2008 Woodie Awards
Using maps to enhance research
Cathy Hodge-Bodart
Issue date: 2/7/08 Section: Life!
Maps, globes and other cartographic materials are compelling objects. It is difficult to stroll past a map-any map-without stopping to look at it. From the ubiquitous road atlases we use to find our way around today, to the rare and lovely maps of earlier centuries, maps hold a special capacity to capture the attention and imagination of human beings.
What is the allure of maps? Is it symptomatic of mankind's need to know where we have been and where we are going? Is it that a map from a decade or a century ago can provide a snapshot of a place in time, allowing us to visualize the way things used to be in our grandparents' day?
Maybe it is because maps can illuminate a page of dense descriptive text and give us clear insight into how and why the world around us is changing? Or perhaps it is simply that maps can serve as metaphors for other journeys in our lives.
The first thing to remember is that maps can be used in literally every subject under the sun. Think beyond the familiar maps of transportation systems, political divisions and geography, and consider how people use maps every day to do their jobs.
Doctors, veterinarians and biologists use mapping to show the origin and spread of disease in human, animal and plant populations. Geologists consult and create maps to measure how much glaciers have shrunk over the past hundred years or how volcanic islands have grown. Insurance companies use maps to analyze risk patterns. Linguists map the way accents and languages spread and influence one another, and where particular slang terms predominate. Corporations wishing to build new plants trace the U.S.
The beauty of the digital age is that anyone with access to a computer can locate maps online. Tax payer funded institutions are excellent free sources of maps and even satellite imagery. The U.S. Geological Survey is in the process of digitizing its entire collection. The Library of Congress has an extensive collection of historical maps available online. Many large academic and public libraries and museums with important map collections have digitization projects highlighting rare and noteworthy cartographic items. The American Geographical Society Library at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries (http://www.uwm.edu/Libraries/AGSL) is just one example of a collection that has an extensive Global Information Systems (GIS) component in addition to its historical maps. Muhlenberg's own Trexler Library houses the Ray R. Brennan Map Collection that focuses on the growth and development of the Lehigh Valley area.
What is the allure of maps? Is it symptomatic of mankind's need to know where we have been and where we are going? Is it that a map from a decade or a century ago can provide a snapshot of a place in time, allowing us to visualize the way things used to be in our grandparents' day?
Maybe it is because maps can illuminate a page of dense descriptive text and give us clear insight into how and why the world around us is changing? Or perhaps it is simply that maps can serve as metaphors for other journeys in our lives.
The first thing to remember is that maps can be used in literally every subject under the sun. Think beyond the familiar maps of transportation systems, political divisions and geography, and consider how people use maps every day to do their jobs.
Doctors, veterinarians and biologists use mapping to show the origin and spread of disease in human, animal and plant populations. Geologists consult and create maps to measure how much glaciers have shrunk over the past hundred years or how volcanic islands have grown. Insurance companies use maps to analyze risk patterns. Linguists map the way accents and languages spread and influence one another, and where particular slang terms predominate. Corporations wishing to build new plants trace the U.S.
The beauty of the digital age is that anyone with access to a computer can locate maps online. Tax payer funded institutions are excellent free sources of maps and even satellite imagery. The U.S. Geological Survey is in the process of digitizing its entire collection. The Library of Congress has an extensive collection of historical maps available online. Many large academic and public libraries and museums with important map collections have digitization projects highlighting rare and noteworthy cartographic items. The American Geographical Society Library at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries (http://www.uwm.edu/Libraries/AGSL) is just one example of a collection that has an extensive Global Information Systems (GIS) component in addition to its historical maps. Muhlenberg's own Trexler Library houses the Ray R. Brennan Map Collection that focuses on the growth and development of the Lehigh Valley area.