Back-to-School Resources from Ball State University Libraries

Back-to-School Resources from the GIS Research and Map Collection

Students and faculty returning to the Ball State University campus will be able to access important classroom resources created by the GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) from the University Libraries’ Cardinal Scholar institutional repository. Cardinal Scholar allows users to access these invaluable resources from any location with Web availability.

Teachers and student teachers headed back to the classroom can find numerous games, posters, lesson plans, map worksheets, cartographic tutorials, and other resources in Cardinal Scholar. These classroom resources were developed specifically for K-12 teachers. Access the Cardinal Scholar by visiting the University Libraries main Web page or directly from http://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/. To find all of the available resources from the GRMC in Cardinal Scholar, click on “Communities and Collections” on the left side of the page. Scroll down to the Information Technology section, and the GIS Research and Map Collection will be under University Libraries. On the GRMC collection home page click on “browse by title” in the middle of the page. This lists all the titles in the collection. For a more specific search, you may also type in a subject, such as “Africa” or “game.” Users can click on the title of the resource and save it for use in papers, presentations, or other research or print any of the games and maps.

Students and other researchers writing papers or preparing presentations may consider using maps from the GRMC or the Atlas Collection as visual aids to add interest and impact. These collections include maps and other cartographic images that visually depict numerous current issues. The new online guide, Using Maps and Atlases as Resources for Papers, Posters, and Presentations, details how cartographic images can enhance research. The guide can be accessed from Cardinal Scholar at http://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/handle/123456789/194308.

The State of the World Atlas Images is a poster available from the GRMC in Cardinal Scholar that gives examples of the different maps, charts, photographs, and other images available from atlases in the Atlas Collection or the GRMC. This poster was created using a single atlas, The Penguin State of the World Atlas, which is available in the Atlas Collection and the GRMC and displays numerous topics like war, child labor, obesity, smoking, women’s issues, and the environment. This resource can be accessed from Cardinal Scholar at http://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/handle/123456789/194313.

The GRMC has two large-format color plotter printers available for printing some of the large maps or posters, and a large-format laminator is also available. (The GRMC charges printing and laminating directly to the Bursar). Students and faculty can create posters to use in presentations and print them in the GRMC. A guide to creating posters is also available on Cardinal Scholar at http://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/handle/123456789/194312.

Faculty, students, and other researchers using maps and atlases can also find information about citing these resources in Cardinal Scholar using the Guide to the Citation of Maps and Atlases. This guide describes the format for citing cartographic resources and provides examples from University Libraries. The guide can be accessed at http://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/handle/123456789/194310.

For more information about any of these classroom resources, please contact Melissa Gentry at 765-285-1097 or email mgentry@bsu.edu.