ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


910 /  C&RL News ■ October 2001

IN T E R N E T  R E S O U R C E S

Maps and mapping resources
A guide to select resources on the Web

by Brenda G. Mathenia

T he n um ber of Internet-based m aps and 
m ap p in g  reso u rces is increasing a n d  

becom ing easier to use. However, the diffi­
culty with m ap sites is in locating them  in the 
vast exp an se of cyberspace. Searching for 
“m ap s” in a search engine will get you every­
thing from comm ercial vendors selling you 
road m aps a n d  globes to major com panies 
providing extensive GIS services to m ap li­
braries to digital images of maps.

Due to the proliferation of data a n d  .com 
sites geared tow ard more advanced users, and 
in an attem pt to m ake Internet m aps m ore 
accessible to the average person, I have com ­
piled a select list of Web resources for easily 
accessing maps.

Included in this selection are collections 
of scanned and constructed images of maps, 
as w ell as a variety of w hat I call interactive 
maps. These interactive m apping sites vary 
in their complexity, but all require som e level 
of input from  the user. Most of the sites allow 
you to print the m aps a n d  som e allow you to 
dow nload them. I have found that m any of 
the m aps can be saved by right clicking your 
m ouse button and saving to a file. Be aware 
that m any m aps are constructed of individual 
images that may require you to save the map, 
title, legend, or other ancillary information 
associated w ith the m ap as individual files. 
Enjoy!

V irtu a l m a p  c o lle c tio n s
Virtual m ap collections are W eb sites that pro­
vide access to a variety of m aps that have 
b e e n  digitized and placed on the W eb for 
view ing and, in som e cases, dow nloading. 
These sites vary in their com plexity as well 
as in the types of m aps and inform ation p ro­
vided.

• P er ry -C a sta ñ e d a  L ibrary M ap C o lle c ­
tio n . A large, well-organized site, created and 
m aintained by the University of Texas at Aus­
tin, that provides electronic access to approxi­
mately 4,000 m aps for all regions of the world. 
Maps cover mostly the 19th a n d  20th centu­
ries though som e represent time periods as 
far back as 980 C.E. The m aps are copyright 
free a n d  are organized by region a n d  special 
interest areas. Inform ation on view ing and 
printing m aps is provided through a FAQ on 
the site. Access: http://w w w .lib .u tex as.ed u / 
m aps/.

•  T h e  D a v id  R u m s e y  C o lle c t io n . An 
ever-growing collection of primarily 18th- and 
19th-century North and South American car­
tographic materials with approxim ately 5,000 
m aps currently in place. High-quality digital 
images show casing a variety of maps, atlases, 
globes, and other cartographic items m ake 
this an excellent point for research and ex­
ploration. Images are easily view ed through 
your brow ser or m ore advanced users can

A bout h the a u th o r

B re n d a  G. M a th e n ia  is re fe re n c e  lib r a r ia n /lib r a r y  in s tru c tio n  c o o r d in a to r  a t  M o n ta n a  S ta te  U n ive rsity, e -m a il: 
m athenia@ m ontana.edu

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/
mailto:mathenia@montana.edu


C&RL News ■ October 2001 / 911

download special software available on the Web 
site. Access: http://www.davidmmsey.com.

• T h e  L ibrary o f  C o n g r e ss  A m e r ic a n  
M e m o r y  M ap C o lle c t io n s . Provides access 
to digital representations of m aps found in 
the G e o g ra p h y  a n d  M aps D ivision of the 
Library of C ongress a n d  covering th e years 
1 5 0 0 -1 9 9 9 . S e a rc h  u s in g  k e y w o r d s  o r 
b ro w se  th e  subject, title, creator, a n d  g e o ­
g rap h ic  in d ex e s to find m ap s th a t are fo ­
cused on Americana and cartographic treasures 
found in the Library of Congress. Access: 
h ttp : //m e m o r y . lo c . g o v /a m m e m /g m d h tm l/ 
gmdhome.html.

• T h e  CIA W orld  F a c tb o o k . The online 
version of a classic resource. Here you will 
find quality geographic information on coun­
tries and high-quality maps of regions and in­
dividual countries of the world. Map images 
are available in JPEG or PDF format. Access: 
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook.

• G o o d e ’s W o r ld  A tla s . T he o n lin e , 
though limited, version of the classic atlas. 
Select a specific them e to m ap (w orld refu­
gees, energy production, precious metals, etc.) 
or print a m ap of a U.S. state. Individual maps 
of non-U.S. locations are not available. Maps 
are available as PDF files and provide high- 
q u a li ty  p r i n t  r e s u lts . A c c ess: h t t p : / /  
www. goodesatlas .com /dow nloadm aps. htm .

• U n ite d  N a tio n s C artograp h ic S ectio n . 
Provides access to m ore than 100 non-U.S. 
m aps organized by region and country. Maps 
o p e n  as PDF files, so printing is easy. You 
will also find peacekeeping m aps and a se­
lect num ber of them atic m aps at this site. 
Access: h t tp ://w w w .u n .o r g /D e p ts /C a r to -  
g raphic/english/.

• N a tio n a l G e o g r a p h ic  M ap M a c h in e . 
A joint project of National Geographic and ESRĪ, 
which provides a multitude of mapping prod­
ucts. Search for a location or use the Map Catego­
ries along the left side of the page to direct you to 
mapping options. Maps print well, though titles/ 
legends are not always clear. The popularity of 
the site presents challenges in connecting but once 
in, you can get some quality maps. Access: 
h t t p : / / p l a s m a .n a t i o n a l g e o g r a p h i c .c o m /  
mapmachine/index.html.

• M ic r o so ft’s T erra Server. Provides free 
public access to m aps and aerial photogra­
phy of the United States. Search for a specific city

or click the green areas on the map to zoom into 
a location of interest. Access: http://terraserver. 

homeadvisor. msn. com / 
defaultasp.

• T o p o Z o n e . This commercial site (part 
of the USGS Digital Cartographic Business 
Partner program ) provides access to USGS 
quadrangle m aps for personal use. Search by 
m ap name, by nam e of a city or place, or 
even by the nam e of a geographic feature. 
The m aps have good resolution on screen 
and you can p a n  the four directions from the 
starting point to get a look at the map. Maps 
print reasonably well. You can also pick a new  
scale on the fly and zoom in or out as you 
please. Access: http://w w w .topozone.com .

• M ap T ech  M apServer. This commercial 
site provides access to topographic maps, 
n au tical charts a n d  aerial p h o to s, called 
NavPhotos, w hich cover coastal regions ex­
clusively. This site allows the user to search 
for m aps by place nam e and state. Multiple 
m ap scales are available, and placing your 
cursor over the m ap image will generate co­
ordinates for that point on  the map. Maps 
print well and there is an e-mail option for 
sending the image to a friend. Access: h ttp :// 
w w w .m aptech.com .

In te ra c tiv e  m a p p in g  s ite s
There are two basic types of W eb sites that 
fall into this category: sites that enable users 
to m ap street addresses and those that p er­
mit the m apping of data such as demographic 
data, health statistics, or earth sciences data.

Street m apping sites
These are the Web sites that many people are 
already familiar with and that are the easiest 
to access and use. Simply put in a city or an 
address and click the button to be provided 
with a m ap of your desired location. Many of 
these sites provide driving directions betw een 
cities or door-to-door directions (you supply 
the addresses).

• M ap Q u est. An easy-to-use, popular site 
that includes three m ain com ponents: online 
m aps, driving directions, and travel guides. 
The m aps are clean, accurate, and a printer- 
friendly m ap format is provided. Try the In-

http://www.davidmmsey.com
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook
http://www.un.org/Depts/Carto-graphic/english/
http://www.un.org/Depts/Carto-graphic/english/
http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/
http://terraserver
http://www.topozone.com
http://www.maptech.com


912 / C&RL News ■ October 2001

ternational Web Sites link at the bottom  of 
the page to get street m aps and driving direc­
tions for England, France, and Germany. The 
World Atlas and Road Atlas links provide a d ­
ditional m ap resources and som e are su p p le­
m ented w ith aerial photos. Access: h ttp :// 
w w w .m apquest.com .

• M apBlast! This site m aps addresses or 
cities and will produce driving directions. Map 
icons are somewhat customizable, and in larger 
urban areas offers traffic reports for the region. 
This site also provides local w eather reports 
(from Ann-Arbor based Weather Underground). 
Access- http://w w w .m apblast.com .

• M ake Q u ic k  M aps (from ESRI, the mak­
ers of ArcView GIS software). This site uses a 
product called ArcData Online, w hich allows 
the user to create m aps of the United States 
based on  street addresses. This site also al­
lows the generation of general m aps of Eu­
rope or the world. For major non-U.S. cities, 
use the zoom  function and you will b e  re­
w arded w ith street maps, though they are not 
as detailed as the ones in M apQuest or Ya­
h oo Maps. You w o n ’t find travel guides or 
w eather reports here, b u t the m aps can be 
s a v e d  in  GIF f o r m a t. Access.- h t t p : / /  
www. esri. com /d ata/o n lin e/q u ick m ap . htm l.

• Y a h o o  M ap s. This is Y ahoo’s contribu­
tion to street m apping with a similar inter­
face and features as the other sites. This is 
the only street m apping site that contains 
d e ta ile d  C a n a d ia n  m ap s. Access.- h t t p : / /  
m aps. y a h o o . c o m /p y /m a p s. p y .

D ata m apping sites
The following Web sites provide users w ith a 
m uch m ore hands-on approach to m apping. 
These sites allow the user to actually pick 
and choose, w ithin limits, w hat information 
will be displayed on the m aps they create. 
These sites allow  m apping of dem ographic 
or socioeconom ic data. They also requireU.S. Census Bureau
m ore involvem ent on the part of the user, 
w hich is som ething to consider w hen using 
or recom m ending these sites.

• D e m o g r a p h i c  D a t a  V i e w e r  
(D D V ie w e r ). This site, from the Center for

I n t e r n a t i o n a l  
Earth Science In­
fo rm atio n  N et­
w o rk  (CIESIN), 
is an interactive 
m apping appli­
cation for data
from the 1990 U.S. Census of Population and 
Housing. Data from the 2000 Census will be 
included as it becomes available. Selected vari­
ables may be m apped at the levels of county, 
c o u n ty  s u b d iv is io n , c e n s u s  tra c t, a n d  
blockgroup. It creates sim ple but effective 
m aps. Different editions (Java and Non-Java) 
are provided for different connection speeds. 
Directions can b e  ciyptic and output options 
are limited, b u t screen shots of the m aps you 
create w ork well in docum ents. Also avail­
a b le  fro m  th is  s ite  is th e  U .S .-M exico 
DDViewer. Access.- h ttp ://p lu e.sed ac.ciesin . 
o rg/plue/ddview er/.

• T ig er M a p p in g  S e r v ic e . This site from 
the U.S. Census Bureau is one of the original 
interactive m apping sites on the Web. Users 
can m ap a limited num ber of census vari­
ables to geographic m ap areas, such as U.S. 
Congressional Districts, zip code areas, and 
m ore standard census and blockgroup areas. 
Cultural features, such as highways and parks, 
are also available for m apping. Search by city 
or provide a specific set of coordinates. Ma­
jor updates are not p lan n ed  for this site, but 
it remains a useful resource. Access.- h ttp :// 
tiger, census. gov/cgi-bin/m apbrowse-tbl.

• A m e r ic a n  F act F in d er. This site from 
the U.S. Census Bureau is the site to visit for 
2000 Census data and provides both refer­
ence m aps, w hich show  basic b oundary in­
form ation (cities, counties, census tracts, etc.) 
and them atic maps. The Them atic Map o p ­
tion allows the user to select the geographic 
area of coverage, select from a limited num ­
b e r of them es, and th en  view  the results. 
Changing items, such as geography, them e 
and data sets, is done following a series of 
steps w ith straightforw ard directions. Data 
tables are also available at this site. O utput

American FactFinder

options include printing and saving to a file. 
Access.- http://factfinder.c en su s.gov.

•  N a tio n a l A tlas o f  t h e  U n ite d  S tates. 
This site is from the U.S. Geological Survey 

(co n tin u ed  on p a g e 925)

http://www.mapquest.com
http://www.mapblast.com
http://plue.sedac.ciesin
http://factfinder.census.gov




C&RL News ■ October 2001 /  925

a b o u t w h o  b e n e fits from  p a rticu la r in te r­
p reta tio n s o f th e  new s. O ut o f th e se  dis­
cussions can em erge im p o rta n t rese a rc h  
q u e s tio n s  th a t m ay conflict w ith student 
views and values and may create teachable 
moments.

O ur current conception of information lit­
eracy instruction focuses on teaching the 
objective and “safe” aspects of research. For 
instance, w e typically help students focus their 
research on  euthanasia; find books and full- 
text articles on the topic; distinguish betw een 
popular and scholarly sources; and evaluate 
W eb-based information. However, w e rarely 
have an opportunity to generate meaningful 
connections betw een this topic and the lives 
of students or help students question the na­
ture of discourse that takes place.

In the future, information literacy programs 
will em phasize the whys as well as the hows. 
By focusing o n  the w hole person, successful 
program s will begin with real student con­
cerns and help students understand how  their 
issues relate to the larger world. Second, they

( “Internet Resources” c o n t.fr o m p a g e 912) 
and is an online “cousin” to the original Na­
tional Atlas of the United States produced in 
the 1970s. Choose “Atlas Maps” to use the 
National Atlas of the United States produced 
in the 1970s. Choose “Atlas Maps” to use the 
National Atlas Map Browser to build, view, 
and print m aps using a variety of information 
layers. There are a num ber of multimedia 
m aps available at this site that combine graphi­
cal representations of data with anim ation as 
well as links for finding additional informa­
tion. While there are a limited num ber of 
m apping options, users can dow nload Na­
tional Atlas m ap layers for personal use or 
find inform ation o n  p a p e r m aps. Access: 
http://w w w .nationalatlas.gov/.

• W etla n d s I n te r a c tiv e  M a p p er T ool. 
This site from the National Wetlands Inven­
tory Center of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser­
vice provides access to National Wetlands In­
ventory Maps in digital format. Select a county, 
city, zip code, refuge, or lat/long and submit 
your query. W here available, link to aerial 
photography from Microsoft’s TerraServer or 
view  a topographic m ap of the area. While 
these will not replace the detailed paper maps, 
the site is a nice place to start for wetlands 
information. Not all locations are available,

will em phasize participation in the com m u­
nity as a way to further facilitate meaningful 
connections. Third, they will encourage stu­
dents to discover and challenge the u nques­
tioned, taken-for-granted assum ptions by 
w hich w e all live. By necessity, these p ro ­
grams will focus on the advocacy of real-world 
issues as well as on methodology.

We are called to participate in shaping an 
information future that improves the world. 
We can play a crucial role in the future— if 
w e choose to play. Certainly, others w ould 
d on our apparel in this new  age and disguise 
information literacy in a cloak of academic 
rem oteness and objectivity.

H o w ev er, th a t is p a st. T he tim e has 
com e to tak e  risks in d e v e lo p in g  an infor­
m ation literacy that m atters to  stu d e n ts b e ­
cau se it rea c h e s o u t to th e w o rld  to solve 
real p roblem s, b e c a u se  it c h allen g es o u r 
assum ptions, b ecau se it changes the w orld. 
Tim e is p assin g  faster th a n  w e know . Let 
us n o t miss o u r o p p o rtu n ity . The w o rld  
calls us. ■

so check out the Current NWI Status Map 
from the main page to find out if digital maps 
are available in your area. Access: h ttp :// 
w etlands. fw s. gov/m apper_tool. htm.

O th e r site s f o r  lo c a tin g  m aps
• O d d e n s ’ B o o k m a r k s. This is a classic 

in the w orld of geography not only for pro­
viding links to m ap resources, but links to 
the entire w orld of cartography and geogra­
phy. Select Browse, th en  Maps and Atlases 
and choose the type you w ant to find. There 
are 5,914 Electronic Atlases and 149 in the 
Online Map Creating category. Long lists but 
som e real gems can be found here. Access: 
h ttp://oddens.geog.uu.nl.

• M ap s o n  O th e r  W eb S ites. This is a 
nice listing of m aps by categories available 
on the Web. Access: http://w w w .lib.utexas. 
edu/m aps/m ap_sites/m ap_sites. html.

•  State D a ta  C e n te rs. This site provides 
information for state data centers in all 50 
states, but often provides canned m aps that 
focus on socio-econom ic data or natural re­
sources. Note that not all states provide Web 
sites, data, or maps. It is a good starting point 
w hen searching for m aps/data of census in­
fo rm a tio n  for a p a rtic u la r state. Access: 
http ://w w w . census .gov/sdc/w w w /. ■

http://www.nationalatlas.gov/
http://oddens.geog.uu.nl
http://www.lib.utexas