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Benchmarks: People &
Jobs
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New Mexico State University is searching for a Government Documents and Maps Librarian. This is an entry-level, 9-month, tenure-track position.
Even though the first review date has passed, they are still accepting applications. This is the full job announcement.
New Maps of the WAML Region
Publications about Mapping
Other Map Organization
Journals
- GSIS: Newsletter (posted 6 months after publication)
- NACIS: Cartographic Perspectives (note: In 2011, this will become a primarily digital, open access journal. Right now all issues are available online except the current issue).
- CUAC : Cartographic Users Advisory Council
- ANZMaps: The Australian and New Zealand Map Society Newsletter
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News
WAML News
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Dear WAMLites,
I hope you're all doing well, and hanging in there during this busy part of the school year. I'm writing to pass along some updates:
* Planning continues for our meeting in Hawaii, to be held from October 31 - November 3rd. Our friends at the University of Hawaii, Manoa, will be letting us know more details soon.
* The WAML Executive Board is appointing Katie Lage (University of Colorado), to another term as a WAML representative to CUAC. We are grateful that she will be able to carry on her liaison work on our behalf.
* Planning has begun for WAML's 2013 meeting, which is tentatively scheduled at Tenaya Lodge on the outskirts of Yosemite National Park, October 30 - November 3rd. John Ridener, WAML V.P., is doing a great job of pulling this together. More information will be out next month. Pleases let John or me know if you'd like to be part of the planning group. Also, it's not too soon to volunteer to host a WAML meeting in 2014!
* Please consider running for a WAML office. We'll be looking for a Vice-President/President-elect, a new Treasurer (2-year term), and a new Secretary (1-year term). Past President Mike Smith, chair of the Nominating Committee, would love to hear from you. He's at 858-534-1248 or mls003@ucsd.edu Terms of office begin July 1st.
Best regards,
Cynthia
WAML President, 2011-12
- The program and executive minutes from the Vancouver and Oakland meetings have been added to the WAML Meetings page.
Other News
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'Wikipedia of Maps' Challenges Google: Google starts charging for its maps, and developers jump ship: OpenStreetMap is exactly what its name implies—a wiki of maps and location data to which anyone can contribute, just like Wikipedia. With the help of some deep-pocketed boosters, including MapQuest and Microsoft, it's suddenly a legitimate challenger to the hegemony of Maps.Google.Com....
- The MapHist listerv, begun in 1994, has ended and become MapHist Forum. It remains concerned with any aspect of the making and using of non-current maps.
- What happened in 2011 for Google Maps? The year in review.
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This Mindblowing Photo of a World Map In a Water Drop Is Real (Gizmodo)
- City maps on t-shirts at CityFabric (no San Diego, though)
- The Best Data Visualization Projects of 2011 (via FlowingData)
- If your budget has about, oh...., $40,000 to spare, why not consider the Churchill Globe from Bellerby Globemakers?
Future WAML Meetings:
Conferences, Classes & Exhibitions
- The BIG List of GIS, Mapping, and Geo Tech Events to Consider in 2012 (via GISuser.com)
- Exhibitions in the West via Cartography - Calendar of Exhibitions and Cartography - Calendar of Meetings and Events
February 24-28, 2012 - New York The Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers will be held in New York City. A One-Day Workshop, on February 25, at the New York Public Library, to be held as part of the Annual Meeting, is titled Working digitally with historical maps. The last twenty years have seen both extensive work by map librarians to computerize their collections of historic maps AND the development of historical GIS as a distinct sub-discipline, reconstructing past landscapes, both cultural and physical, from historical sources. However, there has been surprisingly little interaction between map library digitization projects and researchers in historical GIS. This workshop will bring together map librarians digitizing their collections with academic researchers using historical maps as sources for GIS systems and historical database. Additional information from Dr Humphrey Southall, Reader in Geography/Director, GB Historical GIS, Dept of Geography, University of Portsmouth, Buckingham Building, Lion Terrace, Portsmouth PO1 3HE, UK. Speakers will include WAML member Julie Sweetkind-Singer and David Rumsey.
January 6, 2012 - May 4, 2012 - Santa Fe
Between the Lines: Culture and Cartography on the Road to Statehood, an exhibition of thirty maps commemorating the centennial of New Mexico statehood, is located in the State Capitol building, right outside the governor’s office in the Governor's Gallery. The maps date from 1564 to 2011 with more than half of them detailing the history and culture of the state in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The maps are drawn from the holdings of the Fray Angélico Chávez History Library of the Palace of Governors of the The New Mexico History Museum and private collections across New Mexico, Arizona, and Mexico. The exhibition is curated by Dr. Tomas Jaehn, Director of the Fray Angélico Chávez History Library, and Dr. Dennis Reinhartz, Emeritus Professor of History at The University of Texas at Arlington, among others.
January 6, 2012 - March 28, 2012 - Tucson, Arizona
A new exhibit, Mapping Arizona: From Mexican Territory to U.S. State, offers a visual illustration of Arizona’s path to statehood as documented through historical maps of the region. The exhibit, on display in the University of Arizona Main Library, 1510 E. University Blvd, is one of several exhibits, lectures and events hosted by the University Libraries in celebration of the state’s Centennial. In addition to an array of historical maps, “Mapping Arizona” also includes books and unique documents selected from Special Collections extensive holdings. These additional materials offer insight into the stories that accompany the lines, boundaries, and borders within the maps.
- The Society for the History of Discoveries 53rd Annual Meeting will be held in Pasadena from September 27-30, 2012. Call for Papers:
The Program Committee of the Society for the History of Discoveries invites those wishing to make a presentation at this meeting to submit a proposal to the chair of the committee at their earliest convenience: demhardt@uta.edu, Imre Josef Demhardt, University of Texas at Arlington, Department of History, Box 19529, Arlington, Texas 76019, USA / Tel: 817-272-0122.
The deadline for submissions is 15 April 2012.
Presentations on all aspects of geographical discovery and exploration are welcome. To emphasize the host area of the 2012 meeting proposals on “Greater California” and the “Pacific Region” are especially encouraged.
The SHD paper sessions will begin on Friday, September 28, and will conclude at mid-day on Saturday, September 29. Preliminary meeting schedule is at http://www.sochistdisc.org/2012_annual_meeting.htm
Proposals due on April 15, 2012, should include the following:
- the title of the presentation
- the author’s name and address, including email address, and affiliation
- an abstract summarizing the paper’s scope and conclusions (max. 500 words)
- a statement about the originality of the contents of the paper: how much is new, unpublished material, based on research in primary sources, etc.
- a statement whether the presentation will include PowerPoint compatible images or digital audio recordings
- a brief biographic sketch of the author(s)
Both SHD members and the general public are invited to send suggestions for sessions, speakers, and general program ideas.
To encourage paper proposals from graduate students and younger emerging scholars, SHD can pick up to three submissions on grounds of academic merit and enable their presentation in person at the meeting by awarding a stipend of $ 500 each to help with travel to and accommodation in Pasadena as well the meeting registration costs.
The time allotted for the presentation of papers is up to 30 minutes, followed by 5 minutes for question-and-answer.
The audience at SHD meetings is diverse and includes academics and members of various professions. All are especially interested in the processes and consequences of geographical exploration and discovery. Presenters are encouraged to use images (maps, paintings, photographs, etc.). For the benefit of the audience all visuals have to be presented as PowerPoint projections.
When selecting papers for presentation, preference will be given to papers that are intended for submission to the society’s journal, Terrae Incognitae.
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Cataloging News
I recently returned from the 2012 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Dallas where, unfortunately, I did not find very much time to devote to cataloging-related programs. Instead, a lot of energy went into Map and Geospatial Round Table (MAGIRT) activities, particularly as the new MAGIRT Treasurer. That said, generally-speaking there was only a couple broad areas of cataloging that were being addressed at Midwinter, including Bibliographic Framework Transition (future cataloging without the MARC structure) and education/training of catalogers. Of course, RDA continues to move forward but there was not a lot of overall discussion on the topic, instead the grind-it-out work of the various ALA committees continues. I did learn, while attending and participating in the MAGIRT Cataloging & Classification Committee meeting, that very few map catalogers have yet to begin working with RDA, in fact out of a room of about twenty individuals I was the only one present doing so. I am certain that a major shift will happen starting in the Fall of 2012 and accelerating into and through 2013 however.
So, this will be a relatively short listing of cartographic materials cataloging activities. And, as usual, I ask that you send map cataloging information either to me or directly to the News & Notes Editor, Mike Smith for inclusion in future issues.
Recent Cataloging-Related Information from the Library of Congress
One of the programs at the recent ALA Midwinter meeting was titled “What Lies Beyond MARC?” which was sponsored by the LITA/ALCTS MARC Formats Interest Group. As the title suggests, the cataloging community is straining to see what is ahead as metadata, FRBR, and RDA provide impetus to move away from the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules and into a new future of descriptive cataloging and metadata creation.
The major initiative and group that is working hard to create a new content standard is the Library of Congress’ Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control. The goal of this group, as stated in the document “A Bibliographic Framework for the Digital Age (October 31, 2011)” is that LC is “...committed to developing, in collaboration with librarians, standards experts, and technologists a new bibliographic framework that will serve the associated communities well into the future.” http://www.loc.gov/marc/transition/news/framework-103111.html. And towards that end the Bibliographic Transition Framework Initiative (BTFI) was launched in the fall of 2011, http://www.loc.gov/marc/transition/.
Presentations in the program noted above, “What Lies Beyond MARC?” addressed and/or updated the work of the BTFI. See http://connect.ala.org/node/163477 to read a summary or go to a copy of the presentation slides. The speakers provided information on the following questions: What problems do we want the new framework to solve? How might new technologies influence our practices? How do these developments relate to the introduction of RDA?
The best place to keep up with ongoing efforts of the Bibliographic Transition Framework Initiatives is at the above URL, where one can sign up for a BTFI Forum listserv. Additionally, the minutes of the LC Bibliographic Framework Transition Initiative Update Forum held Jan. 22nd at ALA Midwinter in Dallas are now posted on the Transition Initiative Website at http://www.loc.gov/marc/transition/news/minutes-alamw-2012.html.
Resource Description and Access (RDA) Update
1. The Joint Steering Committee for Resource Discovery and Access (JSC) announced the release of RDA Carrier Type, Content Type and Media Type Vocabularies just before Midwinter. These are part of the Open Metadata Registry now: http://metadataregistry.org/vocabulary/show/id/46.html
2. The Library of Congress’ PCC program, at its webpage “RDA: Resource Discovery & Access and the PCC” http://www.loc.gov/catdir/pcc/RDA-PCC.html now contains information about implementing RDA in authority records. Two documents in particular provide information about when one can begin to see the LC authority files being changed to include RDA-based information; PCC Day One for RDA Authority Records and an accompanying FAQ on the same topic. If you work with NACO in particular this is something you need to be following because for now we are not allowed to include RDA elements in the creation or updating of authority records. A date for “Day One”, after which “all new authority records entering the LC/NACO Authority File must be coded RDA and all access points on bibliographic records coded “pcc” must be RDA” has not been established but will probably happen in January 2013. Stay tuned.
Also on this webpage is the “PCC and RDA Frequently Asked Questions” document that was updated on January 13, 2012. See http://www.loc.gov/catdir/pcc/PCC-RDA-FAQ.html
3. The U.S. RDA Test Group that put the standard through its paces last year also formed a coordinating committee with a website presence and is continuing to work with the RDA Toolkit; additionally those members of the test group who are at the Library of Congress are continuing to catalog using RDA and now are keeping the rest of us informed through regular reports. From an email I recently received via the RDA-L list, “the first quarterly update from the US RDA Test Coordinating Committee is available on the new LC Website for preparating to implement RDA. The URL for the update is
http://www.loc.gov/aba/rda/rda_implementation_updates.html.” This is an important site for catalogers to refer to because it provides updates to the nine things that the U.S. national libraries said must be done, or have shown enough evidence that they will be done in the near future, before these libraries will formally implement the RDA standard. As of this writing three are “completed” and six are “on track”.
4. RDA workforms: in the News from OCLC report that Jay Weitz delivered at several meetngs, under the section titled “Future Enhancements to Connexion Client” is an exciting note (to me at least) about a forthcoming option to set your computer to open a RDA-based workform for whatever format you are cataloging. “Set an option for the Client using Tools>Options>RDA tab (formerly the RDA Toolkit tab) to use RDA versions of the existing AACR2 workforms to create records. Set the option separately for bibliographic and/or authority workforms. Existing workforms open by default when you create new records unless you set the RDA workform option(s).” Cool!
Paige Andrew, Column Editor
Pennsylvania State University
Canadian News
No report this time from Tim Ross. However, there was a recent Call for Papers for this year's ACLMA conference:
The ACMLA Conference Program Committee invites professionals, students and others from academia, libraries, archives, government or other organizations dealing with maps, GIS and cartographic materials to submit proposals for the 2012 Annual ACMLA Conference taking place in Toronto, June 12-15, 2012. Proposals for presentations in a variety of formats including papers, posters, round table discussions and workshops are welcome.
The main theme for CARTO 2012 is:
*A Journey Through a Changing Landscape*
We live and work in a dynamic environment that forces us to adapt rapidly and plan strategically for the future. How can our past help us prepare for the future? What projects and collaborations have helped us stay relevant? How can we communicate our value to the academic community and society at large?
Date: Tuesday, June 12 to Friday, June 15, 2012
Place: Toronto
Hosted by: Ryerson University
Papers and posters based on original research on any of the topics listed below are welcome. All presenters must submit an abstract electronically (in either English or French) of 250 words or less. Send your proposals to: programme@acmla.org by *March 2nd, 2012*.
Suggested topics include:
•Map and GIS librarianship within academic librarianship
•Historical maps and GIS
•Partnerships, collaborations and networking
•Professional development and continuing education
•Archiving, preservation and digitization
•Spatial information literacy and instruction
•Metadata and cataloguing
•Acquisition of digital and paper material
•Open source and open data
•Emerging technologies
•Teaching and learning innovations
•The current state of our paper map and digital collections
•Web mapping and cartographic tools
Individuals wishing to organize special sessions on a topic with invited speakers, joint sessions, or specificworkshops should contact the Program Committee: programme@acmla.org.
Authors are responsible for spelling, grammar, and typographical errors.
The time for each oral presentation will be approximately 20 minutes, which includes discussion and questions.
For any questions, suggestions or comments please contact Dana Craig (dcraig@yorku.ca) or Janina Mueller (janina.mueller@utoronto.ca).
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New
Maps & Web Sites of Interest
- Locating London's Past is a website that allows you to search a wide body of digital resources relating to early modern and eighteenth-century London, and to map the results on to a fully GIS compliant version of John Rocque's 1746 map. See also: Interactive maps reveal London's history in unprecedented detail.
- The Wisconsin Historical Society has added 350 Civil War maps to their Wisconsin in the Civil War website. Browse all maps.
- Endonym Map is a world map which shows endonyms: the name for a place, site or location in the language of the people who live there.
- Strange Maps is always worth a visit; for example, the recent Missouri Pukes and Illinois Suckers: a 'Pignominious' Map of the States. Note the much larger image of Nicknames of the States available at the Library of Congress.
- Some fun map quizzes to be found at Test Your Geography Knowledge.
- Google Earth Library: Historic Topos has grown to collection of over 2,000 USGS topographic maps and have been converted to view in Google Earth.
- Here's something similar, only all types of maps and pertaining to Greater Philaddelphia Geo-History.
- Shhh..don't tell the librarians... Combining books and landscapes to create art: Carved Book Landscapes by Guy Laramee.
- Mapstagram is a super-fast real-time Google Map of photos taken with the Instagram iPhone app.
- Patchwork Nation is gearing up for the 2012 election. It is a reporting project of the Jefferson Institute that aims to explore what is happening in the United States by examining different kinds of communities over time. The effort uses demographic, voting and cultural data to cluster and organize communities into “types of place.” Patchwork divides America's 3,141 counties into 12 community types based characteristics, such as income level, racial composition, employment and religion. It also breaks the nation’s 435 congressional districts into nine categories, using the same data points and clustering techniques. You can read about the methodology of the project on the methodology page.
- Recent addtions at DavidRumsey.com: 1,163 new maps and images have been added to the David Rumsey Map Collection, bringing the online collection to 29,004 maps and images. Included in this addition is Emma Willard's 1829 History of the United States, one of the first historical school atlases published in the United States; all the illustrations, maps, and plates from the 1861 Ives Expedition up the Colorado River; the 1873 Beers Atlas of Long Island, New York; a fascinating Hieroglyphic Atlas of the U.S.; images and plates from the Macomb 1859 Exploring Expedition in the U.S. West; and a scarce 1878 Atlas of Marion and Lynn Counties, Oregon. Also the 1880 Atlas of Prince Edward Island, Canada; the final composite and remaining maps of theKarte des Deutschen Reiches 1893 series; the complete Composite Image and all 164 aerial photographs of San Francisco in 1938 (View Composite Image or Index in Google Earth Browser); and Herbert Bayer's important World Atlas from 1953. All titles may be found by clicking on the View links or images below. Or click here to view all 1,163 new maps and images. (December 21, 2011)
- Ha Ha: Places I haven't Been (North America)
- A Map of New Jersey (there's plenty here to offend).
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