Public Enemies: John Dillinger Gang Robberies Map Available from Ball State University Libraries

The GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) created the map Public Enemies: Robberies of the John Dillinger Gang (click to enlarge above) based on information from a book by Bryan Burrough, Public Enemies: America’s Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-1934 (available from the General Collection of Bracken Library) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation Historic Famous Cases Web page. The movie Public Enemies starring Johnny Depp is also based on the Burrough book. 

John Dillinger was a legendary bank robber from Indiana who became America’s first “Public Enemy Number One.” The map marks the locations of reported robberies of Dillinger and his gang beginning with a robbery in Daleville, Indiana in the summer of 1933. Other events related to Dillinger are also featured on the map, including the location of his death outside the Biograph Theater in Chicago on this day—July 22—in 1934.

A copy of the map is available in PDF-format from the Ball State University Libraries’ Cardinal Scholar repository. The map is also available for circulation for two weeks or longer. Contact the staff for more information at 765-285-1097.

Department of the Interior Online Mapping Tool Now Available

Online Mapping Tool Traces U.S. Streams and Rivers

The Department of the Interior has released a new online mapping tool that allows users to trace any major U.S. stream to its source or down to its watershed.  The above map highlights all the major tributaries that feed into the Mississippi River (covering over one million square miles).  The second map shows the White River from Muncie, Indiana, traveling down to the Gulf of Mexico.

The National Atlas Streamer also allows users to learn more about the places streams pass through in brief or detailed reports.  Users first zoom in to activate the trace buttons on the map.  Double-click on the map and choose “trace downstream” or “trace upstream.”  This tool will allow researchers to learn more about the streams in their area.  

Lunar Landing and Moon Maps Available from Ball State University Libraries

Small Steps:  Mapping the First Moonwalk

This weekend marks the anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission that landed Neil Armstrong on the moon.  On July 21, 1969, Neil Armstrong stepped out of the Tranquility Base lunar module.  As millions around the world watched on live television, Armstrong spoke, “That’s one small step for [a] man, a giant leap for mankind,” as he stepped on the surface and became the first human to walk on the moon.

The map shown above (click to enlarge) was created by the United States Department of Interior and shows the location of the lunar module and the paths walked by Armstrong and astronaut Buzz Aldrin.  The map shows the American flag planted by the astronauts on the lunar surface, the television camera, and the locations of soil and seismic testing performed by the astronauts. 

In the book Strange Maps: An Atlas of Cartographic Curiosities by Frank Jacobs available in the Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC), this map has been superimposed on a map of a baseball field to show the small area explored by the astronauts.   Armstrong only walked about 120 meters from the lunar module to the rim of a crater:

“After traveling hundreds of thousands of miles, the landing crew of the Apollo 11 lunar mission spent two and a half hours on the lunar surface and in that time barely covered an area the size of a baseball diamond.  Or, if your sports preferences lie elsewhere, half a soccer field, with Armstrong making just one dash at the other side’s goal.”

A large copy of this map is currently on exhibit in the windows of the GRMC. Strange Maps, maps of the lunar surface and the solar system, and many other atlases and cartographic resources are available from the GRMC on the second floor of Bracken Library.  The GRMC is open Monday through Friday from 7:30 to 4:30 during the summer.

USGS Topographic Map of Citi Field Available from Ball State University Libraries

Maps of Citi Field, Site of the All-Star Game, Available from Ball State University Libraries

The Ball State University Libraries' GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) maintains a collection of topographic maps published by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).  In 2009, the USGS began producing updated topographic maps of the entire country, publishing more than 2,000 maps per month.  The new maps are modeled on the old topographic quadrangle series map but also include the latest digital data.  The top map shows this new version of topographic maps of the Flushing, New York, quadrangle.  Citi Field, site of the 2013 Major League Baseball All-Star game, is shown near the bottom of the map.

The GRMC also includes Sanborn Fire Insurance maps showing historic ballparks around the country.  Baseball fans can also check out the "Baseball Travel Map" available in the GRMC on the second floor of Bracken Library.  This map shows the location and contact information for every major league, minor league, and independent professional baseball team in the United States and Canada.

The GRMC also has maps of Cooperstown, New York, and maps showing the historic Negro League Baseball teams and the Girls Professional Baseball League teams that played from 1943-1954.

Maps from the GRMC circulate for two weeks or longer.  For more information, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097.

Canada Maps Available from Ball State University Libraries

Railway Map of Canada, GIS Research and Map Collection, Ball State University Libraries

(Rail lines intersect at Lac-Magantic at the bottom of the map).

Quebec, National Geographic, GIS Research and Map Collection, Ball State University Libraries

(Lac-Magantic is shown just north of the U.S. border above the Maine-New Hampshire state line).

Maps In the News:  Maps of Lac-Magantic, Quebec, Canada Available from Ball State University Libraries

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) in Bracken Library includes a large collection of maps from Canada.  The collection includes hundreds of road and tourist maps of the cities, provinces, and territories of Canada.  The GRMC also houses a large collection of topographic maps of Canada ranging in scale from 1:25,000 to 1:500,000.

The Atlas Collection on the second floor of Bracken Library also includes many resources about Canada.  In addition to road, street and railway atlases of the cities and provinces, the collection includes The Canadian Military Atlas published in 2004, Historical Atlas of Canada, and Canada Back Road Atlas published in 2008. 

The Canadian Atlas: Our Nation, Environment, and People was published in 2004 and provides comprehensive coverage of the human and physical geography of Canada, including its newest territory, Nunavut.  This atlas includes many aerial and satellite images, charts, timelines, and statistical information about the population.  Maps of more than 30 Canadian cities are included in the atlas.

Maps from the GRMC circulate for two weeks or longer.  Atlases circulate for 28 days or longer.  For more information, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097.

GIS Research and Map Collection Holiday Hours

Ball State University Libraries' GIS Research and Map Collection will be closed for the Fourth of July but will reopen at 7:30 A.M. on Friday, July 5.

Gettysburg Battlefield Maps Available from Ball State University

150 Years Ago Today:  Gettysburg Maps Available from Ball State University Libraries

Today, July 1, marks the 150^th anniversary of the beginning of the battle at Gettysburg in Pennsylvania.  The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) includes several maps and atlases depicting this crucial struggle of the Civil War, including A Civil War Watercolor Map Series:  Gettysburg Battlefield shown above.  This map shows the landmarks, crops, and topography of the battlefield on the first day.  A topographic map on the verso shows the general position of troops on July 1, 1863.  A second map in this series shows the same for the second and third days of the Battle at Gettysburg.

Another map, Illustrated Gettysburg Battlefield Map and Story, (shown above, click to enlarge) was published in 1959.  The Maps of Gettysburg: An Atlas of the Gettysburg Campaign, June 3-July 13, 1863, is also available from the Atlas Collection on the second floor of Bracken Library.

Maps from the GRMC circulate for two weeks or longer.  Atlases from the Atlas Collection circulate for 28 days or longer.  For more information about these cartographic resources, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097.