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Subject: Re: Print vs Paper Gazetteers
Date: Tue, 21 Jun 2011 22:23:21 -0700
From: Virginia R Hetrick PhD <[log in to unmask]>
To: Maps, Air Photo, GIS Forum - Map Librarianship <[log in to unmask]>


One thing that's definitely not a job related activity but something I
just do from time to time with a printed gazetteer is to look at the
place names and the maps where the place names are located.  Mainly
it's because I'm curious.

For example, when all the Phil Campbells came to Phil Campbell,
Alabama, last week to help put the town back together after the
tornado, I was curious to find other place names that were similar
(sounded like names of people).

I found a bundle of them.   I wouldn't ever have been able to see that
kind of thing electronically without asking for a complete dump of
place names in Alabama and looking through a list online is kind of
boring, to be perfectly honest.

Most of us fell in love with some "thing" that's geographic back when
we got interested in geographic stuff, whether it was our parents'
National Geographics or NGS maps that came with them or an atlas at
the local public library or the Blue Men of Morocco or ....  None of
that seems to be as easily possible to browse electronically except
when we happen on .pdf files in old NGs.  I remember being in
Vancouver, BC, the day QEII was crowned.  A few years ago, I happened
on an old NG and it had stories about the Coronation and surrounding
events.

At the age of 10, I don't expect I had much of a clue about what was
actually going on except that we watched a fireworks show over English
Bay. But, we weren't there for the Coronation celebration so we just
thought that was a great bonus for us on our vacation trip to Canada.
;~)

v
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Virginia R. Hetrick, here in sunny California
Email:  [log in to unmask]
"There is always hope."
My fave:  http://www.washington.edu/cambots/camera1_l.gif
There's no place like:  34N 8' 25.40", 117W 58'5.36"
if you can't be at:  48N 6' 59.9" 122W 59' 54.2"
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