D-Day Maps Available from Ball State University

D-Day Maps Available from Ball State University Libraries

Today marks the 72^nd anniversary of the D-Day invasion by Allied Forces on the beaches of Normandy, France, on June 6.  Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) includes several original maps and historical reproductions of the D-Day invasion.

One of the D-Day maps in the Collection is a Michelin map published in 1947.  The map features a detailed depiction of the major military actions at Normandy printed in French and English.

The GRMC also houses several maps produced by the Office of Strategic Services (intelligence agency) in 1943 prior to the invasion.  These maps show the locations of roads, railroads, ports, and other locations used for planning the invasion and other fronts of  World War II.  The map of northwest Normandy (above, click to enlarge) identifies roads.

The Army Information Branch in New York published newspaper-type maps during World War II, and the GRMC includes several original “Newsmaps.”  The photographs above from these maps show American and Canadian troops landing on the beaches of Normandy—Canadians with bicycles.  These photographs were included in the “Newsmap” published for the week of June 8, 1944.  The map showing southern Great Britain and the northern coast of France is part of a map included in the same edition of the “Newsmap.”  (Many news readers followed along with the events of the War with these special maps, and this particular map has handwritten dates and locations marked in red pencil).

The GRMC also includes a reproduction map of a reconnaissance aerial photograph (above) of troops landing on Omaha Beach.  Landing craft can be seen along the beach and reinforced German lines are shown at the top.

All maps from the GRMC circulate for two weeks or longer.  For more information, please visit or contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097 from 7:30 to 4:30 pm on the second floor of Bracken Library.

Indiana History Celebrated with Maps

Map of the Month:  Heroes of the American Revolution

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) has a “Map of the Month” exhibit in the windows on the second floor of Bracken Library featuring a unique map from the collection.  For 2016, each map will be related to Indiana history as a celebration of the state’s bicentennial anniversary on December 11.

The “Map of the Month” for June is Revolutionary Friends: General George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette.  This map was created by the GRMC in collaboration with a social studies teaching methods class.  Students in Dr. Dorshell Stewart’s Social Science 397 class are learning to create maps based on popular children’s books.  This map was created using locations mentioned in the book by the same name by Selena Castrovilla.  (The youth book is available from the Educational Technology and Resources Collection in the lower level of Bracken Library).

The Marquis de Lafayette became a hero during the Revolutionary War.  The native of France volunteered to help Americans fight for independence.  Lafayette returned to the United States in 1824 and visited every state in the new Union.  Hundreds of places are named Lafayette in his honor, including Lafayette, Indiana.  The city was platted and named during the Marquis de Lafayette’s tour, although he never visited the city.

The map is available in digital format from the Ball State University Libraries’ Cardinal Scholar and the original paper map may be circulated from the GRMC.  (Other maps in the children’s book series include maps about Babe Ruth, Sojourner Truth, Elizabeth Blackwell, the Underground Railroad, and the Japanese internment camps of World War II).

 For more information about using maps in the classroom or in the study of Indiana history, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097.

Hiroshima Maps Available from Ball State University Libraries

Map legend

Maps in the News:  Hiroshima, Japan

Today U.S. President Barack Obama will be the first sitting President to visit the city of Hiroshima following World War II.  The President’s trip coincides with the G7 Summit in Japan.

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) includes a large collection of city plans published by the Army Map Service during World War II.  The maps were used for strategic planning during the war, and the GRMC collection includes critical cities throughout Europe, Northern Africa, and Asia.  These maps include the locations of railroads, roads, temples, schools, and topographic contours.

The map above (click to enlarge) is a portion of the Hiroshima Prefecture map published in 1945.  The map indicates the areas of bombing damage with red lines (completely destroyed) and red dots (partially destroyed).  The map includes detailed locations of military buildings, hospitals, factories, and power lines.  The map is based on a 1933 map published by the Japanese Imperial Land Survey with updated military intelligence from 1945. 

The second map is a zoomed area showing the location of the Gembaku Dome—shown on the map as “Commercial Display Hall.”  This was one of the only remaining buildings near the hypocenter of the atomic bomb and was left untouched.  Today the structure is part of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.  The park was the site of Obama’s address today.

The Army Map Service maps circulate from the GRMC for research and learning.  Maps from the GRMC circulate for two weeks or longer.  For more information, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097.

Map Celebrating Asian American Month

Heroes on the Homefront:  Japanese Americans in World War II

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.  It celebrates the culture, traditions, and history of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States.  One tragic part of that history is the Japanese-American internment camps of World War II, and the Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) has created a map commemorating some of the heroes who fought for civil rights and freedom during that time.

The map (above, click to enlarge) depicts the locations of the Japanese-American internment camps of World War II.  President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 in February of 1942:  This order authorized the military to prescribe certain areas “from which any or all persons may be excluded.”  The order cleared the way for the deportation of Japanese Americans in what was considered a military area that stretched along the Pacific Coast from Washington down through western Arizona to internment camps located throughout the United States.

The map is based on the youth book, The Japanese American Internment:  Civil Liberties Denied, by Michael Burgan.  (The book is available from the Educational Technology and Resources Collection in the lower level of Bracken Library).  The book details the circumstances surrounding the internment of the nearly 120,000 Japanese Americans who were forced to abandon their property and homes, including internees like Fred Korematsu and others who fought for their civil rights and thousands of Japanese-American soldiers who fought in the European Theater of the War.

The map identifies the locations of the ten internment camps scattered across the southwestern United States.  It also includes the two military bases in Minnesota where Japanese-American soldiers were trained to interpret enemy papers and messages written in Japanese.  Camp Shelby is also shown on the map—this is where the U.S. Army 442^nd Infantry Regiment (composed mostly of Japanese Americans) trained before fighting in Europe.  This was the most decorated Army unit for its size in U.S. history, with over 9,000 Purple Hearts and thousands of other citations for bravery.

This map is being included in a social studies project for the summer semester.  Dr. Dorshell Stewart, Assistant Professor in the Department of History, teaches social studies teaching methods classes and is working with the GRMC to create unique lesson plans that incorporate the use of maps.  The staff of the GRMC will collaborate with these student-teachers to create maps related to children’s books—biographies or books about historical events.  The maps will be incorporated into multidisciplinary lesson plans and exhibits for use in their future classrooms.  The student-teachers completing this project can also choose to donate a print copy of their maps to the GRMC as a resource for other teachers.

Other children’s books with related maps from the GRMC include A Whole New Ballgame: The Story of the All-American Girls ProfessionalBaseball League by Sue Macy, BecomingBabe Ruth by Matt Tavares, and AmeliaLost by Candace Fleming.

A copy of the map is available for download from Cardinal Scholar.  For more information about using maps related to literature in the classroom, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097.

GIS Celebration of the U.S. National Parks

Where Am I?  GIS National Parks Pop Quiz

The National Park Service is celebrating its centennial anniversary this year.  The agency was created to manage and preserve all the national parks, historic sites, and monuments of the United States on August 25, 1916.

ESRI, the world’s leading producer of GIS software, has created a Story Map using aerial images of national parks; viewers have to guess which park is being depicted.  Once users choose the “Where am I?” button, a map of the national park is displayed with a link to the park Web page.

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 online tutorials, datasets, online mapping applications, and in-house GIS data.  GIS software is also available throughout Bracken Library, in the Architecture Library, and in the Science-Health Science Library.

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

Summer Hours at Ball State University Libraries

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) will begin summer hours on Monday, May 9.  The GRMC will be open Monday through Friday from 7:30 to 4:30 pm throughout the summer.

Maps in the News: California Smoking Age Increase

California Cigarettes or California as a Cigarette

Governor Jerry Brown of California signed a set of bills that raised the legal smoking age in the state from 18 to 21.  New laws will also restrict the use of electronic cigarettes, expand smoke-free zones at public schools, and criminalize the distribution of cigarettes to minors.  The bills were supported by a coalition of medical groups, including the American Heart Association and the American Cancer Society.

The map of California (above, click to enlarge) was created by Frank Chimero.  In this example of “artography,” a map of California takes the shape of a cigarette.  The map is from the book Strange Maps, which is available in the Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC).

Strange Maps:  An Atlas of Cartographic Curiosities was written by Frank Jacobs.  This book includes unique artistic maps, including inaccurate historical maps, political parody maps, literary maps, cartograms, and maps from outer space.

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

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.