatline was pretty neat, for lack of a better term. The process of learning it was simple, and it seems like a great way to organize thinking in terms of a map. My question, though, is exactly how I would use it for a project. I am researching the Bosnian War right now, which has a lot of places, dates, and moments that would lend themselves well to Neatline's geographical organization. Despite this, I can't see precisely how it would fit into my research process. Maybe it is just the way I do research, using one singular Google Doc with my quotes, outline, and sources listed, but I didn't see an opportunity to use Neatline, unfortunately. For those of you who are using it, how have you incorporated it? How well has it worked?

    I am excited to try it for a later project, though. As someone with a messy note-taking process, and an even messier outline for my current research project, I think Neatline could streamline and organize my thinking a bit more effectively than what I have now. Tying events I research to a map is such a good way to ground my research and allow me visualize where everything is happening and in what timeline. Even from my short time using Neatline for Home Fire helped me see where the events of the story unfolded in relation to each other- a huge help for comprehending the story. 

    That's my thoughts on Neatline. I am both excited and unsure about using the service for my future projects. 

Comments

  1. Hey Jalen, I agree that Neatline is quite neat (haha). I, too, am a bit confused by what type of project it would work best for because it seems like a pretty niche area. However, it's super cool and I'm excited to see what you do with it in the future.

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  2. I definitely think there is a time and place where Neatline could be super useful, but it didn't make sense for my research project either. To be completely honest, I agree that it has really great applications like organization, making spots geographically, and a timeline, but I had a really hard time actually using the tool.

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  3. Hey Jalen, I do agree that Neatline has lots of potential. I personally didn't find it very useful for this project, but I can see how it might make more sense for projects that have lots of location and time points. I definitely do see Neatline as a great tool for visual learners as well.

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  4. I think Neatline would have worked excellently for your Bosnia project! Talk to me next time about how to organize your material within this tool!

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