Ball State University Libraries Holiday Hours

Map showing how late the average person stays awake on New Year’s Eve

Happy New Year:  Holiday Hours for the GIS Research and Map Collection

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) will close at 3:00 pm today, December 31 and remain closed on New Year’s Day.  The GRMC will return to its regular hours of 8:00 am to 5:00 pm on Friday, January 2.

Hours for the other departments of University Libraries are found here.

Maps in the News: Indonesia and the Java Sea

National Geographic map of Indonesia (GIS Research and Map Collection)

Indonesian government agency, Bakosurtanal, map showing monthly rainfall and rainy days 

(GIS Research and Map Collection)

Mapping the News: ESRI GIS Story Map of AirAsia Flight 8501

ESRI, the leading GIS software developer, has created an interactive story map depicting the details of AirAsia Flight 8501.  The flight disappeared somewhere over the Java Sea on December 28 on a flight from Surabaya, Indonesia to Singapore.

Users can scroll through pages providing information about the flight.  The first map shows the planned flight path and the location where air traffic controllers lost contact with the flight, near the Billiton Islands (above, click to enlarge National Geographic map).  The second page includes information about the aircraft and number of passengers and crew.

A radar map shows the type of clouds that were in the area during the flight.  (December is monsoon season in the area—see map above).  And a chart depicts altitude and speed changes.  A third map shows the search area of the Java Sea.  The sites of information centers at other regional airports are also depicted, and the page includes the number for the Emergency Call Center.

For more information about using GIS story maps, visit the ESRI Web page or the Storytelling with Maps gallery. 

The Ball State University Libraries’ provides access to the latest ESRI GIS software on computers in the Architecture Library, Bracken Library’s lower level, and first floor.  The GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) on the second floor of Bracken Library includes a GIS lab with 28 high-end computers featuring GIS and other software.  The lab is available for class sessions, and the GIS Specialist is available for instruction and research assistance.

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

Holiday Hours at the Ball State University Libraries

Holiday Hours in the GIS Research and Map Collection

The Ball State University Libraries GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) on the second floor of Bracken Library will be open regular hours—Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 5:00 pm—on December 22 and 23.  The GRMC will close at 3:00 pm on Wednesday, December 24 and will be closed on December 25 and 26.

The GRMC will reopen with regular hours on Monday, December 29 and 30, and close at 3:00 on December 31.  It will be closed on January 1 and reopen with regular hours on Friday, January 2.

Bracken Library holiday hours are posted here.

Maps in the News

National Geographic map showing North Korea's nuclear capability

National Geographic satellite map showing dark North Korea compared to South Korea and Japan

U.S. Geological Survey LandSat image map of Peshawar, Pakistan

Central Intelligence Agency map of Pakistan

Historical Atlas of the United States map showing the beginning of the Cuban Missile Crisis

GRMC Map of incidents of the Cold War

Central Havana

1911 U.S. War Department map of Cuba

Maps in the News:  North Korea, Cuba, and Pakistan Maps Available from Ball State University Libraries

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) includes thousands of maps and atlases of locations in the news.  These maps (click to enlarge maps) of North Korea, Pakistan, and Cuba may be used for numerous projects for research and learning.

The LandSat map of Pakistan is part of a set of satellite maps of the country that detail the rugged terrain.  The map of Cold War incidents created by the GRMC is available from the Ball State University Cardinal Scholar repository.  The 1911 map of Cuba is available from the Digital Media Repository.

For more information about any of the maps in the Collection, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097.

Australia Maps Available from Ball State University

Maps in the News:  Australia Maps Available from Ball State University Libraries

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) on the second floor of Bracken Library has hundreds of maps of Australia available for research and learning.  Most of the maps of Australia, however, have not yet been cataloged and will not appear in the CardCat system.  Researchers can visit or contact the GRMC for more information about the cartographic resources available for Australia.

City maps for Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, and Melbourne and dozens of other urban locations are available in the GRMC.  The Sydney Pictorial Map and City Guide (above, click to enlarge) includes a map showing the locations of prominent points of interest and drawings of each of the building’s architecture.  Notes about who designed the structure and how it was built are also included on the map.

The collection also includes road maps of Australia, economic maps of the country, and topographic maps.  A set of 2002 topographic maps of New South Wales includes the topography on one side with aerial photography on the verso (above).

The National Geographic map of Australia (above) includes a satellite image with vegetation and a temperature gradient depicted.  Inset maps show how the continent of Australia has shifted over time.

All maps from the GRMC circulate for two weeks or longer and may be used for travel, research projects, and exhibits.  For more information about these maps, please contact the GRMC Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 5:00 at 765-285-1097.

World Map Projection Collection Available from Ball State University Libraries

New Map Collection Available from the Ball State University Libraries’ Repository

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) includes a collection of nearly 140,000 maps and other cartographic resources.  Now the GRMC is making more maps from the collection available online via the Libraries’ Digital Media Repository. 

The newest DMR collection, World Map Projections, features a set of maps from the Central Intelligence Agency depicting maps of the world created in a unique format—a map projection.  The collection provides online access to 22 azimuthal equidistant projection maps of the world dating from 1942 to 1990.  This map projection creates maps where the center point is represented by different world cities—Kinshasa, Frankfurt, Panama City, Cairo, Moscow.  Using this projection, all points on the map are drawn at proportionately correct distances from that center point.

This collection offers users unique world views and provides a valuable research tool for students of geography.  Users can access the maps anywhere with available Web access and can save the maps to their computer.

The DMR provides access to several map collections:  Muncie and Delaware County Historic Maps and Atlases, United States Transportation Maps, Ball State University Campus Maps, American Cities Historic Maps, Indiana Natural Resources Maps, International Historic Maps, Maps of the World (CIA current maps), Delaware County Indiana Aerial Plat Maps, Indiana Historic County Atlases, United States Soil Maps, and United States Topographic Maps, and the New York Times World War I Maps.

For more information about using the DMR, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097 or the Archives and Special Collections at 765-285-5078.

Social Studies K-12 Lessons Available from Ball State University Libraries

Future Teachers Learning to Use Maps in the Classroom

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) uses its collection of 140,000 maps and 3,000 atlases to create custom, engaging educational lessons and other resources for K-12 teachers and students.  The GRMC presents sessions to elementary and secondary education classes instructing future teachers how to incorporate maps and other cartographic resources into K-12 lessons, games, and classroom independent learning geography activity stations.

The students in Social Science 397 taught by Dr. Dorshell Stewart, Assistant Professor in the Department of History, presented their final projects on December 9 and 12.  The students presented geography lessons that they created for use in their student-teaching classrooms.

Students in this methodology class were able to work with the staff of the GRMC to create custom maps to be used as part of a geography independent learning activity.  These learning stations incorporate a self-guided lesson for students to use during their free time/reading time in the classroom.

Some of the methods students created map puzzles (above, click to enlarge), lessons about the parts of and how to read a map, games teaching how to use a map, and learning U.S. capitals.  One student drew a map board featuring Disney characters for an elementary-level lesson on cardinal directions (above).

Custom maps, lesson plans, games, and other cartographic resources created by the GRMC are saved in the Ball State University Libraries’ CardinalScholar institutional repository.  Teachers from around the world with Web availability can access the maps and lessons for use in their classrooms.

For more information about using maps and cartographic resources in the classroom, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097.

Indiana History Maps Available from Ball State University Libraries

Mapping the Hoosier State:  Indiana History Maps Available from Ball State University Libraries

Today marks the 198^th anniversary of Indiana’s admission to the Union on December 11, 1816.  The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) is creating custom maps about Indiana’s rich history.  The maps are geared toward the fourth-grade Indiana history curriculum and feature numerous people and places often neglected in the elementary social studies textbook. 

Indiana’s political history is depicted on the map Whigs, Willkie, and the White House: Indiana Political History (above, click to enlarge).  This map features prominent figures in the state’s rich political history, including the five U.S. Vice-presidents from Indiana.  The map also includes lesser-known politicians like Eugene Debs from Terre Haute, who in 1920 became the only person to run for President while in prison and George Dale, a Muncie mayor who became an early proponent of civil rights.

The Mapping the Crossroads: Indiana Automobile History map (above) describes some of the people and car companies that called Indiana home.  In its history, more than 50 communities in Indiana produced over 200 makes of cars, including Studebaker, Auburn, and Westcott.  The Cole Motor Car Company in Indianapolis, for example, produced the first automobile for a U.S. President, William Taft in 1910.  And Elwood Haynes built the first successful spark-ignition automobile in Kokomo in 1893.

Indiana’s history in the field of sports is also significant and is described on the map, Horsepower to Hysteria: Indiana Sports History.  Indiana’s love of the game of basketball is depicted with hometown heroes like Larry Byrd of French Lick and John Wooden of Martinsville.  But the state is also the home of David Boudia of Noblesville, an Olympic gold medal diver; Marshall “Major” Taylor of Indianapolis, the first Black world champion in any sport—bicycling; and Dan Patch of Oxford—a world record-breaking harness racehorse in the early 1900’s.

Other maps in the series include a map of Indiana’s music history, a map showing movies that take place in Indiana, a map of prominent authors from the state, a map of Indiana high school boys basketball state champions (before class basketball), and a map of Indiana points of interest.

The maps include photographs from the Libraries’ Digital Media Repository and from the Indiana Historical Society.  The Indiana history maps are all available in the Libraries’ Cardinal Scholar repository.  The maps may be printed and used in the elementary classroom or for research and learning projects.

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

Adventure Maps Available from Ball State University

Take a Trip with Adventure Travel Maps from Ball State University Libraries

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) has received a donation of four new Adventure Travel Maps published by National Geographic.  The National Geographic Adventure Travel Map series features folded waterproof, tear-resistant maps.  Each map highlights an area’s terrain showing detailed topography and includes an index identifying thousands of cities and towns.  As the name implies, these maps are ideal resources for travelers due to their durability and information.

National parks are shown and forest cover is identified with shading.  The maps also include road networks with distances marked along the routes and color designations for major highways or expressways, secondary roads, cable car routes, tracks, and paths.  Important travel aids like airports, gas stations, lighthouses, ferry routes, and rail lines are also identified.  And local police, ambulance, and fire telephone numbers are included on some of the maps.

The maps also list hundreds of unique points of interest in the area.  Windmills, zoos, archaeological sites, caves, museums, castles, and golf courses are all featured using different symbols on the maps.  The maps also identify the locations of monasteries, churches, and other sacred sites.  UNESCO World Heritage sites are also shown.

The newest Adventure Travel Maps in the GRMC on the second floor of Bracken Library are maps of the Czech Republic, Vietnam South and Vietnam North, and Florence, Italy.  The map of Florence includes inset maps of the region and of the city’s Old Town (Centro Storico) section.  A map of Amerigo Vespucci Airport is also included.

The GRMC also includes Adventure Travel Maps of the Four Corners region of the United States, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington, D.C, Berlin and Munich, Germany, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Cape Town, South Africa, and Venice, Italy.

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