Museums of Nova Scotia

Project 2 of the PROG1041 - Introduction to Programming course builds on Project 1, which was designed for students to learn web development skills such as coding and styling through the use of HTML and CSS languages. The objective was to build an aesthetically pleasing, fully functional, and well-structured webpage. Project 2 introduces students to the JavaScript programming language and the Leaflet JavaScript web mapping API. It involves using an open-source dataset to create an interactive Leaflet web map and embedding it into their webpage, including thematically stylized icons, pop-ups, and plugins.

Leaflet is a free and open-source web mapping API that provides pre-written code libraries to help simplify the coding process, so we can focus more on mapping. The web map production process begins with downloading libraries and linking them to our HTML file using code links provided by Leaflet. Once we’ve linked our stylesheets and JavaScript files, we need to pull in our dataset and populate our script files to embed our map. For improved interactivity, we can also add customized icons, pop-ups, and plugins. From here, we can customize the behaviour and style properties of our map and its features by simply editing pre-written code. For any special modifications, we can refer to the "Docs" tab on the Leaflet website for more information.

The chosen dataset is Nova Scotia Museum Locations pulled from the Government of Nova Scotia data portal, an open data platform that allows public access to various datasets. This particular dataset is from the Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage. It's a list of locations for all provincial museum sites and it was last updated March 5, 2024. The intended audience is Nova Scotia residents or tourists who want to access the sites.

Below is a quote from author and artist Maira Kalman:

"A visit to a museum is a search for beauty, truth, and meaning in our lives. Go to museums as often as you can".