Online Guide of News Maps

Online Cartographic Resources for What’s in the News

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) provides cartographic resources for research and learning.  This Blog serves to provide users with useful maps from the Collection or other online news resources.  The GRMC created this online guide for finding useful maps that depict news events.  These sites can be a valuable resource for journalism or English students searching for maps to use as visual aids.

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

March on Washington Anniversary Commemorative Map from Ball State University Libraries

The Life of Dr. King on a Map

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) has created a map identifying important locations in the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  The map serves to commemorate the anniversary of the March on Washington on Sunday, August 28.

The map (above, click to enlarge) is based on the book MLK: Journey of a King by Tonya Bolden.  Locations mentioned in the book are depicted on the map.  A timeline of events is featured below the map.

The map is available for research and learning from the GRMC or in digital format from the Libraries’ Cardinal Scholar repository.

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

National Park Service Celebrates 100 Years

Happy Birthday! National Park Service Centennial Celebration

Today marks the official celebration for the 100^th birthday of the National Park Service.  ESRI, the world’s leading publisher of GIS mapping software, has created a Story Map to mark the occasion.

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) consolidates one-on-one research assistance from the GIS Specialist with the GIS Research Area, which offers access to ESRI GIS software, online tutorials, datasets, online mapping applications, and in-house GIS data.  GIS software is also available on computers throughout Bracken Library, the Architecture Library, and in the Science-Health Science Library.

The GRMC also includes hundreds of historic and modern maps of individual parks in the National Park Service.  The Collection includes a map of the Grand Canyon National Park published in 1927, a map of Acadia National Park from 1931, and a guide map of Yosemite National Park published in 1931.  A unique map of Yellowstone National Park available in the GRMC was published by the U.S. Department of Interior in 1941.

For more information, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097 Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 5:00 p.m.

Earthquake Maps Available from Ball State University Libraries

Earthquake and Seismic Activity Maps Available from Ball State University

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) has a collection of maps depicting historic seismic activity around the world available from the Libraries’ Digital Media Repository (DMR).  The Earthquake and Seismic Hazard Maps Collection include world, United States, and regional maps of historic seismic hazards and activity.  The Collection features maps produced by U.S. government agencies showing earthquakes, active volcanoes, fault line locations, and plate tectonics in the U.S. and around the world.

The map above (click to enlarge), This Dynamic Planet: World Map of Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Impact Craters, and Plate Tectonics, was published by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1994.  The second image is zoomed in to the area of the Amitrice in central Italy, site of a 6.2 magnitude earthquake this week.  

The map shows numerous incidents of seismic activity in Italy.  Italy has a long history of earthquakes and volcanoes.  In 1908, more than 82,000 people were killed in a 7.2 magnitude earthquake on Sicily.  And over 32,000 people were killed in a 7.0 earthquake near Avezzano in central Italy in 1915.

The GRMC has also created a social studies lesson to coordinate with maps in the DMR Collection available on the main DMR Collection page or from Cardinal Scholar.  The lesson may be used by teachers as an enhancement exercise for teaching about earthquakes, volcanoes, and plate tectonics.

Maps from the DMR may be downloaded for use in research and learning.  To order an archival file or to inquire about permissions for use, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097 or the Archives and Special Collections at 765-285-5078.

Original maps from the Collection are available for circulation from the GRMC on the second floor of Bracken Library.  Maps from the GRMC may be borrowed for two weeks or longer.

Louisiana Floods Atlas

Mapping the Baton Rouge Flooding

From The New York Times

Geographers at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge have created a preliminary atlas of the flooding across the state.  The geographers used hand-drawn maps, 911 reports, radar data, historic flood maps, and GIS software to produce the maps.

Maps in the News from Ball State University Libraries

Maps in the News:  Syria, Sharks, and a Superfund Site

The Institute for the Study of War has released an updated map of Isis of the Middle East.  The circled blue areas depict changes.  The Isis areas in Syria and Iraq are shrinking, but fighting near Raqqa and Mosul has intensified and Aleppo remains bleak.

Scientists working with OCEARCH, a nonprofit shark research organization, tagged a young shark pup named “Montauk” off the coast of Montauk, New York last week.  The OCEARCH Global Shark Tracker allows users to track the shark pup and others in real-time.

1921 Sanborn Fire Insurance map of the Anaconda Lead Products Company,

East Chicago, Indiana

Ball State University Libraries

(click to enlarge)

The residents of a housing complex in East Chicago, Indiana will be forced to move due to lead contamination from demolished processing plants located on the site starting around 1920.  The Environmental Protection Agency provides a map of the site.

Mapping Women's Suffrage Around the World

Before American Women Voted….

The 19^th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified on this day in 1920.  The amendment granted American women the right to vote.  But where was women’s suffrage practiced before 1920?  This map (click to enlarge) identifies the countries where women were given the right to vote before American women, with New Zealand being the first.

For more information about using maps and other cartographic resources for research and learning, please contact the Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) at 765-285-1097.

Forest Service Provides Information about Wildfires

Online Map Tracking Fires

The United States Forest Service offers an online map depicting current wildfires burning in the Pacific Northwest and West regions of the United States.  Users can click on the map to see more information about the fires.  The map also includes traffic information and warnings and advisories from the National Weather Service.

Online Map Tracks Olympic Medals Count

Mapping Olympic Gold

The 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro wind up this week.  The Closing Ceremony begins at 7:00 on Sunday, August 21.  Which countries have won the most medals?  There’s a map for that.

ESRI, the world’s leading publisher of GIS mapping software, has created a Story Map that shows how many medals have been won by each country.  Users can choose to view which countries have won gold medals, silver medals, and bronze medals.  A map showing the total medals won by each country is also available.  A graphic at the bottom of the page lists the countries and displays their flag.

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) consolidates one-on-one research assistance from the GIS Specialist with the GIS Research Area, which offers access to ESRI GIS software, online tutorials, datasets, online mapping applications, and in-house GIS data.  GIS software is also available on computers throughout Bracken Library, the Architecture Library, and in the Science-Health Science Library.

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

Elvis Presley Maps from Ball State University Libraries

Cartography of the King:  Elvis Presley in Maps

On this day in 1977, Elvis Presley died in his Memphis home.  The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) on the second floor of Bracken Library has a special map of Memphis available for research and learning.

Memphis Map for Elvis Fans was published by Good Foot Enterprises in 2013.  The pictorial map includes 137 tourist sites in the city of Memphis, with an emphasis on those places related to the life of Elvis Presley.

The Atlas Collection also on the second floor of Bracken Library also includes a unique cartographic resource for fans of the “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.”  The Elvis Atlas: A Journey through Elvis Presley’s America by Michael Gray was published in 2011 by Chartwell Books.  The atlas includes maps of Elvis’ childhood, his time in the Army and the movies, the comeback years, and Las Vegas.

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.

Olympic Games Maps from Ball State University Libraries

Faster, Higher, Stronger…Gone Wrong: Mapping Olympic Scandals

The 2016 Summer Olympic Games open in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, today.  Along with the excitement and anticipation of competition and sport, the news is also focusing on poor water quality, unsafe housing for athletes, doping controversies, and the Zika virus. 

ESRI, the world’s leading producer of GIS software, has created a Story Map of the top Olympic scandals of all time.  Adolph Hitler’s 1936 Berlin Olympics, the 1980 and 1984 Russian and American boycotts,  and the 1968 Mexico City podium protests are well known, but this “top 21” includes scandals beginning in 776 B.C.  And one scandal at the Olympics in St. Louis involved the winner of the marathon actually riding in a car for most of the race.

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) provides access to ESRI GIS software and online tutorials, datasets, online mapping applications, and in-house GIS data.  The GIS Specialist is also available for one-on-one research assistance.  And GIS software is available throughout Bracken Library, the Architecture Library, and in the Science-Health Science Library.

The GRMC has also created a special exhibit honoring the Olympics.  The front windows of the GRMC on the second floor of Bracken Library include maps of Brazil, a map showing the hometowns of Indiana Olympians in Rio, and a map about Jesse Owens and his outstanding performance at the 1936 Summer Olympics.  And teachers can incorporate the Olympics into a geography lesson created by the GRMC requiring students to map the Games sites and consider why only three cities in the Southern Hemisphere have hosted.

For more information about using GIS software or incorporating maps in the classroom, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097.