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Baghdad Reference Map from National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
Perhaps old news - but a reminder never hurts. The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) has a current, detailed map of Baghdad available for download or to view online. The map is a special reference map of Baghdad, Iraq, produced as a tool to help NGA public affairs office and other government public affairs offices in their efforts to discuss issues with the media and public that might be related to the area depicted. The map is unclassified and also referred to as a reference graphic. It is suitable for reference use only and should not be used for any other purpose (not for navigation, etc.). Electronic versions of the Baghdad map are available in .JPEG and MrSID formats. NGA is a Department of Defense combat support agency and a member of the National Intelligence Community. The Agency's mission is to provide timely, relevant and accurate geospatial intelligence in support of our national security. Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., NGA has major facilities in the Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia and St. Louis, Mo., areas with NGA support teams worldwide.
Continue readingMap Collections – Treasures of the Library of Congress
The Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress is the "largest and most comprehensive cartographic collection in the world, numbering over 5.2 million maps, including 80,000 atlases, 6,000 reference works, numerous globes and three-dimensional plastic relief models, and a large number of cartographic materials in other formats, including electronic." Many have been converted to digital form. The focus of digital Map Collections is Americana and Cartographic Treasures of the Library of Congress. These images were created from maps and atlases and, in general, are restricted to items that are not covered by copyright protection. Map Collections is organized according to seven major categories. One of my favorite collections at the LOC Map Collections site is the panoramic map collection. The panoramic map was a popular cartographic form used to depict U.S. and Canadian cities and towns during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These maps are also known as bird's-eye views, perspective maps, and aero views. Panoramic maps 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. Continue reading
NASA Global Map Projections online
G.Projector - Global Map Projector Projecting the oblique spheroid known as Earth onto a 2 dimensional surface is one of the major issues addressed by Geographers and Cartographers. Robert B. Schmunk (rschmunk@giss.nasa.gov) at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies at 2880 Broadway New York, NY 10025 USA has created an excellent free resource called G.Projector. G.Projector is a Java application which allows you to explore a large collection of global map projections. These may then be projected as an GIF, JPG or PNG equirectangular map image. Longitude-lattitude gridlines and continental outlines may be drawn, and the resulting map images may be saved to disk in GIF, PDF, PNG or PS form. G.Projector requires that your computer have a Java 1.4 virtual machine, or better, installed. It is available to download at the NASA GISS site Click here. Included at the site is a nice list of projections describing their characteristics. This is a great site for professionals as well as educators. The graphic representation creates a visual that will aid in our understanding of a some what complicated concept. Continue reading
USGS maps ransomed and released into the public domain
This is truly an inspiring story. Jared Benedict held 56,000 USGS maps for ransom. that's right, ransom. Benedict purchased the 56,000 public domain maps on CD-ROM from USGS. Then he asked internet denizens to help him recoup his cost of $1600. Once that was met, he sent all of the maps to the Internet Archive for permanent preservation and free access! Doesn't that just give you tons of ideas for capturing and releasing all sorts of other government information? The Internet Archive better be ready for the steady stream of government documents! Continue reading
Florida government office may not copyright maps
Official loses copyright case By MIKE HOYEM, The News-Press Bonita Springs Florida, December 8, 2004.
A court has ruled Collier County Property Appraiser Abe Skinner cannot copyright maps created by his office and demand royalties from those who use them to make a profit. Wednesday's decision by the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Lakeland was hailed as a victory for public records access by the First Amendment Foundation, an open-government advocacy group in Tallahassee.Continue reading
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