ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


J u ly /A u g u s t 1 9 9 7 / 4 7 1

G eography resources on 
the In te rn e t

By L uigina V ile n o

Be a “virtual to u rist” o f  p la n e t 
Earth

G eographers study all living things and the earth features am ong w hich these crea­
tures live. They are particularly intereste

their location and distribution. G eographers 
look for spatial patterns and study how  forces 
such as climate or human activity change the 
landscape. They use information from all disci­
plines, including biology, dem ography, eco­
nomics, geology, physics, and sociology.

Because o f the w ide range o f data o f inter­
est to geographers, practically all of the Inter­
net could be useful in geographical studies. 
General geography sites as well as general di­
re c to rie s  s u c h  as Y a h o o  ( access: h t t p : / /  
w w w .y ah o o .co m ) o r the A r g u s C le a r in g ­
h o u s e  ( access: http://w w w .clearinghouse.net) 
and search engines such as L y co s ( access: 
http://w w w.lycos.com ) or A lta V ista (access; 
http://altavista.digital.com) can be helpful.

Given the fluid nature o f the discipline and 
of the Internet, the following is but a sampling 
o f sites that w ere found to have some useful 
geographic information. Although this is clearly 
not a com prehensive guide, I hope it will serve 
as a starting point for those w ho wish to use 
the Internet for geographical research.

Geographical guides to the Web
V irtual T ou rist. A m ap-based directory of 

all the W eb servers in the world. If one is inter­
ested in w hat Web resources are available in a 
particular country, one has only to click onto 
that spot on the world map and a list of sites is 
generated. Access: http://w w w .vtourist.com /.

Starting points
H u m a n  a n d  p h y s i c a l  g e o g r a p h y

G e o g r a p h y  W orld . Created by a geogra­
phy high school teacher, it is one o f a few very 
good starting points. Its opening page has a 
table o f contents with topics of interest to all 
geographers, for example: earth’s surface and 

de rino sion, ecosystems and environmental issues, 
human culture, and maps and globes. Access: 
http://members.aol.com /bowermanb/101.htm l.

N ice G e o g r a p h y  S ites. An extensive list of 
geographic information systems (GIS) and ge­
ography sites with strong European emphasis. 
A major drawback is that it is divided into only 
three very broad categories: general geogra­
phy, GIS and remote sensing and geography 
and, GIS newsgroups. Access: http://w w w .frw . 
ruu.nl/nicegeo.html.

U n iv e r sity  o f  T ex a s at A ustin: In tern et 
R e so u r c e s fo r  G e o g r a p h e r s . This very “nice” 
site is a beautifully organized list of resources. 
Access: h ttp ://w w w .u te x a s .e d u /d e p ts /g rg / 
virtdept/resources/contents.htm .

U n iv e r sity  o f  W aterloo: G e o g r a p h y  Sub­
je c t P age. A Canadian example. Access: http: 
/ / w w w .lib .u w a te r lo o .c a /d is c ip lin e /g e o g / 
index.html.

WWW V ir tu a l L ib ra ry : S u b je c t C a ta ­
lo g u e , G e o g r a p h y . Access: h ttp ://w w w . 
icom os. org/WWW_VL_Geography. htm l.

Y a h o o  G e o g r a p h y  P a g e. Access: h ttp :// 
w w w .yahoo.com /science/geography.

P h y s i c a l  g e o g r a p h y
CSC E arth S c ie n c e  S erver. The Center for 

Scientific Computing (CSC), a Finnish publisher, 
provides links to many areas in physical geog­
raphy. Access: http://www.csc.fi/earth_science/ 
earth_science.html.

L u ig in a  Vileno is reference a n d  g e o g ra p h y su b je c t lib ra r ia n  a t  th e  G. P. V a n ie r L ibrary a t C oncordia 
University, M ontreal; e-m ail: lu ig in a @ v a x2 .c o n c o r d ia .ca

http://www.yahoo.com
http://www.clearinghouse.net
http://www.lycos.com
http://altavista.digital.com
http://www.vtourist.com/
http://members.aol.com/bowermanb/101.html
http://www.frw
http://www.utexas.edu/depts/grg/
http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/discipline/geog/
http://www.yahoo.com/science/geography
http://www.csc.fi/earth_science/
mailto:luigina@vax2.concordia.ca


4 7 2 /C & R L  N e w s

I n t e r n e t  R e s o u r c e s  i n  t h e  E a r th  S c i­
e n c e s . A general directory site provided by the 
University o f California at Berkeley’s Library. It 
provides links to all areas of the earth sciences. 
Access'. h ttp ://w w w .lib .b erk eley .ed u ./E A R T / 
EarthLinks.html.

L a n d sc a p e  E c o lo g y  & B io g e o g r a p h y . A 
list o f sites in these tw o subject areas. Access: 
h ttp ://w w w .u n i-s b .d e /p h ilfa k /fb 6 /fr6 6 /tp w / 
g eo -h o t/an u _ lan d . htm .

O n -lin e  R e s o u r c e s  fo r  E arth  S c ie n t is t s  
(ORES). Online resources available through the 
Internet and other networks that may be use­
ful to those with an interest in the earth sciences. 
Access: http://www.gisnet.com/gis/.

P h y s ic a l G e o g r a p h y  R e so u r c e s. A m ix­
tu re o f im ages, datasets, an d  data libraries 
o f p o te n tia l u se to p h y sic al g e o g ra p h e rs. 
Access: h ttp ://f e a tu r e .g e o g r a p h y .w is c .e d u / 
phys.htm.

Gazetteers
G e o g r a p h ic  N a m e se r v e r . This server con­

tains information mostly on locations in the U.S. 
Simply type in the nam e of a place and it will 
return with its telephone area code, latitude, 
longitude, population, elevation, and zip code. 
Access: http://w w w .m it.edu:8001/geo.

N a tio n a l Im a g ery  a n d  M a p p in g  A g e n c y ’s 
(NIMA) G E O net N a m e s S erv er (G N S). A da­
tabase of foreign geographic feature names; 3-3 
m illion featu res are u p d a te d  m onthly w ith 
nam es information approved by the U.S. Board 
o n  Geographic Names. You enter the nam e of 
a place and country and it returns with its des­
ignation, latitude, and longitude. Access: http: 
/ /  w w w . d m a. g o v / gns/htm l/index.htm l.

U.S. G a zetteer. A very useful tool, this gaz­
etteer identifies places to view with the Tiger 
Map Server and obtains census data from the 
1990 Census Lookup Server. O ne simply en ­
ters a place name. The server returns with p o p u ­
lation, location, and zip code information. It

O
R

E
S

 :tiderc ega
mI

also links the user to a m ap o f the area as well 
as census tables. For the tables, the user se­
lects w hat variables should be displayed. A c­
cess: http://w w w .census.gov/cgi-bin/gazetteer.

Maps
U n ite d  S ta t e s

T ig er M ap S erv er (TMS). This project is 
sponsored by the U.S. Bureau o f the Census. 
The goal is to provide a public resource for 
generating high-quality, detailed m aps of any­
w here in the United States using public g eo ­
graphic data. Access: http://tiger.census.gov/.

C a n a d a
N a t i o n a l  A t la s  I n f o r m a t i o n  S e r v i c e  

(NAIS). A Canadian governm ent site with base 
maps, geographical names, and thematic maps 
that “reflect the social, economic, environm en­
tal and cultural fabric o f Canada.” Access: http:/ 
/WWW-NAIS.CCRS.NRCan.GC.CA/.

O th e r
M ap Q u est. A commercial site with a world 

atlas, trip planning, and routing information. 
Provides driving directions betw een U.S. cit­
ies. Interactive atlas lets you pinpoint places 
on the map, right dow n to the street. Access: 
h ttp ://www. m a p q u est. co m .

P erry -C a sta ñ ed a  L ibrary (PCL) M ap C o l­
le c t io n  (U n iv e r s ity  o f  T e x a s at A u stin ). Very 
useful an d  easy to use for anyone looking for 
maps. Includes links to electronic cartographic 
reference resources, electronic maps o f current 
interest and o f general interest w orldwide, his­
torical maps, and other m ap-related sites. A c­
cess: h ttp ://w w w .lib .u te x a s .e d u /L ib s /P C L / 
Map_collection/Map_collection.html. Ed. note: 
For a more extensive review o f this site see the 
Internet Resources column on page 502.

3G o n  W3: T h e G reat G lo b e G a llery . An 
interesting and fun collection of views o f planet 
Earth. Includes illustrations of projections and 
thematic geological and environm ental maps. 
Due to the heavily graphic material, loading 
takes some time. Access: http://hum .am u.edu.pl/ 
~zbzw /glob/globl.htm .

X e r o x  PARC M ap V ie w e r . A ccepts re ­
quests for a w orld or U.S. m ap and returns an 
html docum ent including an image o f the re­
quested map. This is created on dem and from 
a geographic database. O ne can zoom  in on a 
selected point and generate another map. A c­
cess: h ttp :/ / pubw eb .pare .xerox, com /m apdocs/ 
mapviewer.html.

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu./EART/
http://www.uni-sb.de/philfak/fb6/fr66/tpw/
http://www.gisnet.com/gis/
http://feature.geography.wisc.edu/
http://www.mit.edu:8001/geo
http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/gazetteer
http://tiger.census.gov/
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/Libs/PCL/
http://hum.amu.edu.pl/
http://pubweb


J u ly /A u g u s t 1 9 9 7 / 4 7 3

Satellite images and remote sensing
U n ite d  S ta te s

N a tio n a l A e r o n a u tic s a n d  S p ace A d m in ­
is tr a tio n  (NASA). Includes many links to in­
teresting information such as news items re­
lated to NASA; organization information; FAQs; 
and a page entitled “Mission to Planet Earth— 
dedicated to understanding the many ways the 
Earth is constantly changing and how human 
beings influence those changes.” Access: http: 
/ / w w w . nasa. gov/.

N a tio n a l E n v ir o n m e n ta l S atellite, D ata, 
a n d  I n fo r m a tio n  S erv ice (NESDIS). Includes 
links to many departmental sites such as Na­
tional Geophysical Data Center; Office o f Sat­
ellite Data Processing and Distribution; and the 
G lobal E nvironm ental D isaster M onitoring 
(GEDM) Project. Access: h ttp ://n s.n o aa .g o v / 
NESDIS/NESDIS_Home.html.

SIR-C/X-SAR Im a g es. A joint U.S.-German- 
Italian project that uses a highly sophisticated 
imaging radar to capture images of Earth that 
are useful to scientists across a great range of 
disciplines. The image categories are: archae­
ology, cities, ecology & agriculture, geology, 
interferometry, oceans, rivers, snow, ice, gla­
ciers, and volcanoes. Access: http://w w w .jpl. 
nasa.gov/radar/sircxsar/.

C a n a d a
C a n a d a  C e n t r e  f o r  R e m o t e  S e n s i n g  

(CCRS). Lots of information on CCRS, Cana­
dian companies, and universities involved in 
remote sensing and remotely sensed images of 
C anada. Access: h ttp ://w w w .c c rs .n rc a n .g c . 
ca/ccrs/ghom epge. htm l.

International regional information
CIA W orld  F a ctb o o k  1 9 9 6 . General hand- 

book-type information on different countries, 
for example: flag and map, geography, people, 
government, economy, transportation, commu­
nication, an d  defense. Access: h ttp ://w w w . 
odci.gov/cia/publications/nsolo/wfb-all.htm .

C ity.N et. General and tourist infomiation on 
5,000 lo catio n s w o rld w id e. Access: h ttp : // 
www.city.net/

InfoNation. A United Nations site offering socio­
economic, demographic, and some environmental 
data. The environmental data include carbon diox­
ide emissions, forest area, and endangered spe­
cies. Access: h ttp ://w w w .u n .o rg /P u b s/C y b er 
SchoolBus/infonation.

I n te r n a tio n a l D ata B ase. Brought to us by 
the U.S. Census Bureau, this database contains

dem ographic and socio-economic information 
for all countries of the world. Access: h ttp :// 
w w w .ce n su s.g o v /ftp /p u b /ip c /w w w /id b n ew . 
html.

Statistical information
U n ite d  S ta te s

F e d e r a l G e o g r a p h ic  D a ta  C o m m it t e e  
(FGDC). A government site with links to vari­
ous geospatial data sources: federal, state, uni­
versity, foreign, commercial, and others. A c­
cess: http://w w w.fgdc.gov/fgdc.htm l.

U.S. C e n su s B u reau . The Home Page is 
organized around eleven functioning buttons: 
1. News; 2. Access Tools; 3. Subjects A to Z; 
4. Search; 5. CenStats - CenStore; 6. Just for 
Fun; 7. A bout the Census Bureau; 8. User 
Manual; 9- New on the Site; 10. Population 
Clock; and 11. Economic Clock. Access: http:/ 
/w w w .census.gov/.

C a n a d a
S tatistics C anada. A wide variety of infor­

mation on economic and social conditions in 
Canada. The basic subject divisions are: the land, 
the people, the economy, and the state. A c­
cess: http://w w w .statcan.ca/.

W eather and climate
U n ite d  S ta te s

N a tio n a l W ea th er S ervice. Links to the lat­
est U.S. w eather information (warnings, fore­
casts, maps, and observations); climate statis­
tics and historical archives; and information on 
hydrometeorology, the environment, geophysi­
cal tables, w eather communications, standards

Feature your collection on 
the cover of C&RL News

C&RL News wants to feature aesthetically 
pleasing photos of items from library col­
lections on its covers. If you have material 
in your library’s collections that you think 
w ould make an attractive C&RL News cover, 
please send us photographs or color p ho­
tocopies and a brief description of the items 
and the collection. Photos may be either 
color or black-and-white and should be 5" 
x 7" or 8" x 10". Illustrations with a vertical 
orientation work best. Send to: C&RL News 
Covers, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 6O6ll.

http://ns.noaa.gov/
http://www.jpl
nasa.gov/radar/sircxsar/
http://www.ccrs.nrcan.gc
City.Net
http://www.city.net/
http://www.un.org/Pubs/Cyber
http://www.census.gov/ftp/pub/ipc/www/idbnew
http://www.fgdc.gov/fgdc.html
file:///www.census.gov/
http://www.statcan.ca/


4 7 4 / C&RL N ews

and codes, and other w eather related services. 
Access: http://w w w .nw s. n o aa.gov.

C a n a d a
A t m o s p h e r i c  E n v i r o n m e n t  S e r v i c e  

(C an ad a). Current w eather conditions and fore­
casts for Canada. Access: h ttp ://w w w .to r.ee. 
gc.ca/.

More government sites
U n ite d  S ta te s

E n v ir o n m e n ta l P r o te c tio n  A g en cy . A c­
cess: http ://w w w .ep a.g o v /.

U.S. G e o lo g ic a l S u r v e y . Access: h ttp :// 
w w w .usgs.gov.

C a n a d a
E n v i r o n m e n t  C a n a d a . Access: h t t p : / /  

w w w .ec.gc.ca.
N atu ral R e so u r c e s C anada. Access.- http: 

/ / www.NRCan.gc.ca/.

Professional associations
T h e  A s s o c ia t io n  o f  A m e r ic a n  G e o g r a ­

p h e r s  (AAG). This site includes information 
on the association, meetings, publications, job 
postings, an d  related organizations. Access: 
http://w w w .aag.org.

T h e  C a n a d ia n  A s s o c ia t io n  o f  G e o g r a ­
p h e r s  (CAG). This site includes links to the as­
sociation, its journals, other organizations, and 
more. Access: http://www.uwindsor.ca/faculty/ 
socsci/geog/cag/.

R o y a l G e o g r a p h ic a l S o c ie ty  /I n s titu te  o f  
B r itish  G e o g r a p h e r s . This site includes in­
formation on the society, meetings, publica­
tions, an d  research  groups. Access: h ttp :// 
glacier.gg.rhbnc.ac.uk/RHED.html.

Whole publications
E - jo u m a ls

G eo g r a p h y  R eso u rces: E le c tr o n ic  J o u r ­
n a ls . Part of the University of Texas at Austin 
Geography site. Links to journals on the Web. 
Full-text publications are clearly indicated. A c­
cess: h t t p : / / w w w . u t e x a s . e d u / d e p t s / g r g /  
virtdept/resources/journal/journals.htm .

J o u r n a l o f  G e o g r a p h ic  I n f o r m a tio n  a n d  
D e c is io n  A n a ly s is  (JGIDA) .  Peer-reviewed, 
geographic information-based decision analy­
sis. Access: http ://w w w .g eo g .u w o .ca/g im d a/ 
journal/journal.htm.

J o u r n a l  o f  G e o g r a p h y . Full text of the 
current issue. Access: h ttp ://g e o g .ta m u .ed u / 
journal/m ain. html.

T r a n s a c tio n s  o f  th e  I n s tit u te  o f  B r itis h  
G e o g r a p h e r s . Full text of the current issue. 
Access: http://ppt.geog.qm w .ac.uk/.

B ib l io g r a p h i e s
P o p u la t io n  I n d e x . A quarterly bibliogra­

phy covering all fields o f interest to dem ogra­
phers. Includes citations from monographs, jour­
nal articles, and other formats. Access: http: 
//p o p in d e x . princeton. edu/.

Newsgroups and discussion lists
D ir e c to r y  o f  S c h o la r ly  a n d  P r o fe s s io n a l 

E -C o n feren ces. Diane K. Kovacs’s directory 
will provide you with a list of mailing lists and 
newsgroups in geography. Access: http://w w w. 
n2h2.com/KO VACS/.

Commercial sites
C o m m e r c ia l G e o g r a p h y  R e s o u r c e s . A 

basic list of commercial geography sites on the 
Web. Access: h ttp ://w w w .c la .s c .e d u /g e o g / 
geogdocs/otherdocs/comm.html.

G e o P la c e .c o m . Brought to us by the pu b ­
lishers o f GIS World, this commercial site is 
packed with useful information: news, book 
and software reviews, special columns, and 
m uch more. Access: http://www.geoplace.com/.

Other sites
In te r n a tio n a l B o u n d a r ie s R e se a r c h  U n it 

(IBRU). This University of Durham site includes 
some interesting information on problem s as­
sociated with international boundaries on land 
and at sea. In its International Boundaries Da­
tabase one can type in the nam e of a place that 
has had boundary problems and receive a num ­
ber of news items on the subject. Access: http: 
//w w w -ibru.dur.ac.uk/. ■

Advertiser index
Britannica Online 470
R. R. Bowker cover 2, 489
Brodart Publishing 479
Endocrine Society 487
EOS International 466
Gale Research 475
Gaylord Bros. 460
Library Corp. cover 3
Merck Publishing cover 4
SIRSI 457

http://www.nws
noaa.gov
http://www.tor.ee
http://www.epa.gov/
http://www.usgs.gov
http://www.ec.gc.ca
http://www.NRCan.gc.ca/
http://www.aag.org
http://www.uwindsor.ca/faculty/
http://www.utexas.edu/depts/grg/
http://www.geog.uwo.ca/gimda/
http://geog.tamu.edu/
http://ppt.geog.qmw.ac.uk/
n2h2.com/KO
http://www.cla.sc.edu/geog/
GeoPlace.com
http://www.geoplace.com/
ibru.dur.ac.uk/