Concept Cartography is a free, open-source atlas for mapping how ideas connect. People build concept maps together: each concept carries a definition, a link to its source literature, an example and an optional quiz prompt, and concepts are linked by typed relations such as type of, part of, depends on or distinct from.
The goal is to make the relationships between ideas visible, arguable and shareable, so that a field's vocabulary can be explored as a landscape rather than a list.
What you can do here
- Build maps. Create a map, add concepts and draw typed relations between them. Every map is a live, force-directed network you can pan, zoom, rotate and rearrange.
- Browse the dictionary. The concept dictionary gathers every entry across every map, and each entry has its own link you can share or cite.
- Discuss connections. Relations can carry comments, so disagreements about how two ideas relate have a place to live.
- See who did what. Every edit is attributed and appears in an activity log, and the community page shows how the atlas is growing.
Who makes it
Concept Cartography is created by Rena Beatrice Alcalay, Nathanael Sheehan and Rose Trappes, together with everyone who contributes to the maps. If you use the atlas in your work, see how to cite it.
The source code lives on GitHub. Bug reports, ideas and pull requests are welcome.
An experimental project
Concept Cartography is in active development. Features, layouts and data structures may change as we learn from how people use it, and occasional rough edges are expected. We're committed to shipping a stable build by March 2027.
Principles
- Open by default. The software is open source and the maps are made to be read, reused and built on.
- Credit where it's due. Edits are attributed so contributors are visible, and concepts point back to their original sources.
- Collect as little as possible. Signing in needs only a display name: no email address, no password, no tracking. See the privacy policy for details.
Get in touch
The best way to reach the team is to open an issue on GitHub.