Introduction to Maps

The Accidental Map Librarian Workshop

Beth Filar Williams Colorado Library Consortium Kathryn Lage University of Colorado at Boulder Map Library

OUTLINE:

•Overview of Maps •Location and Place •Projection and Coordinates •Reading Maps •What Do Maps Show •Searching for Maps •Using Maps in Libraries

Maps for Location & Place

•

Location

= Where things are. Fundamental. •

Place

= Physical and human characteristics. Why is the place there?

http://interactive2.usgs.gov/learningweb/teachers/mapsshow_lesson1.htm

Overview of Maps

• Base or reference maps & thematic maps – Road maps, topographic maps, census maps, CIA maps, soil maps, geologic maps, planetary maps – Nautical charts, tide and current maps, bathymetric maps – Salt Lake City examples • Map formats: sheet maps, atlases, globes, digital/online maps, map software

Different Types of Maps

• • • • • • Topographic map/ aerial photograph Geologic map CIA map Nautical chart Interstate Highway Future World

Different Types of Maps (cont.)

• There can be many different maps of the same place. • Not all information about a place can be put on one piece of paper. • For maps to communicate, they focus on showing a limited number of things.

•

How to Lie with Maps,

by Mark Monmonier

Projection and Coordinates

Projection

• From round to flat • All projections introduce some distortion • USGS projection poster: http://erg.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/MapProjections/projections.ht

ml

Grid Systems/Coordinates:

• Latitude & Longitude • Can use to identify the

absolute location

of any point on the Earth's surface

Reading Maps

• Components of a Map: – Title – Direction – Scale – Legend – Features http://geodepot.statcan.ca/Diss/Reference/Tutorial/RM_tut2_e.cfm

Direction

• Mapmakers usually orient their maps to show

north at the top.

• Exceptions – http://www.wall maps.com/World/UpsideDownWorldMap.htm

– http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/

North Arrow from a Sanborn Fire Insurance Map

Scale

• How distance on the map relates to distance on the ground.

• Representative fraction (1:63,360), bar scale, or verbal scale •

Large

scale (more detail, less land area) •

Small

scale (less detail, more land area) http://geodepot.statcan.ca/Diss/Reference/Tutorial/RM_tut5_e.cfm

Legend

The legend is the key to unlocking the secrets of the map.

USGS topo map legend: http://mac.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/booklets/symbols/landsurface.html

Sample Key from a Sanborn Fire Insurance Map

Features

• Things displayed on the map: towns, mountains, rivers, etc.

• Which features depends on map’s purpose.

What Do Maps Show?

•

Road Map:

shows how to travel from one place to another; physical boundaries (mountains, rivers); political features (States, counties); populated places (cities, towns, villages). •

Shaded Relief Map:

highlights physical features of a place; portrays relative elevations . •

Topographic Map:

shows the elevation of the land at all points (absolute elevation)

Searching for Maps

• Narrowest geographic area → broader geographic area • Who might create this map or collect this data?

• Library catalog (or WorldCat)

Online Resources for Searching for Maps

• • Odden’s Bookmarks http://oddens.geog.uu.nl/index.php

Google Image Search • CU-Boulder Map Library’s links http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/map/li nks/links.htm

• Colorado School of Mines Map Room links http://www.mines.edu/library/map room/finding_maps_on_web.html

Using Maps in Libraries

Examples: • Cell phone tower locations in another country • Urban development • Planning hikes • City preservation (Sanborn maps!) • Determine if should have landmark status or to restore (Sanborns!) • Genealogy: family farm, trace migration route • Plan a vacation • Native mapping—such as for political reasons to claim land and/or resources • Find the location of a place in the news • From Ball State University Libraries, examples of map use: http://www.bsu.edu/library/article/0,,16249- ,00.htm

• From BSU, maps used by professors and students: http://www.bsu.edu/library/article/0,,16249--,00.htm

Additional Resources

• Larsgaard, Mary Lynette. 1998.

Map librarianship an introduction

. Englewood, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited. • Monmonier, Mark S. 1991.

How to lie with maps

. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. • Wood, Denis, and John Fels. 1992.

The power of maps

. Mappings. New York: Guilford Press. • CU-Boulder Map Library links: http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/map/links/ref erence.htm#skills • More resources on the Accidental Map Librarian Workshops wiki .