Tobacco Maps Available from Ball State University Libraries

World No Tobacco Day: Global Tobacco Maps Available from Ball State University Libraries

The World Health Organization will celebrate World No Tobacco Day on May 31. The day was created to raise awareness to the dangers of smoking and start a discussion of what can be done to prevent tobacco-related deaths around the world.

This year, more than five million people worldwide will die from tobacco-related conditions, and according to the American Lung Association, 448,000 people die from tobacco-related diseases in the United States.

The maps above (click to enlarge) are from The Tobacco Atlas, available from the Atlas Collection in Ball State University Libraries. The atlas, now in its third edition, is completely updated and revised in 2009. The atlas was published by the American Cancer Society and the World Lung Foundation. The atlas shows the prevalence of tobacco, reviews health risks, charts the costs of tobacco, and describes the tobacco industry in nations around the world.

The top map depicts the proportion of adult deaths due to smoking in men and women. The red countries, including the United States, have a percentage of above 25% for men. According to the atlas, “smokers die an average of 15 years earlier than nonsmokers.” Unfortunately, tobacco-related deaths are on the rise in developing countries, and “if current trends continue, tobacco will kill seven million people annually by 2020.”

The second map shows annual cigarette consumption per person. The United States falls into the 500-1,499 category and consumes 357 billion cigarettes per year. “In 2007, smokers in China consumed 37% of the world’s cigarettes.”

The third map displays the percent of males who smoke cigarettes in the eastern hemisphere. A chart shows the top twenty male smoking populations. Note that the number of male smokers in China alone compares to the total population of the United States.

This atlas is available for research projects and papers, and the maps can be scanned for visual aids. The atlas circulates for 28 days or longer.

For more information about this or any other topical atlases from the Atlas Collection, please contact the staff of the GIS Research and Map Collection at 765-285-1097.

GIS Research and Map Collection Closed for Memorial Day

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) in Bracken Library will be closed on Memorial Day, Monday, May 30.  The GRMC will reopen on Tuesday, May 31 at 7:30 A.M.

New Materials in Ball State University Libraries: Railway Maps of the World

New Materials in Ball State University Libraries: Railway Maps of the World

The maps shown above are printed from a new book available in the Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) on the second floor of Bracken Library. Railway Maps of the World by Mark Ovenden is similar to his earlier publication, Transit Maps of the World, already available from the GRMC. The book includes over a hundred illustrations of historic and modern-day rail maps of North and South America, Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania and details the history of railways.

The map of Germany shows rail routes with exaggerated landmarks made for the 1960’s rail tourists. The “Uganda Railway” poster is from 1908. Ovenden notes that the Uganda Railway “never ran through Uganda, but rather British East Africa, which is modern-day Kenya.”

The map of Los Angeles is from the Library of Congress collection and shows the streetcar lines of the early city. The city was “laid out specifically for public transit,” so the closing of the lines forced thousands of suburbanites to begin using automobiles during the 1950’s and 1960’s.

The 1920’s poster of the famed Orient Express shows a view of Istanbul and a stylized map of the routes from London and Paris to Turkey. The Trans-Siberian Railway provides “the world’s longest continuous rail passenger journey, Kiev to Vladivostok (11,085 km),” and the line crosses seven time zones. The map shown is a 1916 map showing railway services in each direction.

Railway Maps of the World and Transit Maps of the World are available for research in the GRMC. The GRMC is open Monday through Friday from 7:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. during the summer.

Maps in the News from Ball State University Libraries

Maps in the News: A Gallery of Maps

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) contains over 140,000 maps available for research and learning. The maps featured above are some that have been used this week due to various events in the news:

The first map of the United States depicts the annual incidence of tornadoes in the United States and is from the Atlas of Natural Hazards. (Click to enlarge the maps).  The latest topographic map of Joplin, Missouri, shows part of the area where a deadly tornado struck last weekend.

The blue map shows the city of Deauville, France, site of this week’s G8 Summit. This historic topographic map was published by the United States Army Map Service in 1944. The map was surveyed by the government of Great Britain during World War II using a military grid, and important streets and building are named—including casinos, hippodromes, cinemas, and a stadium.

The bright yellow map shows part of Irish Family Names Map: Arms and Mediaeval Locations published by Bartholomew Maps in 1984. This map includes a list of family names and illustrations of family shields. Moneygall, the home village of President Obama’s ancestors, is located in County “Offaly,” shown in the center of the map.

The map of Yemen shows the distribution of ethnic and religious groups and key tribal areas of the country. This is an inset map on a map of Yemen published by the Central Intelligence Agency in 2004.

A map of the Middle East from The Israel Historical Atlas depicts The Six Day War, which changed the borders of Israel in 1967.

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

New Travel Materials Available in Ball State University Libraries

New Travel Materials in the GIS Research and Map Collection


The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) has added new travel materials just in time for the summer.

For local travel information the 2011 Indiana Travel Guide and Indiana Recreation Guide are available for circulation. Golfers can use the Indiana Golf and Travel Guide for information about courses around the state, and the 2011 Indiana Festival Guide details hundreds of festivals. A new map of the Knobstone Trail, Indiana’s longest footpath, is also now available in the GRMC as well as a new set of state park maps including the Dunes, Harmonie, and Patoka Lake.

Travelers to the nation’s capital can now find new maps of several attractions. The GRMC has new maps available of the Smithsonian complex, the National Cathedral, and parking maps for Reagan National Airport. A new map of nearby Monticello is also available for circulation.

Travelers to Paris and New York will also find new maps in the GRMC. Maps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Louvre’ and the Estate of Versailles are now available for circulation.

Many of these maps were gifts from Jacqueline Luzar Nelson and Justine Payne, Ball State University alumnae.

Maps from the GRMC circulate for two weeks or longer. For more information, please visit the GRMC during summer hours from 7:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.