Ukraine and Crimea Maps Available from Ball State University Libraries

Maps in the News:  Unrest in Ukraine

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) on the second floor of Bracken Library has a large collection of maps of the Ukraine available for research and learning.  Cartographic resources can be an excellent visual resource, and the maps and atlases in the collection include both historic and new maps of Ukraine, its cities and provinces, and maps of the former Soviet Union.

The collection includes cities in Ukraine, including new and historic maps of Kiev, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kirovohrad.  A unique map of Zakarpattia Oblast and maps of the autonomous region of Crimea published in Russian (inset shown above—top, click to enlarge) are also included in the collection. 

Folded tourist and road maps of Ukraine are also available in the GRMC.  Some of the maps are published in Hungarian, German, French, Russian, and English and include neighboring republics.  The GiziMap of Ukraine features physical relief and tourist areas including Kiev and the Crimean Riviera.

The map above Territory Settlement of Ukrainian People is an ancillary map published by the League of Americans of Ukrainian Descent and the State Organization of Ukrainian Congress Committee of America in 1955 in Chicago.  The colorful historic economic, travel, and tourist map of the Ukraine (yellow background above) was published in the 1960’s as part of the Soviet Union and shows some of the industries and travel routes of the republic. 

The Atlas Collection also provides great resources for studying the Ukraine and the former Soviet republics.  Atlas of Russia and the Independent Republics includes maps about natural features, history, population, and communications networks of Ukraine and the other republics.  Ukraine: A Historical Atlas includes maps covering every period of different rulers of the region.  Other atlases of the former Soviet Union and regions of Ukraine published in Russian are also available in the Atlas Collection. 

The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency publishes updated maps of countries, and these new maps can be accessed digitally via the University Libraries’ Digital MediaRepository in the Maps of the World collection.  The historic map of the Ukraine (bottom map shown above) is also available in the repository and was published in 1921 in an Indiana atlas.

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

The complete collection of maps of the former Russian republics has not yet been cataloged, so visit or contact the staff of the GRMC at 765-285-1097 to discover maps not listed in the library CardCat system or for more information about any of these cartographic resources.

Jewish Art History Presentation at Ball State University Libraries

Jewish Art History:  2014 Bruce F. and Ildiko B. Meyer Memorial Lecture at Ball State University Libraries

The Friends of A.M. Bracken Library together with the Honors College and the Zeigler Committee for Jewish Studies is sponsoring the Bruce F. and Ildiko B. Meyer Memorial Lecture—Celebrating Marriage in Jewish Art: Medieval and Early Modern Perspectives.  Sharon Liberman Mintz, Curator of Graphics at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and Senior Consultant of Judaica at Sotheby’s, will present this illustrated talk on Monday, March 3 at 7:30 pm in Bracken Library room 104.

The celebration of Jewish marriage in the medieval period is visually recorded in a selection of Hebrew manuscripts that document the customs of European Jewry.  Complementing the medieval perspective, in the Early Modern era, the practice of decorated and illustrated ketubbot (Jewish marriage contracts—shown above) provides a wealth of information concerning the artistic creativity, cultural interactions, and social history of the Jewish communities in which they were created.

Researchers of Jewish history will find extensive cartographic resources available from the Ball State University Libraries’ Atlas Collection and the GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) on the second floor of Bracken Library.  The GRMC includes hundreds of maps of Israel, Jerusalem, and the Holy Land.  The Atlas Collection includes several books covering Jewish history—The Illustrated Atlas of Jewish Civilization, Atlas of Medieval Jewish History (map above--click to enlarge), Atlas of Jewish History, Atlas of Modern Jewish History, The Penguin Atlas of Diasporas, and The Routledge Atlas of Jewish History published in 2010.

The presentation is free and open to the public.  Free parking is available after 7:00 pm in the Emens Parking Garage.  For more information please contact John Straw, Assistant Dean for Digital Initiativesand Special Collections, at 765-285-5078 or Dr. Frank Felsenstein at 765-285-8405.

University of Athens Professor to Speak at Ball State University

Geography of Art:  Ancient Art Expert to Visit Ball State University

Internationally noted iconographer, Dr. George Kordis, Assistant Professor in Iconography Theory and Practice at the National and Kapodistrian in the School of Theology at the University of Athens, will present a lecture on ancient art at the Ball State University Student Center Ballroom.  Icons and Iconography: An Ancient Art Form in the Modern World will be Monday, March 3 at 7:30 pm. 

Dr. Kordis will discuss the technique of icon painting and the study of iconography.  Kordis and his team are visiting Indiana to add to the iconography programs of St. George Antiochan Orthodox Church in Fishers and Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Carmel.

The Byzantine Empire map and image above (click to enlarge) are from the atlas, Great Empires: An Illustrated Atlas, published by National Geographic and available from the Ball State University Libraries’ Atlas Collection in Bracken Library.  The Atlas Collection also includes other cartographic resources about art, including Atlas of World Art published in 2004, Atlas of Western Art History by John Steer, and Atlas of the Early Christian World.

The event is free and open to the public.  The Ball State University Orthodox Christian Fellowship is sponsoring the event.  For more information, please contact Zachery Hayden, student leader or Dr. Martha Payne, advisor.

For more information about the Atlas Collection, please contact the GIS Research and Map Collection at 765-285-1097.

Mapping the Sochi Winter Olympic Games

Maps in the News:  Mapping the Sochi Winter Olympics Medals

ESRI, leading supplier of Geographic Information System (GIS) software and geodatabase management, has created a Winter Olympics Live Medal Tracker map page.  “See the latest live medal county by country and find out who’s leading in the overall count, as well as the counts for each medal.  Click a medal to see how many each country has won.”

Ball State University Libraries provides access to ESRI GIS software on computers on every level of Bracken Library and the Architecture Library and Science-Health Science Library.  The GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) on the second floor of Bracken Library offers access to the leading GIS software and online GIS tutorials, datasets, online mapping applications, in-house GIS data, and one-on-one assistance from the GIS Specialist.

The GRMC is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 5:00 pm.  For more information, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097.  

Ball State University Libraries Black History Month Maps

Black History Month Maps:  The Tuskegee Airmen

The Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site was dedicated this weekend near Tuskegee, Alabama.  The site includes a restored Hangar 2 at Moton Field that will serve as a museum featuring artifacts and oral histories of the Tuskegee Airmen.  The Skyway Club, where the airmen relaxed, will include furnishings from the 1940’s. 

The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African American military pilots, serving in World War II.  The map above (click to enlarge) shows locations of the over 1,000 missions flown by the airmen during the war.  The map is from the Atlas of African American History by James Client and is available from the Atlas Collection on the second floor of Bracken Library.  The Atlas of African American History and Politics: from the Slave Trade to Modern Times by Arwin Smallwood is also available for research and learning.

For more information about these cartographic resources, please contact the Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection at 765-285-1097.

Black History Month Celebrations at Ball State University Libraries

Black History Month Presentation and Map:  Trials, Triumphs, and Trailblazers: Historic Women in African American History

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) on the second floor of Bracken Library is celebrating Black History Month with a special public presentation in Muncie.  Also a custom map about African American history is displayed in the GRMC windows as a commemorative exhibit.

The Geography of Black History is a special Black History Month program created by the GRMC.  The program will be held in the Auditorium of the Cornerstone Center for the Arts in downtown Muncie at 520 East Main Street on February 12 from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.  Free parking is available, and the presentation is open to the public.  Registration is not required, but anyone interested in attending can call the Cornerstone Center at 281-9503. The program will present maps depicting major events and figures in Black history, including custom maps featuring great figures in Indiana history.

The GRMC is also presenting a map exhibit featuring a custom map of historic women in African American history (above, click to enlarge).  The map, Trials, Triumphs, and Trailblazers: Historic Women in African American History, shows well-known women from Harriet Tubman to Condoleezza Rice, but also some lesser known women from history.  Descriptions of the women’s accomplishments are listed on the map.  This map includes photographs from the University Libraries’ Digital Media Repository’s The Other Side of Middletown collection.  The map is available for use in research and education from the Cardinal Scholar institutional repository. 

Other custom maps from the GRMC celebrating great events and people in African American history can also be accessed from Cardinal Scholar.  Maps showing the Negro League Baseball teams, a map about the life of Madam C.J. Walker, a map of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and previous Black History Month exhibit posters with maps from atlases are all available from this online resource.  Users can search "Black History Month" in the search box of Cardinal Scholar to review all of the available maps and posters.

For more information about the Black History Month program or any of the maps in the GRMC, please call 765-285-1097.  For more information about the Digital Media Repository collections, please contact the Archives and Special Collections at 765-285-5078.