Wednesdays Around the World:  Ball State University Hosts Weekly International Culture Exchange

The Ball State University Rinker Center for International Programs hosts a Culture Exchange each week where a student or group of students presents information about a country.  Most of the presentations are led by students native to that country, and every week a different country is highlighted.  The presentations are held in the Phyllis Yuhas Room in Student Center room 102 from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) provides maps and charts and photographs from atlases as visual aids for the culture presentations.  The map posters from previous culture exchanges are available from Cardinal Scholar, an institutional repository at http://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/ on the main Library page.  Simply type in the name of a country in the search box or choose the keywords “map poster” to see the list of countries available for printing or research.  Users can save the map file for use in the classroom, for presentations, or for other learning activities.

The Culture Exchange program begins tomorrow, September 19, with Isaac Larbi discussing Ghana.  The program schedule for the rest of the semester:

September 26              Morocco

October 3                    Bangladesh

October 10                  Iran

October 17                  Costa Rica

October 24                  Tajikistan

October 31                  Iceland

November 7                Kenya

November 14              Finland

November 28              Burkina Faso

December 5                 Ecuador

For more information about the Culture Exchange program, please contact Leslie Erlenbaugh at the Rinker Center for International Programs at 765-285-5422.  

Benghazi, Libya Maps Available from Ball State University Libraries

Maps in the News: Benghazi, Libya Maps Available from Ball State University

The GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) on the second floor of Bracken Library includes thousands of maps of Africa and the Middle East that could be used in research and learning. This collection includes a large collection of maps of Libya.

The GRMC has a set of topographic maps of Libya at 1:100,000-scale. A set of historic Army Map Service topographic maps of Tripoli at 1:5,000-scale is also included in the collection.

The Central Intelligence Agency published maps of Libya depicting ethnic groups, economic activity, and population of the country. An inset map also shows Libya in relation to the size of the United States.

A 1991 travel map of Libya includes inset maps of Tripoli and Benghazi.  The map shown above depicts the streets of Benghazi (Binghazi).  A map of the Sahara Desert from 2006 also includes an excellent map of the coast of Libya. Another map shows the oases of the Sahara Desert located throughout Libya. City plan maps of Benghazi, Tripoli, and Derna are also included in the collection.

Nautical charts of the coastal cities of Libya offer detailed maps of the cities. The GRMC also includes a historic nautical chart of Benghazi from 1931 that was published by the Italian government and later used during World War II by the German government. Other historic maps in the collection show Libya as part of the Italian colonial empire.

The entire collection of maps of Libya in the GRMC has not yet been cataloged, so many will not appear in the University Libraries’ CardCat system. Please contact the GRMC or visit Monday through Friday from 8 to 5 to see this array of maps.

All maps from the GRMC circulate for two weeks or longer.

Freshman Common Reader Author Presentation

Where Am I Wearing on the Map: Ball State University Libraries Provide Cartographic Lesson for Freshman Common Reader

Kelsey Timmerman, author of the Ball State University Freshman Common Reader selection Where Am I Wearing? will present Common Threads: Searching for Community in our Globalized World on Tuesday, September 18 at 7:30 P.M. at Emens Auditorium.

Dr. Martha Payne, Assistant Professor in the Department of English, collaborated with the staff of the Ball State University Libraries' GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) to create a class assignment based on the book.  Students in Payne’s English 103 classes learned how to create interactive maps using Google Maps.  Groups were assigned sections of the book to map, so students created maps of Honduras, Bangladesh, Cambodia, and China depicting the locations of garment factories and other places from Timmerman’s travels.  One group created a map showing the notable places mentioned in the United States, including Muncie, Indiana—Timmerman’s current residence.  And another group created a map showing the immigration of Amilcar from Honduras to California (shown above).

The GRMC personnel are available to coordinate class assignments in a variety of courses using maps and other cartographic resources and GIS software.  The GRMC also provide custom orientation tours and instructional sessions.

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

World of Maps Class at the Community Center for Vital Aging

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) will be presenting a free class for the community featuring maps from the collection.  The class will be held at the Community Center for Vital Aging on Monday, September 17 from 6:30 to 8:00 P.M.

The World of Maps will explore maps from around the world—both old and new—maps of wildlife, women’s rights maps, maps about politics and elections, maps of fictional places, sports-related maps, historic maps of Muncie, and more.

The class is free and open to the public.  You may register for the class in advance by calling the Center at 765-289-4541.  The Community Center for Vital Aging is an extension of the Fisher Institute for Wellness and Gerontology at Ball State University.  The program will be held at the Cornerstone Center for the Arts at 520 East Main Street in Muncie.