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Revised: 10/22/12

ASSIGNED in class Wednesday October 24

DUE Friday November 16 at 9:00 am

Introduction: Exercise 4 will learn youns about the diversity of maps and map-related information available on the WWW.

• Information about evaluating and citing digital maps found or created on the WWW can be found at Geography 222 Library Resources.

• Information about pulling all your work together into one digital file can be found in the Digital Submissions Guide

Procedure:

Start a WWW browser and navigate to this exercise. You will need to save digital copies of maps and include them (together in one file, with your typed up answers) as part of this exercise. See the Digital Submissions Guide for help with this process, or ask your instructor for help.

Maps on the WWW are available in many different forms: you can locate or order "real" paper maps (as in Exercise 2), or find digital copies of maps, or make maps "on-demand,"' view "live" maps that are updated constantly, and download and use free mapping software.

TIP on citing web maps with very long urls: Some of the URLs for WWW maps are extremely long, as they contain a bunch of information specifying the map you have requested. A useful way to create a shorter link to such sites entails using a 'link shortening' utility such as those found at TinyURL. Create a shorter link with one of these two sites, and use that URL rather than the long url in your citation of the map.

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WARNING: Many WWW map sites depend on sophisticated WWW technology that can be slow or even break down. Expect delays and sites that are temporarily not working. You may also be using a computer or internet browser that is not compatible with a particular mapping WWW site. Be patient! If a site is not working well, revisit it at a different time or on a different computer. Given such potential problems, you should not attempt to do this exercise at the last minute. Contact the instructor at least a week before the due date if you are having persistent problems. Contact the instructor if you want assistance in completing this exercise!

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1. Map Images: Static Digital Maps on the WWW (10 pts):

In essence the same as paper maps, but in digital file formats such as .gif, .jpg, etc. A file format is a specific way of organizing data in a computer file. Such maps are scanned from printed maps or generated by some kind of mapping software and saved as a image file.

Search for, and save two map images of your home. International students: these maps can be of your non-US home. Try to find the largest scale maps possible - showing more detail and less area - and something interesting (not the first boring map that pops up in your search). It is just fine (maybe better!) to find older or historical maps of your home. Some sites to search:

• Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps were made from 1867 to 1970 in the US: they provide very detailed (large scale) maps of many urban areas in the US and are useful for historical purposes. If you are lucky enough to have your home in Ohio, try to find the area around your home on an old Sanborn Map (which you can access and view on the WWW). You must be authenticated through the OWU libraries computer system to access these maps. Please ask a librarian or your instructor if you don't know how to do this.

• The U.S. Library of Congress American Memory Project has many historical maps and related images from places in the United States. Search by place name or geographic location or subject.

• The University of Colorado Department of Geography provides links to significant map image collections. Worldwide coverages.

• The David Rumsey Map Collection is one of the largest archives of digital historical maps. The collection focuses on the Americas, but does contain a significant number of historical maps from around the world. The site has several options for viewing the maps, at least one which requires downloading some software (ok if you are using your own computer or working in the GIS lab, but don't use this option on any other public campus computer).

• Harvard Map Collection. Worldwide coverage.

• AGS Map Collection. Worldwide coverage.

• British Library links to online collections. Worldwide coverage.

• Many static digital maps on the WWW can be found by using an image search engine. Such searches locate images, rather than text. Both Google and Yahoo offer image searches. Go to either site, click on Images then type in your town and state (or county, or province, or whatever). You may include 'map' if you get too many entries. Try different search words - you should be able to find some decent digital static maps of your home, wherever it is.

  Please avoid submitting a map from Google Maps, Yahoo!, Map Quest, Expedia, MSN Maps, etc. These are more or less all the same anymore, based on data from NAVTEQ, with some relatively minor design differences.

• What's Due: Type 1 page describing your two maps, why you chose them, and cite them correctly (see Geography 222 Library Resources Page). Include the two maps in the document.

2. WWW Map Generators (10 pts):

Map Generators reside on a computer server - a computer that allows you to run programs stored on it via the internet. Through a web browser and web site, you request a custom map (in essence, a map image). Among the earliest and most popular of such mapping and GIS tools are those that can locate an address or plot directions between several locations.

You have all used Google Maps, Yahoo!, Map Quest, Expedia, MSN Maps, etc. They are more or less all the same given they use data from NAVTEQ. The real growth area is sites that map out additional data on top of the maps provided by such general web mapping sites. Such combined map sources are typically called mashups, and we will do more with them in a future exercise.

For now, take a look at one rather interesting mashuppy site that generates walkability scores for any US address you enter: Walk Score.

Go to the Walk Score site and type in your home address: international students, try your real home address and see if it works (if not, use your US address). Also type in the address of Ohio Wesleyan (61 South Sandusky Street, Delaware, OH, 43015) or (if you are using campus as your home address) your instructor's home address (231 Crestview Road, Columbus, OH, 43202).

Grab the map from your home address and campus, and include in the exercise. Look up and write a half-page or so on what they mean by "walkability." Write up another half pages or so discussing and comparing the walkability of both places, and comment on how well the site represents the walkability of your home address.

• What's Due: Type 1 page comparing the two walkability maps. Include the two maps in your document.

3. WWW-based GIS (20 pts):

The DALIS Project is Delaware County's very own award winning source of detailed county level geographic data and maps and the software to view and analyze the data. The DALIS site is an example of a "real" online GIS with GIS analysis functions (something the map generators, reviewed in the previous section, lack).

• Click on Dalis Web IMS (half down the list of links on the left), then click General and an honest-to-goodness GIS application should open up in a new window. This is about as fancy as it gets when it comes to on-line GIS.

• Click on the Thematic maps button (on the lower left) and some pop-up menus will appear. Under Parcel select Land Use. Grab the magnifier tool from the menu, and drag a box over the city of Delaware. Click a few more times to zoom in until you see the different land uses of individual property parcels. You can move around the map by selecting the hand tool. Move around until you have the OWU campus and surrounding areas on the map. Click on the legend tool (a L in a circle) to see the legend for the map.

• For more information about a particular parcel, select the identify tool (an i in a circle).

• Under Parcel select Appraised Value then Year Built then Living Area. Look at the legend for each.

• What's Due: Type 1/2 page: Save two of the four maps that you find to be the most interesting. Cite the map properly, and write 1/2 page on how you might use this information.

Return to the main Dalis Interactive Map Server page and select General again. Lets spy on a Delaware County property owner.

• On the upper right side of the page under Search click on By Name. A window should pop up. Type in the last name of a county property owner. Try OWU faculty and staff you know - or anyone else who owns property in Delaware County. The Search Results window (upper right) will show you if you found a property owner in the county. Click Zoom To to zoom to the property. Use the identify tool to get details about the property. Save the resulting map.

• Generate a buffer around the property you located: click on Buffer in the upper right part of the page. Enter a distance to buffer - say 100 or 500 feet. Submit. Save the resulting map.

• Click the Appraisal Info button to see more property details. The options are along the left side of the page. Click on Image and Payments and a few other options. Save one page of information about the property owner you find.

• What's Due: Type 1/2 page: Include your two maps + one page of property details in this exercise. Please cite all this information correctly. Discuss, in 1/2 page, how you might use this information, and why the Buffer feature might be useful.

Non-Delaware County residents in the US: You may want to search the WWW and find out if your home county has a GIS site similar to Delaware's DALIS site. Usually such sites are associated with the county tax assessor. Find your home county's official WWW page (this should not be a commercial site, but the official county web page), and look for a property information link. If you find one, search for information about a property owner (your parents? friends? relatives?).

FINALLY: Read up on the legal issues surrounding public access to property information reviewed by Deb Peoples on the Geography 222 Library Resources Page under the heading Public Records. Please ponder the consequences of making the kind of very specific property data available on the WWW. Discuss potential good and bad consequences of such data being so easily available. Remember, the law requires certain specific information to be made public. Just saying "I don't think it is a good idea" is not enough: explain why is it not a good idea (or why is it a good idea?).

• What's Due: Type 1 page: of your intelligent (eg., non-paranoid, non-hysterical) thoughts about public access to property information on the web.

4. WWW Real-time Maps and Images (5 pts):

Real time maps and images differ from map generators and browsers in that they consist of continuously updated images or maps usually focused on a particular topic or site. These are, in essence, "live maps."

• Real-time maps of world earthquakes are provided by the U.S. Geologic Survey and Seismic Monitor. Explore both sites and save at least one screen shot.

• Real time maps of International Alerts - select from the list of map options on the left side of the page (worldwide or regional scale maps). Save a screen shot of at least one map.

• Real time traffic conditions:
  • Go to Google Maps and search for your home town (US or international). On the right side of the screen, select Traffic. Traffic should be available for most US and international locations.
  • If traffic conditions are not available: choose a different location.
  • If your home is a more rural area, move to a nearby city where there is more traffic.
  • Save a screen shot of the traffic conditions you find.

• What's Due: Type 1 page: Look at Geeknizer's explanation of How Google Maps Traffic Works. Consider the issues near the end of the article, on privacy ("geoprivacy") and explain your perspective on participating (or not) in the collection of traffic data (if you don't have a phone with location services, pretend you do - because you will one day).

5. Free Mapping & GIS Software (5 pts):

Because of the functional limitations of web-based mapping and expense of desktop GIS applications such as ArcGIS, several vendors are providing free downloadable GIS software, with links to data on the internet. Google Earth was among the first of these free mapping applications, most of which are considered to be Virtual Globes.

• Google Earth: is installed on computers in the GIS lab for your enjoyment, or you can download it onto your own computer (here). Don't download it on other public OWU computers without asking someone in charge of the lab.

• Type in your home address to zoom to your home.

• Click the pushpin icon ("Add Placemark"): a window will pop up and your located home will flash. Add a descriptive title, including your name, in the name box, such as The childhood home of Murph Gurfman. Hit OK to save the placemark.

• Right mouse click on your newly created placemark and select Save as... and save the file (in KMZ or KML format) somewhere where you can find it. If you don't have a right mouse button, from the File menu select Save as... and then Save place as... to save the KMZ or KML file. Email the file to your instructor, who is eagerly awaiting its arrival: jbkrygier@owu.edu. He will import all the placemarks into Google Earth for a fabulous tour of homes in an upcoming lecture. (to import a KMZ/KML file in Google Earth just select Open from the File menu.)

• For general information on Virtual Globes, and other free virtual globes, see the Wikipedia entry on Virtual Globes.

• What's Due: Email me your home KMZ file

6. Purchaseable Mapping and GIS software

• You can purchase GIS software, from low-function upgrades to Google Earth for $20 to ArcGIS, which can cost thousands of dollars for high functioning software.

• One (of many) lists of GIS software is maintained by the University of Florida on their GIS Software and Resources page.

• What's Due: Nothing for this part: just FYI.

Exercise 4: Sum:

Please format your exercise so that it reflects the different sections above. Include headers (eg., "1. Map Images: Static Digital Maps on the WWW:") before each set of maps and answers. Turn in the 5 or so pages of typed answers to the questions, and include all requested maps at appropriate locations (and appropriate size) in the document.

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