Say Cheese!

The Smithsonian has put together Several projects that involve cameras being set up in remote places around the globe to capture animals rarely seen in the wild, with the goals to gain more knowledge about their habits.

Through browsing their esri powered map, one can find all the cameras and then decide individually which they would like to browse through. Ever wondered what the Lowland Paca looked like in its natural habitat? Wonder no more!

New, New York City vs. Old new York City

This allows us to see what parts were once lush vegetation, swamps, and creeks. To read more on this and to play with the map overlays, you can check it out here.Thanks to the National Geographic we can overlay onto the current map of New York City a 1782 map.

Metric vs Standard

The U.S along with two other countries according to this map use a system other than the Metric system.

Seems like our standard isn't that standard really! via http://ca.gizmodo.com/5786004/these-are-the-three-countries-who-dont-use-the-metric-system

Cartogram from the 1930's

This map is from the 1930's and its form is based on the population according to the census of that year. The green areas indicate cities with greater than 50,000 people, and the size of the state is the amount of people living therein.

Michigan was a booming state in comparison in the 1930's!

The last Third Thursday of the semester!

It is that time again, and this time we will be showing off Mediterranean area maps, from one of our stronger collections.


Come check out our amazing collection tomorrow, April 21st, between 4 and 7.

"What's in a Surname?"

Are you one of the Many Smiths of the United States? What about a Williams or a Garcia? National Geographic has put together an interactive map of the U.S showing the most popular surnames of areas, as well as displaying the origin of the names.


Michigan seems to be laden with surnames that originate from Wales, and odds are if you are from here you know a Smith. Check out your neck of the woods here.

Not all maps come to libraries in pristine condition.

Often times we receive maps in the same condition as the map below.

Before

Curled from being rolled, backed on cloth with unknown glue, shellac coating and bits falling off.

Often times these can be and are sent to our conservation center, and now thanks to the Conservation Center for Arts and Historic Artifacts we can see some of the same processes that would be done in our own labs to restore an item such as this.

After

An amazing transition from what an untrained eye would think was unsalvageable to a perfectly good map. To view the transition process and the steps involved, please visit the Conservation Center for Art and Historical Objects.

Maps come in all shapes and sizes.

Suesan has created a map in an interesting format, a Settee!

She has hand painted the Continental U.S and seemingly part of Italy and the surrounding area on the back on a drop cloth, while at the same time making it into a family tree, with relatives names placed on their state of birth. An amazing piece of work!

To see how she did it check out her site here!

Ever needed to make a map and didn't know where to start?

Thanks to Isaac a member of tutorial9 you now have a simple solution to map creation. Without the right tools it may seem impossible, but with the program Illustrator one can quickly whip up a map for a paper, to your bridal shower, or just to football night at your house.

See for yourself!

Congratulations! University of Michigan Team wins Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition

The University of Michigan had not one but two groups that ended up in the finals of this Urban Design competition with one coming out champion, a project called Houses.

The winning project proposal reads:

The Mount Baker station, at the intersection of Rainier Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Way, is surrounded by property that is currently being used for large parking lots, two heavily-traveled thoroughfares, and single-family detached residential properties. The competition challenge: devising a scheme that would transform and brand the neighborhood with an identity, and serve as a benchmark for future development in the Greater Seattle region.

Check out this site to read up more on how they did it, and to see the results!

1936, the era of the Radio

In CBS commissioned a survey to be done of homes with radios based on time zone. This image is the end result.

But ownership of radios was not enough for them to know how often they were being used, and as of result being tuned in to CBS. The next map shows how many of the radios were in use daily.

You can check out more maps and details on this map by checking out J-bary's photoset on flickr.

Satellites need white balance too!

To take accurate images cameras need to be calibrated, and the same goes for satellites that are taking images of the earth to provide us with maps. Recently eight sites have been named as places that satellites can shoot at and use to calibrate their systems to accurately depict the globe as it is, ensuring greater consistency for scientists who are interpreting the data.

This image is of Lake Tuz in Turkey, which dries up in the summer leaving only this white salt behind. This has been named as one of the eight locations that can be used for calibration.