Ball State University 2014 Football Opponents Map

Gridiron Geography:  Ball State University Football Opponents Map

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) created a map showing the locations of the schools the university’s football team will play during the 2014 season.  The first football game is at home in Scheumann Stadium at 2:00 tomorrow versus Colgate University from Hamilton, New York.  The Cardinals will travel west to the University of Iowa next week and east to the University of Massachusetts in November.

A copy of the map is available from the University Libraries’ Cardinal Scholar.

GIS Research and Map Collection Closed for Labor Day

Census Atlas of the United States

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) will be closed on Monday, September 1 for Labor Day.  The GRMC will reopen on Tuesday, September 2 at 8:00 a.m.

Women's Suffrage Maps Available from Ball State University Libraries

Mapping Women’s Suffrage:  Maps from Ball State University Libraries Show History of Voting Rights

On August 18, 1920, the 19^th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, guaranteeing women the right to vote.  Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton drafted and introduced the amendment in 1878.  Congress finally proposed the amendment in June 1919 and submitted it to the states for ratification, finally passing with the vote of Tennessee.

Maps from the GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) show some of the history related to women’s suffrage.  The top map (click to enlarge) shows where women were allowed to vote before the 19^th Amendment.  As territories in the West were included in the nation, many allowed women the right to vote.  Women were allowed to vote in primaries in Texas and Arkansas.  Women were allowed to vote in presidential elections in many of the Midwestern states and Tennessee and Maine.

The second map shows exactly how Congressmen in the House of Representatives voted either for or against the amendment.  Large areas of the South (along with New York City, Philadelphia, and Detroit) voted against the 19^th Amendment.  The map is from the atlas Mapping America’s Past by Henry Holt available from the GRMC.  The atlas was published in 1996 and includes maps about major historical events.

For more information about these maps and atlases, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097 from 8:00 to 5:00 Monday through Friday.

Mental Health Maps Available from Ball State University Libraries

Maps Depicting World Suicide Rates Available from Ball State University Libraries

The Ball State University Libraries’ Atlas Collection on the second floor of Bracken Library offers more than 3,000 volumes for research and learning.  The most common type of atlas is a road or street atlas, and the collection includes many covering cities, states, and countries from around the world. 

However, many of the atlases are thematic and cover a multitude of current issues:  Atlas of Health, Atlas of Tobacco, Atlas of Religion, World Atlas of Great Apes and Their Conservation, and even Global Surfari: The Complete Atlas for the Serious Surfer are available in the collection.

The State of the World Atlas by Dan Smith was published in 2012 and includes maps describing ethnicity, education, environmental issues, war and military, and health and quality of life.  Several copies of this atlas are available in the Atlas Collection or on reserve from the GIS Research and Map Collection.  The maps from the atlas can be easily scanned and used for class papers and presentations or other research.

The atlas features information about mental health and suicide rates based on the latest data from the World Health Organization.  According to the atlas “about 800,000 people take their own lives each year, and this is the third-leading cause of death among young people.”  Mental illness is a neglected issue in care, research, and prevention around the world, and “worldwide about 450 million people suffer mental and behavioral disorders.”

The map above (click to enlarge) shows the suicide rates of women and men around the world based on 2009 data (note that some countries have no data on this issue).  The map shows high rates in Russia, Eastern Europe, and Asia for men and East Asia and some Eastern European countries for women.  Included on the map is the statistic that “someone commits suicide every 40 seconds” somewhere in the world. 

The second map, “Mental-health resources” shows the median number of psychiatric beds in general hospitals per one million people based on 2011 data from the World Health Organization.  Europe has the highest number by far while the rest of the world offers from five to thirteen.  And the map includes the statistics that “half the world’s population has access to only one psychiatrist per 200,000 people.”

For more information about using atlases for research and learning and maps as visual aids, please contact the GIS Research and Map Collection at 765-285-1097.

Watergate 40th Anniversary

Watergate Maps from Ball State University Libraries

Saturday, August 9 marks the 40^th anniversary of the resignation of President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal.  The Watergate complex of buildings at the center of the scandal is now listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places and is located in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C.

The maps above (click to enlarge) from the Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) show the buildings located on the Potomac River just across from Theodore Roosevelt Island.  The top map is A U.S. Geological Survey topographic map of Washington, D.C. published in 1980.  The Watergate buildings are colored purple and black, and the neighboring Kennedy Center is shown in purple hatches.  The purple color denotes structures that were built since the previous topographic map was published in 1965.  (The purple hatches indicate that the Kennedy Center was under construction when surveyed).

The second map was published by Esso in 1969 and shows only the Watergate Hotel.  The pictorial maps of Washington were published in 1992 and 1996.  The next map was published by National Geographic in 2000 and shows one of the ownership changes of the Watergate Hotel and the addition of new memorials near the Reflecting Pool.  And the aerial map of Washington was published in 2010.

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

Mapping the Ebola Virus

Maps in the News:  Tracking the Ebola Virus

The Ebola virus outbreak in Africa is believed to be the worst in history according to the World Health Organization, and doctors from the Center for Disease Control believe it could take months to stop the epidemic.  The World Health Organization believes that the virus has infected 1,323 people, starting in Guinea and spreading to Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria.  Both agencies have published maps showing the location of the deadly virus.

The World Health Organization features a gallery of maps related to the Ebola outbreak on its Web page.  The top map (above, click to enlarge) shows the locations of reported Ebola outbreaks in humans and animals as of 2009.  The maps also include countries that have had cases of Ebola in humans and animals through 2014 and a map of laboratories involved in researching a vaccine for the disease, including the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Center for DiseaseControl (CDC) published the second map above of the African countries affected by the latest outbreak as of July 20.  The map shows areas of confirmed and suspected cases and Ebola treatment centers and laboratories.  The CDC Web page also includes news updates and statistics of cases and deaths from the disease.

The Aljazeera News Agency published a map (above) created by ESRI and National Geographic using GIS mapping technology to show the location of confirmed and suspected cases.  And CNN published a map showing the number of weekly international flights from countries hit by Ebola (above) as fears grow about the transmission of the disease.

For more information about these maps, please contact the GIS Research and Map Collection in Bracken Library at 765-285-1097.