Halloween Eve Map

Map of October 30

Joshua Katz from the North Carolina State University Department of Statistics created this map (click to enlarge) showing what Americans call October 30—the night before Halloween.  The night is most popularly celebrated in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York as “Mischief Night.”  In Michigan, Halloween Eve is called “Devil’s Night.”  But most Americans “have no word for this” night.

World Time Zone Maps Available from Ball State University Libraries

What’s the Time in Moscow, Tokyo, Nairobi?

The Ball State University Libraries’ Digital Media Repository (DMR) provides online access to a broad range of digitized primary source materials, including artwork, architectural drawings, films and video, oral histories, photographs, publications, and cartographic resources.  The GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) has provided more maps for a new collection available from the DMR—the World Standard Time Zone Maps Collection.

This collection provides online access to world time zone maps dating back to 1944.  All nations use standard time zones based on degrees of longitude for commercial purposes, although individual countries do use half-hour and quarter-hour deviations.  The maps depict the changes in time zones over the ages.  For example, China currently uses a single time zone in spite of its large geographic size.  Prior to 1949, China used five time zones (above, from 1944 map).

For more information about the Digital Media Repository, please contact the Archives and Special Collections at 765-285-5078.  For more information about these or other historic maps, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097.

Map of the Favorite Halloween Candy for Each State

Trick or Treat Geography

Halloween is coming this weekend, and store shelves are filled with fun-size bags of candy.  But which candy is the most popular?  Influenster is a product review site that surveyed 40,000 people across the country to determine which candy is the most popular for each state.  The map (above, click to enlarge) reveals the winners.

Candy corn was the top treat in five states, with no other candy winning that many states in the survey.  Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups was the most popular candy with the most votes overall, but only claimed the top pick in Connecticut and Rhode Island.

Back to the Future Part Two in 3D Map

Back to the Future Map in 3D

In “Back to the Future II” (released in 1989) the Michael J. Fox character Marty McFly time-travels to October 21, 2015.  The movie and the events and inventions that it predicted have been in the news.  And now users can view the movie setting in a 3D map using ArcGIS Online.

The map was developed using the ESRI ArcGIS software, which is available on computers at Ball State University Libraries.  For more information about using GIS software, please contact the GIS Research and Map Collection in Bracken Library at 765-285-1097.

Muncie History Maps Class at the Cornerstone Center for the Arts

Community Maps Class:  From Magic City to Middletown:  The Geography of Muncie History

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) is celebrating the Sesquicentennial Anniversary of the City of Muncie with a public presentation.  From Magic City to Middletown:  The Geography of Muncie History is a special program featuring maps from the GRMC and historic photographs of Muncie from the Libraries’ Digital Media Repository.  The program will be from 6:00 to 7:00 pm on Wednesday, October 21 at the Cornerstone Center for the Arts (Forum Room, second floor) at 520 East Main Street.  (Free parking is available).

The program will include maps showing the evolution of the city of Muncie from a Native American village to a major industrial center of the Gas Boom.  Historic aerial photography, Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, Ball State University campus maps, and maps depicting various socioeconomic issues will be included.  Historic photographs will reveal some of the lost architecture and other features in Muncie.

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

GIS Mapping of New York City

Before Times Square and Rockefeller Center:  Interactive GIS Mapping of New York City

The Welikia Project (formerly the Mannahatta Project) is an interactive mapping project by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) to reconstruct and map how the island of Manhattan looked in 1609 when Henry Hudson discovered the island.  The project details how development has altered the natural ecosystems of Manhattan, including showing where water flowed and species of trees.

By cross-referencing data from soil samples, historical maps, and field studies and using GIS mapping, scientists/cartographers from the WCS created an interactive map of the heart of New York City.  Users can zoom in on any block or input a specific address to see what was happening at that location in 1609. 

The map uses data and layers from Oasis NYC (Open Accessible Space Information System) to show wildlife, landscapes, and modern day aerial photography.  Users can see how the Lenape Native Americans used the specific block—for example, in the modern location of Central Park for fishing and hunting.  A list of wildlife and plants living at the site is populated.  Topographic elements like elevation, bedrock geology, and hydrology are detailed.

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) on the second floor of Bracken Library offers access to ESRI GIS software and online GIS tutorials, datasets, online mapping applications, in-house GIS data, and one-on-one assistance from the GIS Specialist.  The GIS Research Area is equipped with 28 high-end Lenovo ThinkCentre N58 computers, and faculty may reserve the area for instructional or working lab sessions. 

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

Using Maps as Visual Aids in the Classroom

Picture This:  Using Maps as Visual Aids in the Classroom

Using visual aids and graphics is one of the essential ingredients for developing an effective paper or presentation.  Visual aids and graphics illustrate and emphasize your ideas more effectively than words alone.  They also add credibility and clarity to point of discussion.  Unique visual aids like maps can create excitement and interest and add impact to your message.

Maps are an excellent visual aid because they are a basic visual representation of geography and a unique method for conveying a great deal of information.  Maps can easily display information about an issue in a succinct way.

Atlases are also excellent resources because many include charts and other graphics in addition to maps that can add visual impact to papers and presentations.  Atlases usually offer a smaller size than maps, which allows for convenient scanning.

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) on the second floor of Bracken Library includes thousands of maps and atlases that may related to a relevant research project.  The Atlas Collection includes over 3,000 volumes with maps depicting a variety of social topics and current issues.

For example, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Domestic Violence Awareness Month.  Students writing research papers about these two topics could use maps and charts available from just one atlas in the GRMC and Atlas Collection, The Penguin State of the World Atlas by Dan Smith published in 2012.

The map above from the atlas shows countries with incidences of breast cancer greater than 50 per 100,000 women and includes statistics about the disease.  The chart from the same atlas shows the percentage of physically abused women in selected countries who never reported domestic abuse.  The atlas includes other topics ranging from women’s issues, war, religion, education, and economic development.

For more information about using maps in research and learning, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097.

Baseball Maps Available from Ball State University Libraries

Mapping America’s Pastime:  Baseball 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 includes over 140,000 maps of various destinations and topics.  The Major League Baseball playoffs begin this week, and the GRMC offers baseball fans a glimpse at some baseball-related maps in the Collection. 

The GRMC includes a travel map locating all of the Major League Baseball stadiums.  The Atlas of Sport available in the Atlas Collection features maps on the “American game,” including the map shown above (click to enlarge) depicting the number of high-school boys playing baseball in school leagues, with Iowa leading the nation.

The GRMC also created custom maps related to the history of baseball.  Black Diamonds: Negro League Baseball Teams, 1920-1949, (above) was created in association with the documentary Black Baseball in Indiana, a film created as a Ball State University immersive learning project.  The map shows the location of the Negro League teams in the United States.  Photographs featured on the map are from the book Playing America’s Game by Michael L. Cooper.  The map is available in the Libraries’ Cardinal Scholar digital repository or via interlibrary loan.

Another map, The Girls of Summer: All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Teams, 1943-1954, (above) commemorates the women who played professionally beginning during World War II.  The map features photographs from A Whole New Ballgame: The Story of All-American Girls Professional Baseball League by Sue Macy available from the Educational Technology and Resources Collections.  This map is also available in Cardinal Scholar.

Users can also find maps of historic stadiums in the collection of U.S. Geological Survey topographic maps and Sanborn Fire Insurance maps in the GRMC.  The map above shows the iconic Fenway Park in Boston on a Sanborn Fire Insurance map from 1975.

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