Presidential Election Maps Available from Ball State University Libraries

Associated Press 2008 election map at NBC News headquarters

Metrocosm

Red States and Blue States: History of Presidential Electoral Maps

The use of color on maps is a key component in cartographic design.  Perhaps the best known colors on a map are the “red states” and “blue states” on a presidential electoral map. 

According to GeoLounge, the practice of identifying a political party on a map by color dates back to 1883, when the first map of red and blue political affiliations was produced.  And since the 2000 election, the practice has been standardized with red representing Republicans and blue representing Democrats.

The complete historical timeline of all 57 presidential elections can be tracked on 270 to Win.  Metrocosm, a unique Web page for current maps and statistical analysis, has created maps showing all of the colors of the early presidential elections.

An exhibit depicting the results of the presidential elections since 1952 is currently displayed in the front windows of the GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) on the second floor of Bracken Library.  Sixty Years of Red States and Blue States will be on display through Election Day.  And maps of the electoral results are available for circulation from the GRMC.

Maps of Chicago Available from Ball State University Libraries

1929 U.S. Geological Survey map of Chicago

(Wrigley Field can be seen below the Graceland Cemetery).

1939 U.S. Geological Survey map of Chicago

(Note the changes to the lake shore).

Wrigleyville and surroundings

Chicago Neighborhoods map

Wrigley Field 

Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps

Maps in the News:  Chicago and Wrigley Field

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) on the second floor of Bracken Library includes a large collection of maps of Chicago.  The collection includes street maps, topographic maps, fire insurance maps, tourist guides, architecture plans, and aerial photographs.

Historic maps of Chicago include bird’s-eye view maps that were popular after the Civil War.  This set of illustrated maps includes views of the city from 1868, 1893, 1898, and 1916.  The views include the central business district and a map of the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.

One of the oldest maps in the collection of the city dates from 1855, and the Blanchard’s Guide Map of Chicago in the GRMC dates from 1873.  Royal Blue Line Map and Guide to Chicago was published in 1924.  East and West Streets of Chicago was published in 1907.  Road maps of the state of Illinois include maps of Chicago and date back to the 1930’s.

Tourists traveling to Chicago will find a number of maps and guides in the GRMC.  The iMap of Chicago includes a 12-page guide with a compass attached to the map.  Chicago Unfolds is a pop-up map and guide, and The World on the Lake is also a unique tourist guide map.

The GRMC also has all of the U.S. Geological Survey topographic quadrangle maps for the Chicago area dating back to 1889 (later maps shown above).  Geography students and other researchers use these maps to track the growth of the city and changes to the shore of Lake Michigan.  (The footprint of Wrigley Field is shown on the maps above).

The collection of Chicago maps also includes transit maps, zip code maps, maps of Cook County and the suburbs, architecture guides, and maps focusing on the Loop.  The 2001 Chicago Neighborhoods map (above) identifies the traditional neighborhoods of the city, including Wrigleyville.

The Atlas Collection on the second floor of Bracken Library also includes several street atlases of Chicago.  A folio of Chicago maps and plat maps dating to 1876 can also be found in the Atlas Collection.

Maps from the GRMC circulate for two weeks or longer.  Atlases can be borrowed for 28 days or longer.

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

Maps of Mosul and Iraq Available from Ball State University Libraries

The Battle for Mosul in Maps

Iraqi and Kurdish forces (aided by American special forces and airstrikes) are pushing toward the city of Mosul, Iraq.  The forces are battling to retake Iraq’s second-largest city from the Islamic State (Isil).  Iraqi and Kurdish troops have captured several villages from the east, while attempting to avoid suicide car bombs, booby traps, mines, and improvised explosive devices left by the Isil fighters along the way.  The city of Mosul is also laced with car bombs and mines.

The New York Times offers a glimpse of the battle via satellite images.  Aljazeera created a map (above, click to enlarge) showing the area surrounding Mosul and which forces are in control.  And The Washington Post provides maps that describe the history of the city dating back to the First Crusade.

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) includes hundreds of maps of Iraq and the Middle East—both historic and current.  The second map above (click to enlarge) is part of a guide map of Iraq that was published in English and Persian.  A map of the city of Mosul is shown (above), and the map also includes detailed maps of Erbil, Baghdad, and Karbala.

The last map is from a set of topographic maps of Iraq that were published by the War Office of Great Britain in 1931.  The map was later reissued by the U.S. Army Map Service during World War II.  The map depicts relief shown by contours and identifies locations of telegraph and telephone lines, water towers, pumping stations, hospitals, ancient tombs, and other important sites.

Maps from the GRMC may be circulated for two weeks or longer.  For more information, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Cartographic Resources for the Classroom from Ball State University Libraries

Teaching Geography from the Sky

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) conducts instructional sessions for education students to promote geographic literacy and to introduce future teachers to useful cartographic resources for their classrooms.  Students are exposed to maps and atlases in the Libraries’ collection, the Libraries’ digital cartographic resources, and interesting Web pages that offer unique perspectives of the geography of the world.

One intriguing Web resource is the Flight Radar 24 page.  The site is a live flight tracker that shows air traffic around the world in real time.  Radar data and flight schedules and status data from airlines and airports combine to offer a unique way of looking at a world map.

Users can zoom in to a region or zoom out to see the common world flight paths (top above, click to enlarge).  Teachers using the site for learning more about geography can discuss with students the “great circle routes,” where aircraft, for example, flying from London to New York travel north then south in an arc because further north is a smaller distance to fly.  Teachers can discuss the lack of flights over the Sahara Desert and the Amazon Rain Forest.  And older students can learn about why so few aircraft are flying over places like Syria and Iraq.

Click on one of the aircraft and the flight information (if available) will be shown on the left.  The origin city and the destination are shown.  The airline and flight number, departure time, length of the flight, and great circle distance are revealed.  The type of aircraft and the altitude are also identified.  And once an aircraft is selected, the flight path is shown on the screen.

Today offers an interesting lesson on the site.  As Hurricane Matthew makes its way toward Florida, aircraft are avoiding the southeastern coast of the United States.  A flight from Miami to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic actually traveled west and then southeast to avoid the hurricane (above).  And early this morning a “hurricane hunter” plane (Lockheed WP-3D Orion) deployed from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) could be seen flying back and forth through the hurricane (above).

For more information about using cartographic resources in the classroom, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097.

Haiti Maps Available from Ball State University Libraries

Haiti Maps Available from Ball State University Libraries

Hurricane Matthew made landfall on the coast of Haiti this morning as a Category 4 storm and is on track to affect the Carolinas this weekend as a Category 2 or 3 storm.   The top image was taken from the International Space Station.

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) includes a variety of maps of Haiti and the Caribbean Islands.  The Collection includes travel, physical, and topographic maps of Haiti, the island of Hispaniola, and the Caribbean Islands.

A reproduction map of the island of Hispaniola from 1722 was published by Historic Urban Plans and is available from the GRMC.  This colorful map features relief shown pictorially on the island.  A map dating back to 1956, Hispaniola: Urban and Rural Population Map, presents the population of Haiti and the Dominican Republic from 1950 statistics.  Mapa de la Isla de Santo Domingo y Haiti por el General Cashmiro n de Moya (photograph above) is a map of Haiti and the Dominican Republic published in 1905.  This original map corresponds with U.S. control of Dominican customs during Theodore Roosevelt’s presidential administration.

The GRMC also includes a tourist map of Haiti and the Dominican Republic that includes inset maps of large cities, including Port-au-Prince.  The map was published in 2000.  The map shown above (click to enlarge) of Port-au-Prince and Petion-Ville is a guide map published in 1978.  The map was created by the Nader Art Gallery in Port-au-Prince and marks points of interest like the U.S. Embassy, cathedrals, museums, theaters, and hotels.

Nautical charts in the GRMC depict the coastline of Haiti.  The last map shown above is a custom map of Haiti created by the GRMC for use in exhibits or presentations.  These updated maps of countries around the world are available for download for research and learning.  Map posters from the GRMC are also available from Cardinal Scholar.  The large maps may be printed by members of the Ball State University community using the plotters in the GRMC on the second floor of Bracken Library.

Maps from the GRMC circulate for two weeks or longer.  Please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097 for more information about these cartographic resources.

Culture Programs at Ball State University

Travel the World Every Wednesday at Lunch: Ball State University Hosts Weekly International Culture Exchange

The Ball State University Rinker Center for International Programs hosts a Culture Exchange each week where an international student presents information about a country.  Every week a different country is highlighted.  The majority of exchanges provide an overview of the country and its culture with time set aside for questions and answers. 

The presentations are held every Wednesday from 12:00 to 1:00 pm in the Phyllis Yuhas Room in the Student Center (Room 102), and often the food court next door provides a featured dish from the country.

This week’s presentation features Libya from Kheiria Benkato.  Ball State University Dining Services is sponsoring a FREE dish inspired by Libya from 11:00 am to 1:30 pm in the Student Center Tally on Wednesday.

Next week is a presentation about China, and the following Wednesday, October 19, offers a unique view of the Isle of Man.  Iraq will be the feature on October 26; Papua New Guinea is November 2; Pakistan is November 9; Tajikistan is November 16.  India will be the first presentation after the Thanksgiving break on November 30, and Kuwait will be presented on December 7.

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) provides maps and photographs from atlases as visual aids for the culture presentations.  The map posters from previous Culture Exchange presentations are available from the Libraries’ Cardinal Scholar.  Simply type the name of a country in the search box or choose keywords “map poster” to see the list of available posters for use in exhibits, classroom bulletin boards, speeches, or research.  Large copies may be printed in the GRMC on the plotter printers and charged to the Bursar account for anyone in the Ball State University community.

For more information about the Culture Exchange program, p lease contact the Rinker Center for International Programs at 765-285-5422.  For more information about using cartographic resources from Cardinal Scholar, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097.

Mapping History Class at the Cornerstone Center for the Arts

Dear Diary: Mapping U.S. History Using Local Diaries

The Ball State University Libraries’ Digital Media Repository (DMR) provides online access to a range of digitized primary sources, including films, artwork, maps, and photographs.  But also included in the DMR is a collection of unique local diaries dating back to the 1800’s.  So the Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) used excerpts from some of the diaries to research different eras of American history in coordination with maps related to historical events.

The GRMC will provide a presentation of this unique look at history tomorrow, September 27 from 6:00 to 7:00 pm at the Cornerstone Center for the Arts in downtown Muncie.  The class, Dear Muncie: Mapping History Using Diaries, will use the diaries of city founder Thomas Neely, Muncie single working woman, Norene Hawk, and Muncie teenager Thomas Ryan to reveal some of the important events and places in the city at the turn of the 20^th century. 

The diaries describe how national and world events affected the people of Muncie.  And coordinating maps track where Norene and the “Thomases” traveled in Muncie.  Other local diaries will show how people across Indiana reacted to world events through the end of World War II.

The class is free and open to the public.  The Cornerstone Center for the Arts is located at 520 East Main Street, and free parking is available.

Gas Pipeline Maps Available from Ball State University Libraries

Maps in the News:  Gasoline Pipelines in the United States

A crucial gasoline pipeline closed on September 9 after the discovery of a spill of over 250,000 gallons in rural Alabama.  The Colonial Pipeline runs from Houston and supplies gasoline to New York and the east coast.  The leak will disrupt supplies and possibly drive up prices of fuel.

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) includes a collection of maps identifying the major gasoline and oil pipelines in the United States.  The Collection is available in the GRMC or in digital format from the Digital Media Repository (DMR).

United States Commodities Maps Collection includes a set of maps published by the U.S. Army Engineer Institute for Water Resources.  The Collection includes maps depicting various commodity movement routes, including iron, steel, crude oil, and grain.  The Continental Pipeline and other gasoline pipelines are depicted in black on this map.  Users can download the maps for research and learning.

For more information about using maps and other cartographic resources, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097.

September 11 Commemorated

Aerial View of Lower Manhattan, 1986

Ball State University Libraries

GIS Research and Map Collection

Aerial Photographer: Alex S. MacLean

Art: David A. Fox Studios, Narberth, Pennsylvania

Online Interactive Map of World Migration

World Migration on One Map

Cartographer Max Galka has created an interactive map that shows world migration by origin and destination country between 2010 and 2015.  The map is available via the Web page, Metrocosm. 

On the map, blue circles depict net migration coming in to a country; red circles represent more outflows.  Users can hover over a circle to see a country’s net migration.  Click on the circle to view the migration traffic of one country (click to enlarge map above, migration from Syria).

Laos Maps Available from Ball State University Libraries

Places in the News:  Laos

President Obama became the first U.S. President to visit the country of Laos yesterday.  President Obama is attending a series of Asian summit meetings.  Speaking in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, Obama pledged to spend $90 million over the next three years to clear unexploded bombs dropped on the country during the Vietnam War.

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) on the second floor of Bracken Library has a large collection of maps of Laos and Asia.  The Collection includes tourist maps, topographic maps, physical maps, and maps showing economic factors and ethnic groups.  Historic and modern maps of Vientiane, Pakse, Savannakhet, and other cities in Laos are also available in the Collection.  The map of Vientiane (top map above, click to enlarge) was published in 1958 and shows significant buildings in the capital city. The maps are published in English, French, Lao, and Thai.  (The map above of Laos was published in Lao in 1963).

The GRMC also includes a collection of updated country maps that may be used for presentations and displays (digital or printed on-demand using the GRMC plotters).  These maps include a clear, easy-to-read map of the country with the largest cities and other geographic features depicted along with neighboring countries.

The last map is from State of the World Atlas by Dan Smith, published in 2006.  The map identifies in red countries experiencing casualties from landmines and/or explosive remnants of war.  In 2006, 1,367 people were reported killed by these explosives worldwide.

Maps from the GRMC may be circulated for two weeks or longer.  Contact the GRMC for more information about these cartographic resources or to use maps for displays, research, and learning.  The GRMC is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 5:00 and may be reached at 765-285-1097.

Online Resources for Studying Earthquakes

Shaky Ground:  Mapping Oklahoma Earthquakes

A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck on Saturday morning near Pawnee, Oklahoma, northeast of Oklahoma City.  The earthquake matches the largest in the region in recent history.

Oklahoma has just recently become a seismically active state.  Most believe the increased activity is due to the expanded use of deep injection wells to dispose of wastewater and fracking (hydraulic fracturing) to extract oil and gas.

The U.S. Geological Survey tracks seismic activity in Oklahoma and around the world.  Users can read an earthquake history of Oklahoma, review earthquake and fault line maps, view animations of the seismic activity, and check news releases.

Earthquake Track provides data and mapping of recent earthquakes.  According to the site, Oklahoma has had 42 earthquakes in the last week; 121 earthquakes in the last month; and 2,501 earthquakes in the last year.

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) has a collection of maps depicting historic seismic activity around the world available from the Libraries’ Digital Media Repository (DMR).  The Earthquake and Seismic Hazard Maps Collection include world, United States, and regional maps of historic seismic hazards and activity.

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

Online Guide of News Maps

Online Cartographic Resources for What’s in the News

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) provides cartographic resources for research and learning.  This Blog serves to provide users with useful maps from the Collection or other online news resources.  The GRMC created this online guide for finding useful maps that depict news events.  These sites can be a valuable resource for journalism or English students searching for maps to use as visual aids.

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

March on Washington Anniversary Commemorative Map from Ball State University Libraries

The Life of Dr. King on a Map

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) has created a map identifying important locations in the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  The map serves to commemorate the anniversary of the March on Washington on Sunday, August 28.

The map (above, click to enlarge) is based on the book MLK: Journey of a King by Tonya Bolden.  Locations mentioned in the book are depicted on the map.  A timeline of events is featured below the map.

The map is available for research and learning from the GRMC or in digital format from the Libraries’ Cardinal Scholar repository.

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

National Park Service Celebrates 100 Years

Happy Birthday! National Park Service Centennial Celebration

Today marks the official celebration for the 100^th birthday of the National Park Service.  ESRI, the world’s leading publisher of GIS mapping software, has created a Story Map to mark the occasion.

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

The GRMC also includes hundreds of historic and modern maps of individual parks in the National Park Service.  The Collection includes a map of the Grand Canyon National Park published in 1927, a map of Acadia National Park from 1931, and a guide map of Yosemite National Park published in 1931.  A unique map of Yellowstone National Park available in the GRMC was published by the U.S. Department of Interior in 1941.

For more information, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097 Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 5:00 p.m.

Earthquake Maps Available from Ball State University Libraries

Earthquake and Seismic Activity Maps Available from Ball State University

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) has a collection of maps depicting historic seismic activity around the world available from the Libraries’ Digital Media Repository (DMR).  The Earthquake and Seismic Hazard Maps Collection include world, United States, and regional maps of historic seismic hazards and activity.  The Collection features maps produced by U.S. government agencies showing earthquakes, active volcanoes, fault line locations, and plate tectonics in the U.S. and around the world.

The map above (click to enlarge), This Dynamic Planet: World Map of Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Impact Craters, and Plate Tectonics, was published by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1994.  The second image is zoomed in to the area of the Amitrice in central Italy, site of a 6.2 magnitude earthquake this week.  

The map shows numerous incidents of seismic activity in Italy.  Italy has a long history of earthquakes and volcanoes.  In 1908, more than 82,000 people were killed in a 7.2 magnitude earthquake on Sicily.  And over 32,000 people were killed in a 7.0 earthquake near Avezzano in central Italy in 1915.

The GRMC has also created a social studies lesson to coordinate with maps in the DMR Collection available on the main DMR Collection page or from Cardinal Scholar.  The lesson may be used by teachers as an enhancement exercise for teaching about earthquakes, volcanoes, and plate tectonics.

Maps from the DMR may be downloaded for use in research and learning.  To order an archival file or to inquire about permissions for use, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097 or the Archives and Special Collections at 765-285-5078.

Original maps from the Collection are available for circulation from the GRMC on the second floor of Bracken Library.  Maps from the GRMC may be borrowed for two weeks or longer.

Louisiana Floods Atlas

Mapping the Baton Rouge Flooding

From The New York Times

Geographers at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge have created a preliminary atlas of the flooding across the state.  The geographers used hand-drawn maps, 911 reports, radar data, historic flood maps, and GIS software to produce the maps.

Maps in the News from Ball State University Libraries

Maps in the News:  Syria, Sharks, and a Superfund Site

The Institute for the Study of War has released an updated map of Isis of the Middle East.  The circled blue areas depict changes.  The Isis areas in Syria and Iraq are shrinking, but fighting near Raqqa and Mosul has intensified and Aleppo remains bleak.

Scientists working with OCEARCH, a nonprofit shark research organization, tagged a young shark pup named “Montauk” off the coast of Montauk, New York last week.  The OCEARCH Global Shark Tracker allows users to track the shark pup and others in real-time.

1921 Sanborn Fire Insurance map of the Anaconda Lead Products Company,

East Chicago, Indiana

Ball State University Libraries

(click to enlarge)

The residents of a housing complex in East Chicago, Indiana will be forced to move due to lead contamination from demolished processing plants located on the site starting around 1920.  The Environmental Protection Agency provides a map of the site.

Mapping Women's Suffrage Around the World

Before American Women Voted….

The 19^th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified on this day in 1920.  The amendment granted American women the right to vote.  But where was women’s suffrage practiced before 1920?  This map (click to enlarge) identifies the countries where women were given the right to vote before American women, with New Zealand being the first.

For more information about using maps and other cartographic resources for research and learning, please contact the Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) at 765-285-1097.