LIBR 220 04 & 13 Resources and Information Services: Maps, GIS & Map Librarianship San José State University San José, California USA Dr. Susan Ward Aber	Lena Delta is an extraordinary wetland at the end of one of the longest rivers in the world. This river flows through Siberia, Russia, and is seen from above via this Landsat 7 satellite image taken off the online USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science website, eros.usgs.gov/imagegallery/ imageDetail.php?page=27&img=Lena+Delta &id=2060&col=Earth+As+Art.
Graduate Student Final Projects

The final course project was an opportunity to bring together the new awareness of map-related resources and services as applied to a topic of the student's choosing. The resulting projects demonstrated the student's understanding of the importance of visual information as well as the role map librarians and libraries assume in organizing and highlighting map and map-related resources for patrons. Project topics and formats varied and the outcome was a group of interesting unique, creative, and informative reports. They are placed online for your inspection and enjoyment...just follow the links below! I am sorry for the inconvenience, but some of the presentation formats are best viewed with an Internet Explorer web browser.

Shawnee Lands by Heather Devine, deviner.net/shawnee-lands/ is a project that used a variety of historic and modern maps to trace the journey of Shawnee people by way of a cultural genealogy timeline using a novel interactive Adobe pdf format, http://deviner.net/ShawneeLands.pdf. The loading time is slow for the timeline because of the number of maps used, but it is well worth the wait!

Map Cataloging Project - Technical Services by Lynn O'Connor, libr220maps.wordpress.com. In order to make map resources visible in the library, this project emphasized cataloging procedures and challenges for librarians in the Technical Service Departments. A blog format was used to demonstrate this means of electronic communication as a potentially effective tool for catalogers who worked in a fictional academic library - the Earth Sciences Library at Golden State University.

Map Reference Service: A Guide for Non-Map Librarians by Tassanee Chitcharoen, www.geospectra.net/libr220/chitcharoen.htm. Personal experience plus a map librarian interview combined to create a report detailing map library reference desk work and services. In addition to the research report, the culminating product was a pathfinder, www.geospectra.net/libr220/TCpathfinder.htm, for an academic library's map collection.

Mapping HIV/AIDS Awareness by Susie Quinn, http://www.slideshare.net/SusieQuinn/aidshiv-awareness-through-maps-and-mashups-presentation. This project introduced map, cartogram, and mashup displays to highlight the importance of visual data and information. Map librarians can promote library resources and collections through worthy and timely informative projects such as providing clients with resources to complement and increase global awareness of a pandemic health concern such as HIV/AIDS. For example, in the absence of a cure, HIV testing is key to preventing and treating; maps, cartograms, and interactive map displays in the form of mashups are significant in educating the public on what and where help exists.

Survey of Major Water Sources of the California Metropolitan Water Districts and Water Districts in San Diego County by Julia Weldy, www.geospectra.net/libr220/Weldy.htm introduces another worthy and timely public concern that librarians can educate and illustrate through map resource collections. The primary issue of contention - water - who owns and controls river and reservoir? Water Districts are the governmental agencies who produce and use maps of watersheds, which impact lives directly with the continued threat of wildfires that devastate human created property and landscapes. A historical account of the draining of two major natural lakes and controlling the Colorado River in order to irrigate crops and provide drinking water is shown through maps.

There and Back Again: Whitewater Rafting Down the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness, Idaho by Jeff Frank, www.geospectra.net/libr220/Salmon River_J_Frank.pptx. [Aside: The only way to view this is click on the link, Open with Microsoft Office Power Point, and choose Slide Show - View Show from the menu.] This presentation focused on the locational and recreational purpose of map resources with emphasis on nature and topography. A wide variety of map types were created and acquired by the student to give a cartographic perspective of a rafting adventure. The story was told through snapshots of friends sharing a journey with risks and challenges and illustrated with maps!

Mapping my Vacations by Kati Hirigoyen, www.geospectra.net/libr220/MapsByKati.ppt. [Aside: The only way to view this is click on the link, Open with Microsoft Office Power Point, and choose Slide Show - View Show from the menu.] This slide show is a whimsical look back at the family and personal vacations... geographically! This project included nearly every type of map imaginable to represent states and countries or specific travel destinations. There are thematic maps such of New Jersey's prisons to a cartoon-like representation of Florida... there were road maps to subway plans and color shaded relief maps to a color coded Big Foot sightings map for California. While locating prisons or BigFoot was not the purpose of any of the trips, finding map resources can add an educational dimension to the experience!

The Galapagos by Jeanette Duffels, www.geospectra.net/libr220/Galapagos.pdf. [Aside: The only way to view this is click on the link, Open with Microsoft Office Power Point, and choose Slide Show - View Show from the menu.] This project continued the adventure theme with a focus on map resources highlighting flora and fauna. With a format of a trip diary of the many pristine islands off Ecuador, this student took learning the basics of cartography to the extreme when she personally explored the equator by standing with one foot in the northern hemisphere and the other in the southern hemisphere! A library resource pathfinder accompanies this project - A Guide to Online Maps of the Flora and Fauna of the Galapagos, www.geospectra.net/libr220/JDpathfinder.htm,

This page was created to display the hard work of students enrolled at San José State University, School of Library and Information Management http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/. For more information contact the course instructor, S. W. Aber via e-mail: saber@emporia.edu. Thanks for visiting! Webpage created: December 2008; last update: December 22, 2008.