Resources for Studying Urban Design History Available at Ball State University Libraries

Robert Moses' plan for Washington Square Park,

Wrestling with Moses, Anthony Flint

Wrestling with Moses, Anthony Flint

Wrestling with Moses, Anthony Flint

Street map of Greenwich Village, 1964

GIS Research and Map Collection

Washington Square Park neighborhood, 

New York Photo Atlas, Atlas Collection

Google Celebrates Urban Planning Activist:  Saving the Village in New York

Google is known for celebrating important holidays, anniversaries, and events with their “Doodles” that transform the logo on the Google homepage in an artistic way.  Since 1998, Google has created over 2,000 doodles, and today’s (top, click to enlarge) celebrates the 100^th birthday of Jane Jacobs, a journalist who became a leading activist for preserving unique urban design.

Jacobs began her career in New York, writing for the U.S. State Department and then Architectural Forum in 1952, where she wrote about urban planning.  Jacobs resisted the ideas that urban development equaled removing neighborhoods considered “urban blight.”

Jacobs began researching the field of urban design with a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation.  In 1961 Jacobs published her book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, as a product of her research.  The book became one of the most influential sources in American urban planning.

In the 2001 book, Visionaries: People and Ideas to Change Your Life by Jay Walljasper and Jon Spayde (available in the General Collection of Bracken Library), Jacobs’ book is celebrated:

In 1961, at the height of urban planners’ crusade to obliterate all the charming, lovable parts of American cities and replace them with sharp-angled monuments to modernist rationality, an unassuming New York writer defended the urban neighborhoods. …Jane Jacobs celebrated what nearly everyone else called slums and eyesores: the close-knit urban neighborhoods under assault by superhighways and high-rise housing projects.

In that same year, Jacobs’ urban design standards would be put to the test.  Robert Moses was a city planner who designed a high-rise development (above, click to enlarge) and “slum clearance” in Greenwich Village, Jacobs’ neighborhood.  Moses’ plan also included building an expressway through Washington Square Park.  

Jacobs organized a committee to stop the expressway and preserve the park.  She led marches and community events against its demolition, and Jacobs and the residents of the neighborhood successfully blocked the project.  Greenwich Village today has been preserved as the unique, quaint neighborhood Jacobs appreciated.

Ball State University Libraries has a copy of Jacobs’ book in the General Collection of Bracken Library, as well as many books devoted to Jacobs' design philosophy and activism.  The Architecture Library includes a large collection of books and DVD’s devoted to Jane Jacobs’ urban design influence. 

The Atlas Collection on the second floor of Bracken Library includes resources about the development of New York and other American cities, including A Historical Atlas of the Industrial Age and the Growth of America’s Cities; Manhattan in Maps, 1527-1995; Mapping Boston; and Los Angeles in Maps.

For more information about these resources, please contact the GIS Research and Map Collection at 765-285-1097.

Tracking the Illegal Ivory Trade

Maps in the News: Elephant Poaching

President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya burned more than $150 million worth of ivory tusks this weekend as a statement that the country is serious about ending the illegal ivory trade.  The tusks were recovered from poachers and seizures at airports and ports.  Poachers (heavily armed with military supplies) have wiped out tens of thousands of elephants across Africa in order to feed the illegal ivory pipeline to China and other countries.  Most countries around the world follow an international ban on ivory signed in 1989, but many Asian countries participate in a massive black market of ivory goods.

National Geographic created an online interactive map, Tracking the Illegal Tusk Trade.  The map details the tracking of smuggled ivory by investigative journalist Bryan Christy.  The September 2015 National Geographic Magazine cover story describes how Christy commissioned a taxidermist to create two fake ivory tusks.  The tusks were embedded with special GPS tracking devices.

Christy tracked the smugglers as the tusks were transported from the Garamba National Park in the Congo into the Central African Republic into South Sudan and then Sudan.  The tusks are smuggled in part to finance armies in Africa, including the Lord’s Resistance Army and other terror groups.  The price of the tusks increases with each stop along the supply chain until the ivory reaches its final destination, mostly in Asia.  (China is the largest market for the ivory).

National Geographic created the maps (above, click to enlarge) to depict the environmental crisis.  The graphs (red elephants) show the number of illegal kills in Africa in 2011.  The last chart shows the ten countries with the most ivory seized from 1989 to 2011.

Earth Day 2016

Bellerby and Company, London

Happy Earth Day!

GIS Map of the Travels of Queen Elizabeth II

Happy Birthday Your Majesty:  Mapping the Travels of Queen Elizabeth II

Today is the 90^th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II.  Last September when she became the longest reigning monarch of the United Kingdom, The Telegraph published an online map showing all of the countries Queen Elizabeth has visited.  (The map was created using ESRI GIS software).

Elizabeth has reigned since 1952, and during that time she has visited 116 countries.  The queen visited Commonwealth country Canada 24 times and Australia 16 times.  Elizabeth visited the United States five times.  Her first visit came during the presidency of Dwight Eisenhower in 1957, and her last visit was in 2010 with President George W. Bush.

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) consolidates one-on-one research assistance from the GIS Specialist with the GIS Research Area, which offers access to ESRI GIS software and to online GIS tutorials, datasets, online mapping applications, and in-house GIS data.

For more information about using GIS software, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097.

Using Cartographic Resources as Visual Aids

New York Times Republican votes

Maps in the News:  New York Elections, Etc.

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) provides services to assist and enhance the specific needs of students, faculty, and other researchers.  The GRMC will provide individual and classroom research assistance and instruction, and one of the most popular instructional programs involves students learning to use maps as visual aids in creative writing assignments.

This semester the GRMC has provided instructional sessions to over 500 students in English composition and other classes learning to use maps and other cartographic resources as visual aids to add emphasis, credibility, and clarity to their research papers.  The GRMC offers students information about unique maps, atlases, GIS software, and other cartographic resources—including many Web pages that use the latest mapping technology to create maps about the most pressing news events.  One of the best online resources for maps is The New York Times.

The Times and its related analytical page, The Upshot, feature detailed maps (above, click to enlarge) that display statistics and data related to the latest news stories from around the world, and these maps can be used in students’ research papers.  The Times has featured numerous maps related to the refugee crisis in Africa and the Middle East, maps updating the situations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Russian air space violations. 

Maps describing social issues like crime and healthcare have also been featured.  The maps range from lighthearted topics like where Thanksgiving dishes are more popular in the U.S. and how often Google users searched for the term “skinny jeans” to more serious issues like state gun laws.  And The New York Times did a comprehensive series related to drugs and created maps showing U.S. overdose deaths for 2014 and how heroin abuse in states like New Hampshire have become a campaign issue.

On today’s page, readers can view interactive maps showing the results of yesterday’s New York primary elections.  Users can zoom in to the maps to see how each block in all five New York boroughs voted, with maps showing the results of the Republican and Democratic presidential elections.  Users can click on maps showing how different demographic groups voted (race and socioeconomic status).

Researchers can use maps to convey a visual message for a seemingly endless variety of topics.  The GRMC can provide information about using and citing maps from online resources.  For more information about using cartographic resources for research and learning, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097.

Earthquake Maps Available from Ball State University

Maps in the News:  Earthquake Maps Available from Ball State University Libraries

Japan experienced two large earthquakes at the end of last week.  And Ecuador, almost 10,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean from Japan, experienced a deadly earthquake on Saturday night.  The two countries lie along the famed “Ring of Fire” where 90% of the world’s earthquakes occur according to the National Geographic Society.

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) has a unique collection of maps related to seismic activity around the world.  Maps identifying the seismic potential around the world, global seismicity of world cities, and seismic hazard maps for specific regions in the United States are included in the collection. 

One of the unique maps (above, click to enlarge) depicts tsunami-generating earthquakes of the Pacific Rim.  The map was created by Robert P. Masse’ and James W. Dewey in 1994.

A set of these maps is also available in digital format via the Digital Media Repository (DMR).  This collection, Earthquake and Seismic Hazard Maps, provides online access to maps showing the locations of fault lines, historic earthquakes, active volcanoes, and plate tectonics from around the world, including the New Madrid fault line in the Midwest.

For more information about using maps for research and learning, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097.

Boston Marathon Story Map from ESRI

Maps on the Run:  Boston Marathon Story Map and Tracker

Today marks the 120^th running of the Boston Marathon, and the 50^th anniversary of women running the race (informally).  The race brings elite and amateur runners from around the world and is one of the most popular road racing events.

The Boston Athletic Association Web site allows friends and family to track athletes running the race.  The Boston Marathon Tracker uses a searchable database to allow users to search for the name of a runner and see where on the course they are and what kind of time they are running.

ESRI, the world’s leading producer of GIS mapping software, has created a Story Map about the Boston Marathon. The map, 26 Boston Marathon Facts, provides facts about the race covering ground from Hopkinton to Boston.  For example, “It takes 397 school buses to shuttle the runners to the starting line.  This year there are 30,000 entrants.”

The map includes a photograph and location of a race official attempting to force Kathrine Switzer off the course in 1967.  Women were not allowed to run in the race until 1972, but Switzer entered the race in 1967 as “KV Switzer” and finished the race.  (So this year technically marks the 50^th anniversary of women running the race).

The map includes statistics about runners from Kenya and Ethiopia:  “18 of the last 20 male winners were from Kenya or Ethiopia.”  And facts about elevation are provided:  “Most people think that at 263 feet above sea level, the top of Heartbeak Hill is the highest point of the Marathon.  Actually, the starting line is at 463 feet, and most of the marathon is run at a decline.”

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and map Collection (GRMC) on the second floor of Bracken Library provides access to the latest ESRI GIS software and assistance from the GIS Specialist Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 5:00 pm.  Students can also access GIS software on computers throughout Bracken Library on weekends and in the evening.  For more information, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097.

Online Interactive Map of Coachella Artists

This Map Rocks:  Map of the Coachella Music Festival Performers

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is a popular annual event presented at a polo club in Indio, California in the Colorado Desert.  The festival kicks off on April 15 with over 160 artists from all over the world including Calvin Harris, Chris Stapleton, Ellie Goulding, Ice Cube, and Guns ‘N’ Roses.  But where in the world—specifically—are the bands located?  There’s a map for that.

Vanessa Franko is the Assistant Managing Editor/Features, Sports, Local Music Columnist for The Press Enterprise in California.  Franko created an interactive GIS map showing the home locations for the artists performing at Coachella this year. 

The map legend organizes the artists by genre, including electronic, rock, rap/hip-hop, and reggae.  Users can zoom in to the highly-populated areas like Los Angeles and Europe to identify specific bands.  Click on the marker to see the name of the artist, their home location, genre, background information, and the date of their performance at Coachella.  A link to artists’ Web page is also provided where available.

Six continents are represented at Coachella this year.  The lineup features a DJ from Irkutsk, Russia, a band from the Congo, and rap/hip-hop artists from Seoul, South Korea and Edinburgh, Scotland.  Most of the artists’ hometowns are depicted, although Indiana front-man Axl Rose is identified with Guns ‘N’ Roses in Los Angeles.

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) on the second floor of Bracken Library provides access to the latest ESRI GIS software and assistance from the GIS Specialist.  The computer lab in the GRMC houses 28 high-end Lenovo ThinkCentre N58p computers available Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 5:00.  Computers throughout Bracken Library also offer access to the GIS software and are available during the evening and on weekends.

For more information, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097.

Golf Maps Available from Ball State University Libraries

Mapping the Masters:  World Atlas of Golf Available at Ball State University Libraries

The Ball State University Libraries provides unique cartographic resources for research and learning.  World Atlas of Golf  is available from the Atlas Collection on the second floor of Bracken Library.  

The atlas by Mark Rowlinson was published in 2008 and features computer-generated maps of golf courses around the world—from St. Andrews in Scotland to Casa De Campo in the Dominican Republic.  An entire section of maps is devoted to the Augusta National Golf Course, site of the Masters Championship this weekend.  The famous feature, “Amen Corner,” is featured (above, click to enlarge).

Atlases may be circulated for 28 days or longer.  For more information, please contact the GIS Research and Map Collection in Bracken Library at 765-285-1097.

World War I-Era Map Available at Ball State University Libraries

Historic World War I-Era Map Available in Ball State University Libraries

April 6 marked the 99^th anniversary of the American declaration of war against Germany in 1917.  World War I began in July of 1914, but the United States did not become involved until years later.

In 1983 Ball State University Libraries acquired a rare, historically significant map related to the end of World War I.  Paul Stout, retired map librarian at the Bracken Library Map Collection, attended the Library of Congress Geography and Map Division Special Summer Project that year and processed a backlog of maps that the Division received for decades from federal libraries and government mapping agencies.  (Ball State University Libraries was one of the many institutions to sponsor a participant in the program).  In exchange for their work, participants were able to select duplicate maps and atlases from the Library’s stock and send them back to their sponsoring libraries.

During a four-hour selection period, Stout discovered two maps that he suspected were not duplicate copies.  The maps were of the Hungarian portion of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire dated 1919.  One of the maps had specific notations indicating it had been used at the Peace Conference in Versailles, France, following World War I and was stamped “American Commission to Negotiate Peace.”  (The Treaty of Trianon was organized as part of the Peace Conference at Versailles in order to determine the borders of Hungary and was signed in June of 1920, so the American delegation may have used these maps as a resource for the peace negotiations).  Stout returned the two maps to the Division Chief, but he allowed Stout to keep the un-annotated copy of the map as a gift.

The map (pictured above) measures over six feet by almost ten feet in size.  The title of the map is Ethnographical Map of Hungary—Colonization and Population.  The authors are S. Batky and Ch. Kogutowicz, and the map is dated 1919.  The map states it is “designed by order of the Foreign Ministry of the Hungarian Republic.”  The map shows the areas where ethnic Hungarians were predominant—one of the criteria for the negotiations used by the American Delegation to Negotiate Peace in preparation for the determination of the new boundaries of Hungary.

Stephen Duecker, Information Services Librarian, researched the history of the map.  The two maps first belonged to the U.S. State Department in 1919 and then transferred to the Central Intelligence Agency in 1949.  Duecker believed it is plausible that the Ball State University map was at the Peace Conference following World War I.  Due to its historic significance, the map is now housed in the Archives and Special Collections on the second floor of Bracken Library.  The map is available for historical research and as a learning resource.  (More historical objects are also available in the Archives and on the Digital Media Repository, including World War I posters and maps).

Please contact the GIS Research and Map Collection at 765-285-1097 or the Archives and Special Collections at 765-285-5078 for more information about historic maps available at Ball State University Libraries.

National Read a Road Map Day

Road map of Dubai

Read a Map, or Get Lost:  Today is National Read a Road Map Day

Today, April 5, is “National Read a Road Map Day.”  In today’s world, most drivers use GPS technology, but the skill of reading maps can still be imperative, especially in remote parts of the world where accessing a cellular signal can be spotty.

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) on the second floor of Bracken Library has thousands of historic and current road maps for cities, counties, states, and countries around the world.  Many users still like to view maps when planning trips.  Students of geography and urban planning use the maps to investigate the development of places over time.  And a history class borrowed historic road maps of the United States from the GRMC for a project studying how the interstate system was created.

Maps in the GRMC circulate for two weeks or longer.  And many are available in folded and laminated format for use on trips.

For more information, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097.

Baseball Maps Available from Ball State University Libraries

Play Ball:  Historical Baseball Maps Available from Ball State University Libraries

Sunday is Opening Day for Major League Baseball with the St. Louis Cardinals playing at the Pittsburgh Pirates in the afternoon and the New York Mets taking on the Kansas City Royals in the evening.  The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) created custom maps to commemorate some special teams in baseball history.

Black Diamonds: Negro League Baseball Teams, 1920-1949 (above, click to enlarge) identifies the locations and names of the Negro League Baseball teams.  The map is based on the book The Complete Book of Baseball’s Negro Leagues: The Other Half of Baseball History by John Holway.  Photographs on the map are from the book Playing America’s Game by Michael L. Cooper, which is available from the Educational Technology and Resources Collection in Bracken Library.  The map is available for circulation from the GRMC or in digital format from CardinalScholar.

The Girls of Summer: All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Teams, 1943-1954 is also available in the GRMC.  This map is based on the book A Whole New Ballgame: The Story of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League by Sue Macy, which is also available from the Educational Technology and Resources Collection.  The map features the women’s baseball teams that began playing during World War II made popular by the motion picture “A League of Their Own.”  This map is also available in digital format.

The GRMC also includes two large-format plotters that can be used to print large maps or posters.  And a large laminator can preserve the project.  Any member of the Ball State University community may charge the printing and lamination to a Bursar’s account.

For more information about cartographic resources or large-format printing, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097.

GIS Maps of the Zika Virus

GIS Timeline Map of the Zika Virus

ESRI, the world’s leading producer of GIS software, has created a series of maps forming a timeline depicting the origination and spread of the Zika virus from Africa around the world.  The World Health Organization declared the Zika virus a global public health emergency this winter.

Users can click through the timeline of maps showing where the virus started and how it has spread and changed over time.  The virus was first detected in Uganda in 1947.  Scientists identified the virus living in a rhesus monkey in the Zika Forest.  The virus was first detected in a human in Nigeria in 1952, although tests showed that the virus may have been widespread in humans for some time.  At the time, the virus caused a fever and was cured by rest.

According to the maps, the Zika virus arrived in northern Brazil at about the time of the World Cup in 2014.  According to the World Health Organization, “the situation today is dramatically different.  As of today (February 2016), cases have been reported in more than 30 countries.”  The virus today has been associated with microcephaly, a birth defect causing a baby’s head to be smaller and the brain not developing normally.  “Brazil’s Ministry of Health reports that there are currently 3,670 suspected cases of microcephaly in the country.”

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) on the second floor of Bracken Library provides access to the latest ESRI GIS software and assistance from the GIS Specialist Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 5:00 pm.  Students can also access GIS software on computers throughout Bracken Library on weekends and in the evening.  For more information, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097.

Bracken Library 40th Anniversary Celebration Next Week

Images from the Digital Media Repository

Bracken Library 40^th Anniversary Celebration

Ball State University Libraries is celebrating the 40^th anniversary of the opening of Bracken Library.  The dedication ceremony for Bracken Library, named for Ball State University trustee and benefactor Alexander M. Bracken, took place on March 26, 1976.  The Library is hosting a celebration (complete with cake) on Friday, March 25 from 1:00 to 3:00 pm in the Archives and Special Collections on the second floor, and University administrators will speak at 1:30 pm.

The celebration marks the opening of a new exhibit in the Archives and Special Collections, Bracken Library:  40 Years of Service, Innovation, and Growth.  The exhibit runs through May 6 and is organized into a timeline highlighting major developments throughout Bracken Library’s first 40 years, including the automation of the Library’s card catalog, the development of innovative classroom spaces for library instruction, and the acquisition and creation of signature research collections, online databases, and technology.  The exhibit includes historic photographs and digitized film from the Library’s early years and a jewel-covered book donated by the Bracken family.

The GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) on the second floor of Bracken Library will feature an exhibit of the floor plans for the Library in 1976 and floor plans from today.  Changes in the layout of Library collections and the changes in available technologies can be viewed on the floor plans.  For example, the Library did not include one computer in 1976, and typing rooms were available for use by students and faculty.  However, the 320,000 square foot building was planned with an eye toward the future and designed with flexible space to accommodate the changes in academic needs and a growing student population.  An interesting note about the 1976 design of the Library:  Smoking lounges were available throughout the building (denoted by the pipe symbol on plan above, click to enlarge).

For more information about this exhibit or the opening event, please contact the Archives and Special Collections at 765-285-5078.

International Women's Day Cartographic Resources

Her Story:  Cartographic Resources for Women’s Studies Available from Ball State University Libraries

Today is International Women’s Day, and March is Women’s History Month.  The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) created a special collection of online maps for Women’s History Month available from the Libraries’ Cardinal Scholar institutional repository.  The collection includes maps about women working in agriculture, women heads of state, women in tertiary teaching, the travels of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the life of Madam C.J. Walker, and countries with high breast cancer rates.  And a map commemorating the Girls Professional Baseball League is also available from the GRMC.  (Type “women in the world map” in the search box in Cardinal Scholar to access the available cartographic resources).

The GRMC also created a map celebrating women’s history in Indiana to commemorate the state’s bicentennial anniversary.  Her Story: Indiana Women’s History (above, click to enlarge) marks the accomplishments of Indiana women in politics, human rights, education, the arts, and sports.  The map features Helen Gougar, a teacher and newspaper owner from Lafayette, who became the first woman to argue before the Indiana Supreme Court in 1895 when she demanded her right to vote.  Toni Stone, Connie Morgan, and Mamie “Peanuts” Johnson made history playing baseball for the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro League.  And U.S. Representative Katie Hall of Gary is commemorated as the leader of the campaign to establish the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. national holiday.  The map is currently displayed in the front windows of the GRMC as the “Map of the Month.”

The GRMC and the Atlas Collection on the second floor of Bracken Library also feature cartographic resources depicting women’s issues.  The Penguin Atlas of Women in the World was published in 2009 and features maps about families, birthrights, women’s health issues, employment, resources, power, and education.  The Routledge Historical Atlas of Women in America, Atlas of Firsts, Atlas of Anthropology, and many others also include maps describing women’s issues.

For more information about cartographic resources for Women’s History Month, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097.

White House Launches Open Data Project

White House Opportunity Project Gives Access to Open Data

The White House announced today the launch of “The Opportunity Project.”  According to the official press release, this is “a new open data effort to improve economic mobility for all Americans.”  The data can be used by “technologists, community groups, and local governments” and many companies and non-profit organizations, including ESRI—the world’s leading publisher of GIS software—are committed to the development of the project and its tools.

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) on the second floor of Bracken Library provides access to the latest ESRI GIS software and assistance from the GIS Specialist Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 5:00 pm.  Students can also access GIS software on computers throughout Bracken Library during its extended evening and weekend hours.

Super Tuesday Election Maps



Super Tuesday on the Map

ESRI, the world’s leading publisher of GIS software, has created a Story Map detailing the demographics of tomorrow’s “Super Tuesday” primary elections.  Voters in 13 states will participate on Tuesday, March 1.  Republican and Democratic primaries are shown in magenta, and Republican only primaries are shown on the map in red (Alaska and Wyoming).

Users can click through the tabs to reveal the county-level demographics in each state.  Then click on the county to reveal more detailed data about political party affiliation percentages, population, median income, unemployment rate, and the sociological makeup of the population.  The population of a county is critical:  For example, the state of Minnesota appears mostly red (Republican), but the two counties marked blue (Democratic) have a population of nearly two million people—much larger than the populations of the rest of the counties in the state.  (Click maps above to enlarge).

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) on the second floor of Bracken Library provides access to the latest GIS software from ESRI and assistance from the GIS Specialist Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 5:00 pm.  And students wishing to use the mapping programs after hours will find computers throughout Bracken Library equipped with the latest GIS software.

For more information, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097.



Ball State University Libraries Provide Cartographic Resources for the Classroom

Elijah of Buxton, Educational Technology and Resources Collection 

Putting Children’s Books on the Map:  Social Studies Students Using Cartography in the Classroom

Ball State University social studies teaching students are learning to create maps based on children’s books.  Students in Dr. Dorshell Stewart’s Social Studies 397 classes, Teaching Social Studies in the Elementary School, are collaborating on a cartography project that they can use in their future classrooms.

The staff of the University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) provided an instructional session for the students, showing them how to create custom maps using online mapping and design software.  Students working in groups then chose a popular children’s book featuring a story or biography of a person whose life could be mapped.  Then the maps are incorporated into a lesson plan teaching history or geography in coordination with the book.  Students chose biographies of Marian Anderson, Amelia Earhart, and John Adams and books about the Underground Railroad and other historical events.

The students can print large copies of their maps using the large-format plotters in the GRMC.  And the large laminator will preserve the maps for use in the classroom for years to come.  

For more information about creating custom cartographic resources for the classroom, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097.

Maps in the News

Places in the News:

Ball State University Libraries' GIS Research and Map Collection

Vatican City map

GRMC map of Cuba, 1911, available from the Digital Media Repository

2010 Census Atlas Available Online

Do It Yourself Cartography:  2010 Census Atlas Available Online

The Superintendent of the Census, Francis Amasa Walker, published the first statistical atlas of the United States census from 1870.  The atlas, Statistical Atlas of the United States, was published in 1874 and includes population, social, industrial, and vital statistics and maps.  The U.S. Census Bureau continued to publish the atlases through the 1920 census and then again in 2007 using data from the 2000 census with the Census Atlas of the United States.  But an atlas of the 2010 census was never published due to budget cuts.

Nathan Yau, Doctor of Statistics from UCLA, author of three books on statistics and data, and publisher of the FlowingData Blog seized the opportunity to create a new version of the popular statistical atlas.  Yau decided to create a new atlas based on data from the 2010 census, but he created the atlas in an artistic format similar to the atlas from 1874.  The result is the Statistical Atlas of theUnited States Based on the Results of 21st Century Government Analyses.  Yau produced maps depicting geology, weather, taxation statistics, transportation, education, and population statistics—age, foreign population, predominant gender, and race.

The 2007 Census Atlas of the United States is available in the Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) on the second floor of Bracken Library.

Black History Month Maps Available from Ball State University Libraries

Black History Month Maps Available from Ball State University Libraries

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) has created new custom maps in celebration of Black History Month.  Map of the Life of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave commemorates an influential person in American history, while Hurley’s Muncie: 1950’s celebrates an influential person in Muncie and Indiana history.

The Sojourner Truth map identifies the locations of important events in this advocate/orator’s life, like her attempt to desegregate the city streetcars and meeting Presidents Lincoln and Grant in Washington, D.C.  The map also shows the locations of some of Truth’s famous speeches.

Hurley’s Muncie is being exhibited as the “Map of the Month” in the front windows of the GRMC through February and is available from Cardinal Scholar.  The Sojourner Truth map is also available for download from Cardinal Scholar.  Both maps may be used for educational research and learning and for special exhibits.  (Members of the Ball State University community may print large copies of the maps using the plotters in the GRMC).

A subject guide identifying African-American cartographic resources is also available from the GRMC.  For more information about using cartographic resources in the study of Black History, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097.

Map of the Month Celebrates Muncie Black History

Map of the Month:  Celebrating Muncie Black History

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) is exhibiting a new “Map of the Month” in celebration of Black History Month.  The map, Hurley’s Muncie: 1950’s, identifies locations mentioned in the 1950’s chapter of the book A History of Negroes in Muncie by Hurley C. Goodall and J. Paul Mitchell published in 1976.

Goodall was one of the first African-American firefighters in Muncie, was the first African-American elected to serve on the Muncie Community Schools Board of Education, and was elected in 1978 to serve in the Indiana House of Representatives.  Goodall served as a visiting professor in the Department of Political Science and visiting scholar at the Center for Middletown Studies at Ball State University.  Goodall worked tirelessly to document the history of African Americans in Muncie as an author, lecturer, and scholarly researcher.

The artistic map features Black-owned businesses, schools, churches, parks, and factories important in the Black history of Muncie during the 1950’s.  Text from the chapter is provided and details important events like the desegregation of Tuhey Pool and the hiring of the first two African-American firefighters in Muncie—one being Goodall.  The map also identifies the neighborhoods of Whitely, Industry, Blaine, and Southeast.

The map exhibit is available in Cardinal Scholar and may be printed for research and learning purposes.

Goodall’s papers, oral history, and other books are available in the Archives and Special Collections.

For more information, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097 or Archives at 765-285-5078.