Research Blog : maps

1888 Bird's Eye View of Evansville

just_renny@evpl — Tue, 22 May 2012 17:18:00 GMT

To help celebrate the Bicentennial of Evansville and Historic Preservation Month, EVPL has enlarged an 1888 Bird's Eye View map of Evansville! The map is 10 feet by 15 feet, so you can see a lot of detail. It is located at Central on the 2nd Floor just outside the Indiana Room. Be sure to sign the guest book and share what you like about Evansville! Dennis Au, Historic Preservation Officer for the City of Evansville will be leading a "walking" tour of the map pointing out key features while giving some history of Evansville in 1888. His tour starts at 6:30 on May 31st.

The panoramic map was a popular cartographic form used to depict U.S. cities and towns during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Known also as bird's-eye views, they are nonphotographic representations of cities portrayed as if viewed from above at an oblique angle. Although not generally drawn to scale, they show street patterns, individual buildings, and major landscape features in perspective. Preparation of panoramic maps involved a vast amount of painstakingly detailed labor. For each project a frame or projection was developed, showing in perspective the pattern of streets. An artist then walked in the street, sketching buildings, trees, and other features to present a complete and accurate landscape as though seen from an elevation of 2,000 to 3,000 feet.

Check out the Library of Congress American Memory Map Collection for other types of maps and another Bird's Eye Views of Evansville.

We also have several other programs planned as part of the Bicentennial and Historic Preservation Month. Be sure to mark you calendars for Do You Know Your Local History on June 5th at 6:30 in the Browning Room B and come by and check out Home Movies of the Great Flood of 1937, narrated by Dr. Robert Reid on June 7th at 6:30 in Browning Room B.

Let's get Evansville on the (Google) map!

professor.knowsitall@evpl — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:31:00 GMT

Evansville is one of 6 international finalists in Google's 2012 "Model Your Town Competition."

Evansville native Randall Crane created a 3D model of Evansville's downtown using Google SketchUp and Google Earth. Google selected Randall's model as one of 6 finalists from a pool of 200+ entries submitted worldwide.

It's now a popularity contest, with the public being able to vote for their favorite. The winner will receive a $25,000 prize for local schools from Google, Inc. The deadline for voting is May 1st, so let's get those votes in!

How to Vote

Go to http://www.google.com/intl/en/sketchup/competitions/modelyourtown/vote.html.
Select Evansville.
Scroll down to the bottom of the page & click the "Vote for this town" button.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

More Info

Google Earth: Tour the model yourself! Requires the Google Earth program.
Evansville one of six finalists in Google's 3D Initiative: Evansville Courier & Press article.

Explore Issues of Global Importance with New Database

Bufkinite@evpl — Sat, 16 May 2009 16:56:00 GMT

Need up-to-the-minute information on child labor? Want to have an idea about current world opinion regarding the US military's use of torture? Are you concerned about nuclear weapons in failed states falling into the hands of international terrorist organizations? Are you confused by the proliferation of different and conflicting information about global climate change and sea-level rise?

Information on all of these issues and much more is available through a new database called Global Issues in Context. Available through the EVPL database page, this resource offers global news and perspectives on issues and events of international importance, like the ones outlined above, and provides background information on them, placing them in the proper sociopolitical, religious, and cultural context.

Searching Global Issues in Context can take place in a variety of ways, starting with simple keyword searching in a single search box. There is also a clickable world map, where choosing a particular country then links to issue portals where that country is mentioned.

Global Issues in Context has a great deal of multimedia components, including extensive audio and video clips from such places as NPR, PBS, CBC, and NBC news; interactive maps, and links to world newspapers.

TEACHERS AND EDUCATORS: Global Issues in Context's conten is aligned to state and national social studies and science standards and is up to date. Thus it can be used across the curriculum. It also encourages and develops critical-thinking skills by providing students a variety of pertinent global perspectives on the issues.

Check out this resource; it will broaden and deepen your understanding of current events and issues affecting countries and people around the world.

New Database Brings the World to your Desktop

Bufkinite@evpl — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 22:26:00 GMT

A new database called Global Road Warrior brings you comprehensive information on 175 countries around the world. And when I say "comprehensive" that is exactly what I mean. There is information in over 100 specific areas for each country listed.

There is basic information like geography (including flags and maps for each country), govenment, and climate; information about the society and culture, like standard greetings and courtesies, food peculiar to the area (including recipes), holidays, religions, and sports; information about how business is conducted, with special attention given to women in business; information about the currency used there, including a currency converter; and infrastructure information including electricity, telephones, Internet connectivity and ISPs, telegram, fax, and postal services.

In addition, there is a "security briefing" for every country taken directly from the CIA's World Factbook, health and medical information, and contact information - addresses, email, and telephone numbers - for all foreign embassies and consulates within each country.

Below left is a screen shot of the home page for Mongolia. The menu on the left is standard for each country, and includes the information outlined above and much more. Below right is a close-up of the standard menu, with an example of the sub-menu choices for "Society and Culture," to give you an idea of the richness of this resource.

Teachers will especially enjoy global road warrior! The maps listed for each country include a simple outline map as well as an outline map that includes outlines of states & provinces. There is also a list of "essential terms" for each country: how to say "hello," "goodbye," "yes," "no," and the other essential words and phrases you'll need to get around.

The search interface is very easy to use, and allows you to search within a particular country, or search for a particular term across all countries. Try it today and see what you think about EVPL's newest database offering.

Find an address by clicking a map

googler@evpl — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 14:37:00 GMT

This resource allows you to enter a city name or zip code, then on the subsequent map, get the mailing address of any point on that map.

The number of ways that various websites use Google maps is really incredible. There are blogs devoted to sharing various applications and "mash-ups," such as Google Maps Mania. Also, if you want to see if anybody has created a particular way of using maps, you can always Google the words "Google maps" and then your topic, like real estate, celebrities, or dog parks. The search doesn't need quotation marks or any other special technique.

Indiana Memory

lotech@evpl — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 19:42:00 GMT

Many books, manuscripts, photographs, newspapers, and maps have and are being digitized to make them viewable online on the relatively new website, Indiana Memory, http://www.in.gov/memories. You can search by broad topic or by keyword. The Indiana State Library coordinates this project, but the items are from library collections all over the state. This is Indiana's version of the on-going project of the Library of Congress, American Memory, http://memory.loc.gov.

Keeping a weather eye

myzticrhythmz@evpl — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 23:33:00 GMT

If, like me, you're keeping an eye on the coastal hurricane activity these days, you'll be interested in a Web site called Stormpulse. You'll find a huge amount of hurricane information there, from as far back as 1851. Great maps, satellite images, Yahoo! News articles, and present weather conditions are all there. Check it out: http://www.stormpulse.com/