Nsaa – Hand-woven Basket; Click for meaning

Maps Online: Digitized and Electronic Map Resources
Below are examples of the types of maps that can be found online through searches and by looking through map collections around the World. Also, some good starting points and "best" collections are included. This page is to provide access and also to stimulate creativity by showing interesting ways that maps show concepts and data. Red dots image below are key sites, or notable sites.

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Starting Points Best E-Collections Map Collections Thematic and Other Maps Stuff Ideas
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Starting Points

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Best Digital Collections

  • imagePerry-Castañeda Library (Univ. of Texas). Large collection of online maps and resources. Start on this contents page.
    • Current Interest Maps. When some place is in the news, this page provides maps related to the story.
    • Historical Maps. Digitized historical maps, and links to world-wide historical map collections.
  • imageNational Map of the United States. Provides public access to high-quality geospatial data and information from multiple partners..
  • National Geographic Maps. National Geographic map and atlas site. View or purchase maps of places worldwide. Includes: Country Profiles, Conservation Maps, Atlas updates, and more.
  • World Factbook (Central Intelligence Agency). Annual World Fact Book. Information and maps for independent states, dependencies, areas of special sovereignty, uninhabitable regions, and oceans. Includes maps, statistical data, alerts, and other current data..

Digital Collections of Maps of Buffalo and WNY

These websites include: maps, aerial and satellite imagery, GIS, and a variety of other cartographic materials

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Map Collections (Selection)

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Geography/Mapping Stuff You Can Use

Thematic and Other Maps (Selection)

Demographic Maps

Informal Demographic Studies (from Social Media, etc.)

Environmental Issues

The Pacific Gyres. The oceans filter a lot of waste material, however, many modern products cannot be broken down or absorbed. Materials such as plastics are not destroyed, but instead follow currents until they reach the various places where the currents circle, causing the materials to pile up. This is an environmental problem of massive proportions. The Pacific is featured here, but the Atlantic Ocean also has these regions.

  • Trash vortex (Greenpeace International). Organization site describing the situation and what is needed to combat the piling garbage.
  • Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Public organization that is raising awareness of the floating dump.
  • Pacific Gyre is a website where science observes and studies this growing situation. Buoys drift with the currents, measuring and following garbage through its cycle.

Search the web for Pacific Gyres, or view several short articles:

News Maps

Smell Maps

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Historical Maps

  • imageDavid Rumsey Collection. Large worldwide collection of mostly pre-20th century political maps.
  • Broer Map Library. Over 600 (and growing) collection of historical maps (1875+). The collection is searchable and zoomable and offers high-res image files upon request.
  • Mapping History Project (Univ. of Oreg.) Historical and cultural maps of North America, Europe, with images.
  • Chinese View of the World. The Jingban tianwen quantu was produced in the 1780s or early 90s by a Chinese scholar named Ma Junliang, who received the prestigious jinshi civil service examination degree in 1761. He was well-known for his skill as a mapmaker.
  • Historical Maps Online (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Libraries). Electronic images of maps charting 400 years of historical development in Illinois and the Old Northwest Territory (Midwest). Provides a broad spectrum of content, from expert scholarship of mapmakers and mapmaking to general knowledge about cartography and history.
  • Irish Historical Mapping Archive (Ordnance Survey. Ireland). Maps drawn between 1829-1913.
  • Japanese Maps of the Tokugawa Era (University of British Columbia Library). UBC Library's Rare Books and Special Collections holds one of the world's largest collections of maps and guidebooks of the Japanese Edo period, also called the Tokugawa period, 1603-1867. The core of the collection was formed after World War II by George H. Beans. Over 300 maps from the collection have been digitized and are searchable and
    viewable online. The digitization process allows the user to see a whole map as well as offering detailed views of larger or smaller portions of the maps..
  • Maps of the Medieval World
  • Maps of the Islamic Middle East
  • National Maritime Museum (Greenwich, Eng.). Contains maps, charts, and cartographic items, many featured on e-exhibit and other pages.
  • U.S. Counties. Shows the evolution of counties in each state (example: New York).
  • Population Change in New York. (Currently down. Manav Menon). Showing population changes, by decade, from 1900 on. Map visualizations using different techniques.
  • The 1748 Map of Rome, by Giambattista Nolli is widely regarded by scholars as one of the most important historical documents of the city ever created. This project is a collaborative exploration of the exquisite Nolli engraving, through its historic significance and contemporary application.
  • War & Cartography (PBS).

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History & Civilization Resources That Include Maps

This section contains links to maps on history. Some are historical maps (rare, contemporary) while others were created to show specific historical events or periods.

The following are an example showing one specific theme: Colonial Africa in maps. Map collections on different subjects/geographical regions can be located by searching online.

Other Regions (Selection)

Mediterranean Region

General Ancient World and Other

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Environment, Transportation, Travel, Geological, Science Maps

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Radius map imageRadius Maps

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Commercial Mapping Sites

  • LandVoyage allows for creation of a basic map, or professional quality exhibits, brochures, & general vicinity maps. It will find any land in the USA in under three minutes or search by location, county, zip, section or latitude or longitude. It views satellite, air photo, USGS topos & BLM maps. It can draw a boundary with a mouse or by legal description, measure acres, distances or get latitude longitude coordinates. It enables you to print, download & e-mail low cost maps. For full use of this database there is a $29.00 monthly fee.
  • DeLorme. Producer of maps in print and electronic (with GPS-compatibility). Features: TopoUSA maps (CD/DVD editions); Street Atlas USA. Both run on PC and allow for customized maps and measurements that you can develop for yourself.
  • Mapquest. Easy-to-read and print maps, directions and destination information to millions of online, voice and wireless users. Easy to take along on the road, MapQuest maps and driving directions can be printed, downloaded to a PDA, emailed or faxed. Useful for travel information, (restaurants, ATM's, entertainment and attractions). Aerial photos show a bird's eye view of surrounding areas.
  • Maps.com. Geographix Maps.com claims to be “your one stop shop for maps.” Site attracts over 2,000,000 unique users per month and consistently ranks among the most visited travel websites.
  • Omni Resources. Locate and purchase maps from a major source.
  • TopoZone (now part of Trails.com). Interactive topo map of the entire United States. They also are a source for custom digital topographic data sets for Web, GIS, and CAD applications. They have every USGS 1:100,000, 1:63,360, 1:25,000 and 1:24,000 scale topographic map for the entire United States. Place name search to locate areas.
  • Trails.com
    Contains maps, a trail finder, guidebooks, topo maps for the United States and other countries. Can search by location and activity (hiking, biking skiing…) For full access to information there is a subscription fee of $2.50 per month.
  • See also: Where Can I Buy Maps?

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Places for Ideas

 

  • FlightRadar24. Track aircraft World-wide; with details.
  • Vessel Finder. Track vessels in real-time.
  • Buzztracker. See the daily news on a map. World map shows news hotspots using density by location/city. Great visualization tool, and you can read the top stories from major news sources world-wide.
  • Clickable Maps of Countries
  • Butterflies and Moths of North America. An example of maps used for organized sets of data, images, or statistical sets.
  • Fall Foliage Map (Boston Globe). Beautiful animated, interactive map showing New England's hotspots for color. The map shows the advance of color changes through the season.
  • imageGlobe 4-D. Unique concept products showing maps in the usual 3 dimensions, but also adding the 4th dimension: Time. See the World as it changes through epochs.
  • imageNuclear Blast Maps of the City of Your Choice. A Google "hack" that allows you to plot the effects of a nuclear blast. choose a city or choose coordinates (-78.79, 43.00000), then size of the weapon. You will see a radius blast zone map, with data on blast ring densities. (From Map Room blog).
  • Nuclear Blast Maps of the City of Your Choice [my title]. If you want to know how they calculate the blast effects visit: Nuclear Bomb Effects Computer.
  • UIUC Map and Geography Library. Collection of geographic links from the UIUC Map and Geography Library. Includes: encyclopedias and Almanacs, aerial photographs, gazetteers, maps, Interactive maps, map libraries, map dealers, organizations etc.

For Research and Writing

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Isopleth: a line drawn on a map through all points of equal value of some measurable quantity. In many meteorologic, oceanographic, or geologic studies some physical or chemical property is examined that varies from place to place on a map. Isopleths showing the quantity of the property being studied can be drawn on the map to highlight regional trends of high or low abundance of that property. For example, topographic maps showing contours of equal elevation are probably the most common type of isopleth maps. Relief "highs" (hills) are shown by concentric contour isopleths, and depressions such as volcanic craters are shown by concentric contours with hachures pointing toward the center of the depression.

Isopleths are drawn on weather maps to indicate lines of equal air pressure (isobars) and equal temperature (isotherms). Isobaths are lines connecting points of equal depth in lakes and oceans. Isopach maps show distribution of thickness of a given rock unit. Gravity maps are drawn showing isogals (lines of equal gravitational acceleration). Variations in the strength of the earth's magnetic field are shown by isogams (after gamma, the common unit for measuring magnetic strength).--The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition 2006.

 

Nsaa – Hand-woven Basket

Nsaa (Adinkra (Sub-Saharan African language) = Hand-woven Basket
Symbol of Excellence, Genuineness, and Authenticity.
“This symbol extols excellence and eschews satisfaction with mediocrity.”

Adinkra design adapted from West African Wisdom: Adinkra Symbols and Meanings (a wonderful site to visit).

 

David J. Bertuca, Map Librarian, University at Buffalo Libraries, NY

Last Modified: 20 March 2017
URL: http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~dbertuca/maps/e-maps-examples.html

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