An Interactive Geographic Information System and Open Story-Book for Local People

The project "Man and the River" ("Menschen am Fluß") is a "citizens" project in cooperation with the working group "Flößerpfad an der Kinzig (Raftsmen Trail along the River Kinzig)", the Black Forest Club, and the Nature Park communities of Alpirsbach and Loßburg.
The "Man and the River" Web site adds personal memories of local people to the well known historic facts of the Kinzig valley. The Web site works as an "Open Story-Book" to which everybody can add his historical knowledge as well as his personal experiences in the valley. This kind of information can be recorded and queried in a geo- and time-referenced manner.
Consequently the narrated stories always have two referencee points: a time related and a site related one, i.e. each story is a travel into history and at the same time a trip along the valley .

A mobile version of the "Story-Book" for hikers is planned. To do this, the stories of the web site will be prepared for a GPS controlled PocketPC (PDA). So the hiker will automatically receive the right story at the right place along his trip.