Mexico Maps Available in Ball State University Libraries

Maps in the News: Juarez, Mexico

The Obama administration announced this week that it will send hundreds of federal border agents and crime-fighting surveillance equipment to the Mexican border to try to stop the violence from Mexican drug cartels from spreading into the United States. In Ciudad Juarez across the border from El Paso, Texas, more than 7,500 army soldiers have been sent to take over the police force. Many experts, however, do not think these measures will be effective in the war against this $30 billion a year industry.

The Geospatial Resources and Map Collection on the second floor of Bracken Library has a diverse collection of maps of Mexico. The map shown is a map of Juarez, Mexico, that includes a guide booklet. The Map Collection also includes maps of Mexico, maps showing the states of Mexico, and maps of the individual states.

The history Mexico and Central America is covered in maps about the Aztecs and Olmecs. Great Peoples of the Past: Ancient Mesoamerica is a National Geographic map detailing the great civilizations of the area.

The Map Collection also includes bathymetric maps and nautical charts of the Gulf of Mexico. Road atlases in the Collection cover the transportation network of Mexico. Several sets of topographic maps of Mexico are also available in the GRMC.

The Map Collection includes dozens of city maps of Mexico. Tourist maps of Acapulco, Cancun, and Cozumel are available. A map of El Paso, Texas, from 2004 was created in English and Spanish, and another map of El Paso includes the adjoining communities in Mexico like Juarez.

Maps from the GRMC may be circulated for two weeks or longer. Atlases circulated for four weeks.

For more information about these resources, please contact the GRMC at 765/285-1097 or visit Monday through Friday from 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.

Ball State University Libraries Celebrates Women's Week 2009

The Geography of Women’s History: Ball State University Celebrates Women’s Week 2009

Ball State University is celebrating Women’s Week 2009 March 23 through March 28 in conjunction with National Women’s History Month. The annual event is planned by the Women’s Studies Program to commemorate the achievements and experiences of women. The Geospatial Resources & Map Collection is presenting a special maps exhibit, The Geography of Women’s History, in the windows of the GRMC and in the College of Architecture and Planning Archives display cases.

Vera Adams, Instructor in the Department of Urban Planning, and Rabita Rajkarnikar, graduate student in the Department of Urban Planning, will be discussing the life of Jane Jacobs, an urban writer and activist who championed new, community-based approaches to planning for over 40 years. The session is Tuesday, March 24 from 12:00 to 1:00 P.M. in the Architecture Building, room 100.

The GRMC will also be exhibiting maps during the Third Annual African Diaspora Research Conference: Sisters, Girls, and Women: Gender Solidarity and Struggle in Bracken Library’s Forum Room on Thursday, March 26 from 8:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. This conference at Ball State University is in conjunction with Women’s Week and is a themed one-day conference exploring issues related to the roots and global dispersion of ethnically African peoples.

All Women’s Week events are free and open to the public. For a complete listing of events, please visit http://www.bsu.edu/womensstudies/Women's%20Week.htm or contact Julee Rosser, Interim Director of the Women’s Studies Program, at 765/285-5451.

Friends of Alexander M. Bracken Library Annual Dinner Scheduled

Ball State University Libraries Friends of Alexander M. Bracken Library Annual Dinner Features Movers and Stakers

The annual dinner and meeting of the Friends of the Alexander M. Bracken Library will be held on April 1, 2009, at the Ball State University Alumni Center. The reception begins at 6:00 P.M. with the dinner at 6:30 P.M.

This year’s event will highlight an immersive learning project coordinated by the Telecommunications Department. Nancy Carlson (above) will present a sneak preview of the new documentary Movers and Stakers: Stories along the Indiana National Road and share her own stories of writing and researching the film.

Carlson, chair of the Telecommunications Department, coordinated a student team to create the documentary as an immersive learning project from a National Scenic Byways Grant from the Federal Highway Administration. Carlson and her students researched stories from residents who lived near the National Road in Indiana, which stretches from Richmond to Terre Haute near Indiana Highway 40. According to Carlson, “no one has told the many human stories of building the road, living along it or traveling across it.” The Geospatial Resources & Map Collection and University Libraries provided maps, books, and other research resources for the project.

Tickets for the Friends dinner are $25. For more information about purchasing tickets to the dinner or joining the group, please contact John B. Straw, Executive Secretary of the Friends of the Alexander M. Bracken Library at 765/285-5078. The Friends Web page is located at http://www.bsu.edu/library/collections/friends/ and includes programs and photographs from previous dinners.

Maps of Darfur, Sudan in Ball State University Libraries

New Map of Darfur Region of Sudan in Ball State University Libraries

Sudan ordered a number of international aid agencies expelled from the country Wednesday after the International Criminal Court at the Hague issued a warrant for the country’s president for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The president’s arrest is related to the deadly violence against the people of the region of Darfur in western Sudan.

The Geospatial Resources & Map Collection acquired a new map of the region of Darfur (shown above). The map was printed by the Central Intelligence Agency and shows relief of the region, airfields, roads and cities.

Maps of the Sudan and Darfur in the GRMC are not fully cataloged and may not be located in the CardCat system, so please visit or contact the GRMC to review the complete collection of maps. This map circulates for two weeks or longer.

Bicycle Trail Maps Available from Ball State University Libraries

Spring Breaking Away: Bicycle Maps from Ball State University Libraries

The Geospatial Resources & Map Collection on the second floor of Bracken Library recently acquired a copy of the 2008 New York City Cycling Map, which includes 70 new miles of bicycle routes, historic districts, and updated bike rental and safety information. The New York City Cycling Map includes maps of all five boroughs and also lists bike shops and repair shops. This map “was developed to encourage more people to bicycle by identifying a network of the best streets and park paths for cycling; to educate cyclists about their rights and responsibilities as roadway and park users; to inform cyclists about access to mass transit, points of interest and bike shops; and to recognize cycling as a legitimate mode of transportation.”

The GRMC also has a large collection of bike trail maps for those cyclists motivated to use their bikes even more as spring approaches. The Collection includes bike trail maps published by the Adventure Cycling Association. Many of these maps provide information about the condition and elevation of the trails as well as the location of bike shops, grocery stores, hotels, and post offices. These maps cover the Trans-America Bicycle Trail and route crossing all points of the United States from California to Maine and Florida to Washington.

The GRMC has copies of other bike trail maps of states, state and national parks, and individual counties across the U.S. Another new addition to the Collection is the Bike the Bridge San Francisco and Marin County bike trail map.

Maps circulate for two weeks or longer. Some of these maps, however, have not yet been cataloged and may not be located using the CardCat system, so please visit or call the GRMC for more information at 765/285-1097.

Irish Cartographic Guide Available from Ball State University Libraries

In Time for St. Patrick’s Day: New Ireland Cartographic Guide from Ball State University Libraries

Students and other researchers of Ireland and Irish history can now access a cartographic guide to resources available in Ball State University Libraries via the Geospatial Resources & Map Collection Web page. The subject guide, Cartographic Resources in Ball State University Libraries: Ireland and Irish History, is available at http://www.bsu.edu/library/article/0,,59405--,00.html.

This guide provides a list with call numbers and locations of all of the maps, atlases, encyclopedias, and other resources available from University Libraries. There are atlases for Celtic studies and Irish history in the Atlas Collection and also an atlas focusing specifically on Irish family histories, New Genealogical Atlas of Ireland.

Street maps for numerous cities in Ireland, nature reserve maps, topographic maps of Ireland, and maps covering Irish history are available from the GRMC. The Irish Family Names Map features coats of arms and medieval locations, and maps showing the peat land and fishing resources of Ireland are also available.

The Reference Collection also includes atlases and other cartographic resources of Ireland and Irish history. Book of Irish Names: First, Family, and Place Names and Encyclopedia of Ireland: An A-Z Guide to Its People, Places, History, and Culture are reference materials in Bracken Library.

The guide also includes a listing of a set of reproduced historical maps from the National Library of Ireland that are not yet cataloged but do circulate for two weeks or longer individually or as a set.

For more information about these resources or the cartographic guides, please contact the Geospatial Resources & Map Collection at 765/285-1097.

Maps of Sri Lanka Available in Ball State University Libraries

Maps in the News: Sri Lanka

The Geospatial Resources and Map Collection on the second floor of Bracken Library has a wide collection of maps of Sri Lanka and the country as the former Ceylon. Most of these maps, however, are not cataloged and will not appear in the Libraries’ CardCat system so researchers should visit the GRMC to review the maps.

Since Sri Lanka is an island country, the GRMC has detailed nautical charts of the country’s coastal areas. The GRMC also has a unique geo-morphological map of Sri Lanka, a map of the country’s forest cover, and physical and transportation maps. The map of Sri Lanka shown above details the Mahaweli development project—a government program to improve hydroelectric power and irrigation throughout the country. Sri Lanka is also included on many of the maps in the GRMC of the Indian subcontinent.

Two maps from 2005 in the GRMC cover the cities of Colombo, Anuradhapura, Kandy, and Galle. The maps show physical relief and places of interest. The GRMC also has a map of the port of Colombo and a unique map of Polonnaruva (shown above).

The Atlas Collection also includes several resources for the study of Sri Lanka: Arjuna’s Atlas of Sri Lanka, Cultural Atlas of India and Sri Lanka, Road Atlas of Sri Lanka, the National Atlas of Sri Lanka, and A to Z Atlas of Colombo City are all available.

Maps from the GRMC circulate for two weeks or longer, and atlases circulate for four weeks or longer.

Please visit the GRMC Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 5:00, or for more information, please call 765/285-1097.