Anastasios Gounaris Speaking at Ball State University

Pilgrimage to Mount Athos, the Holy Mountain Tonight at Ball State University

Father Anastasios Gounaris, Pastor at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Carmel will speak about his journey to Mount Athos tonight in the Student Center Ballroom at 7:00 P.M.  Mt. Athos is a peninsula in northwest Greece, home for Orthodox monks and dedicated to the Virgin Mary.  The peninsula has a rich history dating back to the 11th century.  Pastor Gounaris spent a week at Mt. Athos this summer and will speak about his experience.  The event is free and open to the public.

Tuskegee Airmen Maps Available from Ball State University Libraries

Red Tails:  Tuskegee Airmen Map Available from Ball State University Libraries

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) in Bracken Library provides cartographic resources rendering a variety of places, issues, and events for research and learning.  The Atlas Collection also includes thousands of atlases with maps providing visual depictions of people, places and things.

This weekend a new movie, Red Tails, premieres about the heroism of the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II, and the Atlas of African-American History includes a map showing the locations of their missions (above, click to enlarge).

The atlas, written by James Ciment, provides research information about the Tuskegee Airmen and their history: 

Ever since the rise of military aviation in World War I, African Americans had demanded admission and training as airmen.  These demands were dismissed out of hand….It was not until 1939 that the government—in expanding the air corps generally—authorized expenditures for pilot training programs at several black colleges, including Tuskegee Institute, although only for support services and not for combat.

Still, resistance to the idea of black pilots persisted.  Whites refused to serve with them and the army—which ran the air corps in those days—still did not believe that blacks could make effective pilots.  Thus, the Tuskegee airmen continued to train long after whites were sent into combat and, when they were finally permitted into combat, they remained segregated units.

Not surprisingly, the extra training made them especially effective pilots.  By war’s end, the all-black 332^nd bomber escort group—of which the Tuskegee airmen were a part—could claim a perfect record.  In 1,578 missions and 15,552 sorties, they never lost a single bomber.  The commander of the 332^nd, Benjamin O. Davis, would go on to become the nation’s first black three-star general.

Maps from the GRMC and Atlas Collection can be scanned and added as visual aids to papers and presentations.  Contact the staff of the GRMC for more information about using maps in research and learning.  Or visit Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 5:00.

Satellite Imagery of Wrecked Cruise Ship from Digital Globe

Latest Satellite Imagery Shows Wrecked Cruise Ship

The satellite photograph shown above is from Digital Globe, a commercial imagery and geospatial products provider.  The image shows the wrecked cruise ship, the Costa Concordia, that capsized off the coast of Tuscany, Italy, near the island of Giglio last Friday. 

Digital Globe provides images from its high-resolution earth imaging satellites for use in mapping, analysis, and exploration.

Maps in the News: Nautical Charts

 

Nautical Charts in the News:  Giglio Island, Italy and Nome, Alaska

The GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) on the second floor of Bracken Library includes a large collection of nautical charts covering coastlines around the world available for research and learning.  Nautical charts are maps of the surface of the sea that include known hazards and aids to navigation.  

The top nautical chart (click to enlarge) shows the location of Giglio Island (Isola del Giglio), Italy, where a cruise ship ran aground on Friday.  The depth of the water near the ship was about 100 meters.  The coast of Italy is shaded gray.

The second nautical chart is a map of Nome, Alaska.  Crews began transferring millions of gallons of fuel Monday from a Russian tanker to the iced-in city.  The locations of fuel tanks in Nome can be viewed on the nautical chart.

Nautical charts from the GRMC can be circulated for two weeks or longer.  The charts, however, should not be used for navigation.

For more information about these maps, please contact the GRMC Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 5:00. 

Ball State University Libraries GIS Research and Map Collection Closed Monday, January 16

The GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) will be closed Monday, January 16  for the Martin Luther King, Junior Day holiday.  The GRMC will reopen at 8:00 A.M. on Tuesday, January 17. 

Martin Luther King, Junior Map Available from Ball State University Libraries

Ball State University Libraries Marks Martin Luther King, Jr. Day with Commemorative Map:

Journey of a King: Mapping the Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Junior

The GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) on the second floor of Bracken Library has created a map of the travels of Dr. Martin Luther King, Junior, to commemorate the national holiday.  The map, Journey of a King: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Junior, (shown above, click to enlarge) depicts some of the places the civil rights leader visited during his lifetime.  The map is based on locations documented in the book M.L.K.: Journey of a King by Tonya Bolden available from the General Collection in Bracken Library.

The map features photographs from the book and a timeline of important events in the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Junior.  Dr. King also visited Africa, the Holy Land and Oslo, Norway to accept the Nobel Peace Prize.

The map is currently being displayed in the front window of the GRMC to correspond with a lobby exhibit on Dr. King.

A PDF-format version of the map is available from the Ball State University Libraries’ Cardinal Scholar at https://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/handle/123456789/195146.

The map may be used for classroom lessons and presentations.  The GRMC has a large-format plotter available for members of the Ball State University community to print off larger copies of the map.

Please contact the GRMC Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 5:00 at 765-285-1097 for more information about this map and other maps for exhibits and classroom lessons.

Maps in the News

What's Happening? Maps in the News

Allyn Bacon Social Atlas of the United States map of the generations of the United States

Atlas of American Politics map of Mormon adherence distribution

Map of Nigeria from the Central Intelligence Agency

Map comparing the size of Syria and the United States, Central Intelligence Agency

The Strait of Hormuz