Ball State University Christy Woods Greenhouse Tours this Saturday

Ball State University Christy Woods Greenhouse Tours this Saturday

Take a break from the cold weather and visit the tropics on campus with this guided walk through the Ball State University greenhouses in Christy Woods. The Orchid Greenhouse contains the largest university-based orchid collection in North America. The Teaching Greenhouse contains different kinds of tropical plants from around the world, including cacti, carnivorous plants, ferns, bananas, and many others.

Tours are scheduled for Saturday, January 30 and Saturday, February 6 at 1:00 P.M. Tours will begin at the Orchid Greenhouse in Christy Woods. The tours are free and open to the public, but space is limited. To reserve your spot, contact John Taylor at 765/285-2641.

Visit the Field Station and Environmental Education Center online at http://cms.bsu.edu/Academics/CentersandInstitutes/FSEEC.aspx

New Maps of Haiti Available from Army Geospatial Center

More Maps of Haiti Online

News of updated Haiti maps from R. Lee Hadden, Map Librarian at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: The Army Geospatial Center in Virginia created a special emergency mapping project making maps of Haiti available online. The current geological, hydrological and transportation maps are available at http://www.agc.army.mil/Haiti/. The site also includes an image gallery from Digital Globe of the earthquake zone.

The U.S. Geological Survey Web site for information on the earthquake is http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqinthenews/2010/us2010rja6/.

GIS Research & Map Collection Holiday Hours

Holiday Hours at Ball State University Libraries GIS Research & Map Collection

The GIS Research & Map Collection (GRMC) in Bracken Library will be closed on Monday, January 18 for the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday. Bracken Library, however, will be open on Monday from 7:00 A.M. to 3:00 A.M.

The GRMC will reopen at 8:00 A.M. on Tuesday, January 19.

Maps of Haiti Available from Ball State University Libraries

Maps of Haiti and Port-au-Prince Available in Ball State University Libraries

News reports have been devastating following the earthquake in Haiti yesterday. The Ball State University Libraries GIS Research & Map Collection (GRMC) includes a variety of maps of Haiti and the Caribbean Islands and maps depicting world earthquake zones.

A reproduction map of the island of Hispaniola from 1722 was published by Historic Urban Plans and is available for circulation from the GRMC. This colorful map features relief shown pictorially on the island. A map dating back to 1956 in the GRMC, 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 is a map of Haiti and the Dominican Republic dating back to 1905. This original map corresponds with U.S. control of Dominican customs during Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency.

The GRMC also includes a 2000 tourist map of Haiti and the Dominican Republic with inset maps of large cities, including Port-au-Prince. The map shown above of Port-au-Prince and Petion-Ville is a guide map published in 1978. The map was published by the Nader Art Gallery in Port-au-Prince, which features the art of many Haitians. The map marks points of interest like the U.S. embassy, cathedrals, museums, theaters, and hotels and shows the distance to the Nader Gallery show room. (Click on the map to enlarge).

Nautical charts included in the GRMC also depict the coastline of Haiti. A large collection of maps and atlases of the Caribbean Islands detail the larger area. Maps showing seismic activity in the region and around the world are also available from the GRMC, including a map of global seismic activity from 1970-1996. Earthquake digital data is also available in the GRMC in CD-ROM format.

Maps from the GRMC circulate for two weeks or longer. Atlases circulate for four weeks or longer.

Please contact the GRMC at 765/285-1097 for more information about these or any other cartographic resources.

Historic County Atlases Available from Ball State University Libraries

Preserving the Past: Indiana Historic Atlases Available in Digital Format from Ball State University Libraries

The GIS Research & Map Collection (GRMC) provided copies of historic Indiana county atlases for the Ball State University Libraries’ Digital Media Repository. This new digital collection features 18 historic atlases with over 400 county, township, city and other maps dating from 1874-1921. The counties included in the collection are Benton, Carroll, Cass, Delaware, Elkhart, Franklin, Jay, La Porte, Montgomery, Ohio, Parke, Ripley, Rush, St. Joseph, Switzerland, and Vigo.

Students of historic preservation, history, and archaeology often use maps from the atlases in their research and class projects. The historic atlases of Indiana are a valuable resource for anyone interested in the growth of Indiana and individual counties and cities in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

Genealogists also find using this collection helpful in their search for relevant information about a historic place, and many of the historic atlases include biographies and illustrations of actual residents of the county, as well as illustrations of family farms, residences, and places of business. To access these complete records, click on the title page of the specific atlas and a complete listing of all pages will be provided.

The GRMC also has historic atlases of other Indiana counties in its collection, including Henry, Putnam, Steuben, Union, and Wayne. The Illustrated Atlas of the State of Indiana, 1876, is another reference item in the GRMC. This atlas includes county, township, and city maps from the entire state, as well as colorful illustrations and text.

The reference atlas collection in the GRMC also includes historic county, city, and state atlases from other areas of the country, including Iowa, Michigan, Illinois, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.

Please contact the GRMC at 765/285-1097 for more information about these historic resources. For questions or assistance using the Digital Media Repository, please contact the Archives and Special Collections at 765/285-5078.

GIS Research & Map Collection 2009 Year in Review

2009: GIS Research & Map Collection Year in Review

Students from a variety of classes visited the GIS Research & Map Collection (GRMC) to use the maps, atlases, GIS software, and other resources in 2009. The GRMC also provided customized instructional sessions to students in a variety of disciplines. The list of classes is extremely diverse: geography, urban planning, historic preservation, landscape architecture, architecture, English, anthropology, journalism, creative writing, wellness, science, library education, women’s studies, and social studies methods.

The GRMC also hosted students working on projects from elementary education, natural resources and environmental management, economics, Japanese language, geology, history, art, communications, political science, music, global studies, construction management, biology, physics and astronomy, sociology, Spanish, and archaeology.

The GIS Specialist in the GRMC created custom maps and assisted with GIS for students in foundations of education, landscape architecture, urban planning, historic preservation, elementary education, and many other areas of study.

Staff of the GRMC and the Educational Resources Collections created games and activities for the Ball State University Cardinal Kids Camp in June. The GRMC also provided research materials for culture projects to visiting students from local high schools.

Maps and posters were created by the GRMC in coordination with the Rinker Center for International Programs’ Culture Exchange program and the International Festival in November. The GRMC also provided maps to be used as a backdrop for the Ball State University Freshman Connections Common Reader Africa Symposium in October.

Keeping track: 2,331 items were circulated from the GRMC during 2009; 2,245 persons researched 21,340 different maps and other items in the GRMC and Atlas Collection; GIS software was used 406 times; 1,417 people used the plotter for printing; 18 maps were circulated through Interlibrary Loan; and 49 classes with 1,022 participants were given instructional sessions.

Contact the GRMC for information about any of these services and resources Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 5:00.