CNN
New York Times
Patagonia REI
Ventura County Fire Department
Places
in the News: Bears Ears and Ventura
The
Ball State University Libraries GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) provides
access to thousands of cartographic resources from the Collection that may be
used for research and learning projects.
Staff of the GRMC also locate and provide access to online cartographic
resources that may be used as visual aids for papers and presentations related
to current events and social topics, and online maps are produced by a large variety
of sources.
News
sites such as The New York Times (above,
click to enlarge), Washington Post, Vox, CNN,
and Slate create useful maps that
depict current issues. And online
mapping sites like ESRI and Metrocosm offer
unique visual depictions of news events.
However, sometimes the research of cartographic resources leads to new
sources—like outdoor sports clothing and gear designer Patagonia.
When
President Trump announced the elimination of some of the protected land at the Bears
Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, Patagonia REI protested
the cuts on their Web page. The company
published maps (above) to show the size of the monuments before and after the
cuts. And the Web page includes
statistics related to oil and gas development on public lands.
Governmental
social media accounts can also be a valuable resources for the latest maps
related to natural disasters and other emergencies. Local governments often employ the use of
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for tracking and planning emergency
response. For example, the Ventura
County Fire Department posts updated maps related to the Thomas Fire on December
5, 2017.
Other
government agencies like the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) also
publish useful maps on their Web pages and social media accounts. These current events maps are downloaded and
archived by the GRMC for use in classroom research and learning.
For
more information about using cartographic resources, please contact the GRMC at
765-285-1097.
