Global Warming Conference at Ball State University

Ball State University Hosts Nationwide Global Warming Conference

Focus the Nation, a conference involving campuses around the country, will be held at the Ball State University Student Center tomorrow, February 24, from 9:45 to 5 p.m. The event was organized by the Students for a Sustainable Campus and is free and open to the public.

The conference will features speakers discussing various environmental issues (schedule shown above). The keynote speaker is Jesse Kharbanda, who will be presenting on clean energy in Indiana in the Ballroom at 10 a.m. Jim Lowe will be discussing the Ball State University geothermal project from 12:45 to 1:20 p.m. in the Forum Room.

Maps from the Ball State University Libraries GIS Research and Map Collection will be featured in the registration area. The GRMC also created a poster for the event showing global warming warning signs.

Black History Month Exhibit at Ball State University Libraries

Black History Month in Maps at Ball State University Libraries

The GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) is featuring the Harlem Renaissance map as the “Map of the Month” for February. The map, titled “Harlem Renaissance: One Hundred Years of History, Art, and Culture,” was created by Ephemera Press in 2001 and depicts the great writers, artists, and entertainers of the Harlem neighborhood in New York. This map is available for circulation from the GRMC.

A special Black History Month exhibit also features maps from The Atlas of African-American History and Politics: From the Slave Trade to Modern Times by Arwin D. Smallwood with Jeffrey M. Elliot available from the Atlas Collection. The first map shows the locations of the mosques in the Nation of Islam. The second map describes the travels of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Maps from the GRMC circulate for two weeks or longer. Atlases from the Atlas Collection circulate for 28 days or longer.

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

Focus on Europe Spring 2011 Panel Discussion at Ball State University Libraries

Focus on Europe Spring 2011 Panel Discussion Held at Ball State University Libraries

The Focus on Europe panel discussion will be held at Bracken Library, room 104, on Tuesday, February 8 at 5:00 P.M.

The theme for the discussion is Crossing Borders: Immigration in Europe. Europe’s borders are open: Where do people go? What do they experience? Get insights into current issues on immigration in European countries. The panel will include students from Romania, France, Turkey, and Germany.

The event is co-sponsored by the European Studies Committee, the Department of Political Science, the Department of History, and the Department of Modern Languages and Classics. The GIS Research and Map Collection will be displaying maps of Europe from the collection for the event.

For more information, please contact Dr. Gene Frankland, Professor of Political Science at gfrankla@bsu.edu or Eva Weyhofen, graduate assistant, Intensive English Institute, at emweyhofen@bsu.edu.

Map of Cairo from Ball State University Libraries

Tahrir Square in Cairo on the Map

This map of Cairo from the GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) in Bracken Library shows the location of Tahrir Square in Cairo, the site of the revolutionary protests since January 25. The Egyptian Museum and Hilton hotels are shown to the north and west, as well as the Sixth of October Bridge. This map is one of the many current and historical maps of the Egyptian city available for research and learning from the GRMC.

Mount Kilimanjaro Maps Available from Ball State University Libraries

Mapping the Trek: Mount Kilimanjaro in Maps

Dr. Rajib Sanyal is the Dean of the Miller College of Business at Ball State University. Sanyal has taught internationally, in both India and New Zealand, and has presented research papers at seminars and conferences around the world. He is the author of a textbook on international management, has designed experiential exercises for classroom instruction, and has been published in numerous refereed journals. In January of this year, he added a successful climb of Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa to his impressive resume’.

Sanyal’s climbing group hiked for nine days using the Western Approach Route to reach the 19,340-foot peak. “We climbed from tropical rainforest to Arctic Circle temperatures where there was snow and only rocks—not a blade of grass or any vegetation. So terrain, vegetation, and climate changed.”

The group had a team of four very experienced guides leading the group up the mountain. One guide led the single-file line while two followed closely behind to check on stragglers. The fourth guide roved alongside the line of climbers to tend to everyone’s needs. In addition, the group had 39 porters, one cook, and one waiter for the expedition. The group began with eleven climbers, and ten successfully reached the summit, including Dr. Sanyal.

Dr. Sanyal returned to Ball State University and visited the GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) to find maps of Tanzania and Mount Kilimanjaro. The GRMC has in its collection a variety of topographic maps of areas and landmarks around the world.

The topographic map “Kilimanjaro” (click above to enlarge) was created by the Ordnance Survey Mapping Division at a scale of 1:50,000. The map clearly marks the topography of the summit and the stark line where vegetation on the mountain ends. The map shows the location of “Uhuru Peak” (the mountain’s highest point) with the 19,340-foot elevation shown.

A second map used by Dr. Sanyal combines a satellite aerial image with contour lines, roads, water sources, bivouacs, and campsites. This map shows the location of Kilimanjaro inside Tanzania just along the border with Kenya. The map also includes a diagram of the vegetation zones discussed by Dr. Sanyal—from savannah to what is called Alpine desert to the summit zone. Dr. Sanyal was able to retrace the path of his expedition up the mountain using these maps.

All of the over 140,000 maps in the GRMC can be circulated for two weeks or longer. For more information about these resources, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097 Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 5:00.