This now does everything I want from it. Achievement unlocked.

src/geocsv_lite/core.cljs

@@ -3,22 +3,36 @@
       [clojure.browser.dom :as dom]
       [clojure.string :as cs]
       [geocsv-lite.data :refer [get-csv-url get-data get-query-part-as-map]]
-      [geocsv-lite.gis :as gis]
       [geocsv-lite.map :as m]
       [geocsv-lite.notify :as n]))
 
 
 (defn ^:export initialise-map-element
   "Create a map view in the element with this `id` and decorate it with
-  pins showing locations from this `data-source`."
+  pins showing locations from this `data-source`. If `data-source` is nil
+  or an empty string, the content of the element will be used, if present."
   [id data-source]
-  (n/message (str "geocsv-lite.core.initialise-map-element called with args id: " id "; data-source: " data-source "."))
+  (n/message
+    (str
+      "geocsv-lite.core.initialise-map-element called with args id: "
+      id "; data-source: " data-source "."))
   (let [sid (str id)
         kid (keyword sid)
         v (m/add-view sid 55 -4 10)]
     (.whenReady v (fn [] (get-data kid data-source)))))
 
-(defonce app-state (atom {:text "Hello world!"}))
+(defn ^:export initialise-map-element-from-content
+  [id]
+    (let [sid (str id)
+        kid (keyword sid)
+        v (m/add-view sid 55 -4 10)]
+    (.whenReady
+      v
+      (fn
+        []
+        (get-data kid (.innerText (.getElementById js/document id)))))))
+
+
 
 (defn on-js-reload []
   ;; optionally touch your app-state to force rerendering depending on

src/geocsv_lite/data.cljs

@@ -49,7 +49,8 @@
                           (when (string? %)
                             (cs/lower-case
                               (cs/replace
-                                % #"[^\w\d]+" "-"))))]
+                                (cs/trim %)
+                                #"[^\w\d]+" "-"))))]
                   (keyword
                     (if (empty? n)
                       (gensym)
@@ -90,6 +91,7 @@
   "Get data for the view identified by this keyword `k` from this `data-source`.
   The data source may be a URL, or a CSV or JSON formatted string."
   [k data-source]
+  (js/console.debug (str "get-data: k = `" k "`; data-source = `" data-source "`"))
   (let [p (js->clj (.parse js/Papa data-source)  :keywordize-keys true)
         data (if
                (empty? (:errors p))