Activity 25 Digital Map Collections A Snowy Weekends Work

Well we certainly didn't get the predicted snow fall, but I usually head north to Wisconsin on the weekend. Good thing I didn't as my mother is still snowed in. By Friday night it was up to Dixie's belly (Shitzu) and by Sat afternoon the drifts in her driveway reached her back. Now I know she is not a large dog, but shoveling that heavy snow is a little much. Luckily Mom doesn't have to be anywhere till Wednesday, and the weather should melt the snow to a drivable level by then. It's the end of the drive that is the worst as the county plow did come out and plow so big chunks are at the end of the driveway she said. So I decided it was a good time to catch up on the different activities so here it goes.

I went to three different websites that I would like to share:

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/gnthtml/gmdhome.html

Library of Congress Website

The map collection is organized by seven categories: Cities and Towns, Conservation and Environment, Discovery and Exploration, General maps, Cultural landscapes, Military Battles and Campaigns, and lastly Transportation and Communication. In most cases a map is only assigned to one of these seven categories, although there may be exceptions.

I typed in Minneapolis, Mn and the computer search of the webite produced 20 different pictures and maps after searching the seven categories. I found the maps hard to see until I zoomed way in but one must remember they are on old parchment paper and have turned a little yellow.

One feature that I found interesting for a website is a whole section devoted to answering questions on copywrite issues and a link to instructions for how to cite electronic sources was provided.

http://www.census.gov

United States Census Bureau

Maps for the United States only. Again I had trouble viewing as it was tiny and light. Good Old Zoom Button. I had to download the maps, but brought them up with the preview feature. I went into the Native American section and called up by tribe different types of information.


http://digital-library.usma.edu/colletions/maps

United States Military Academy at West Point

Great source for civil war maps, colonial and federal maps