Get Access
Instructors can request course access to Systems Mapping through the CUNY AI Lab. Accept your instructor's invitation, then open Systems Mapping and sign in with CUNY Login. Choose your course from Classes and materials in Account. Lab members can also use the general workspace for their own projects.
Create a Project
On the Projects page, you can enter a Project title and Creator name, then choose New project. Creator name can be your name or your group's name. The map opens immediately, with Memo, Notebook, and Tools available in the sidebar.
Prepare two memos for the same project. The first describes the people, places, and resources involved in a local situation. The second adds outside institutions and broader conditions that help explain it. You can use course readings, case descriptions, interview material, or field notes, following your course's confidentiality rules.
First Memo
To begin, you can open Memo, select Part 1 · Local people and places, and upload your first memo or paste it into First memo. After checking the text, you can choose Submit memo and add nodes. The app reads this memo and adds up to ten supported nodes to the map. A node represents something you are mapping, such as a person, setting, or resource.
The app returns you to Notebook. Select a node to read its quotation, change its label or classification, and write an interpretation. Under Left out, Notebook lists proposed nodes the app did not add and the reason for each; choose Add beside any the memo supports. Use Tools → Add item to add something else that is missing. A successful reading may return fewer nodes or none. Once the submission succeeds, you can choose Continue even when no nodes were added.
Local Connections
At Meso, you can select a node on the map, choose Connect from, then select another node. Write a relationship that describes how they connect, choose its direction, and save it. You create the connections yourself. For example, a memo may show that a youth worker refers a student to an after-school program.
Second Memo
At Exo, you can open Memo, select Part 2 · Institutions and broader conditions, and upload or paste your second memo. Its field starts empty, and your first memo and existing map stay saved separately. Submit the second memo to add outside settings at Exo and broader policies, values, or structural conditions at Macro.
Use Exo and Macro to connect those additions to the local settings and relationships they affect. Field notes in Notebook are optional at every step. At Macro, Finish map opens the summary and download choices.
Return and Revise
Reopen a saved project by selecting its title on Projects. Edit either memo in Memo and choose Update map to submit meaningful changes. Your existing map and manual connections remain available while you revise. See Memos & Map Updates for updates and Export & Sharing for files and project links.