-------- Original Message --------
Subject:        University of Connecticut's MAGIC and Trinity College Receives
NEH funding for Interactive Maps of Hartford, CT
Date:   Fri, 09 Apr 2010 16:32:14 -0400
From:   Michael Howser <[log in to unmask]>
To:     <[log in to unmask]>
CC:     Michael Howser <[log in to unmask]>



Greetings,

I am delighted to share that the University of Connecticut Libraries Map
and Geographic Information Center – MAGIC and Trinity College received a
National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant to collaboratively
develop interactive maps and geospatial resources for the Hartford,
Connecticut region! Below I have included additional details about this
project and we would greatly appreciate input from the Maps-L community
on this project. We also encourage anyone if you are interested in
working with MAGIC and Trinity College on collaborative mapping projects
let us know.

---

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has jointly awarded the
University of Connecticut Libraries and Trinity College a $100,800 grant
which will enable UConn’s Map and Geographic Information Center (MAGIC)
to develop web-based interactive maps about schooling and housing in the
Greater Hartford region that will be featured in a book being written by
a Trinity faculty member.

This collaboration represents a unique opportunity for MAGIC to expand
its existing strength in digital mapping to valuable historical
resources for the greater Hartford area, with Michael Howser directing
the project for UConn. The grant provides UConn graduate students with
the opportunity to develop the technology that will enable researchers
in Connecticut and throughout the world to access these resources and
explore data through interactive web-based maps.

With digital collections ranging from historical maps and Geographic
Information Systems (GIS) data for Connecticut already available at
MAGIC, researchers will have increased access to research data and
resources via the MAGIC website. UConn students working at MAGIC will
digitize maps, develop GIS datasets in shapefile format (a format
popular with mapping software), and KML files for use in Google Earth.
As data and maps are being developed, a series of interactive web-based
mapping interfaces (map mash-ups) will be created and enable researchers
to view data from multiple sources, search for a specific study area,
and more easily visualize change over time.

The maps and geographic datasets created during this grant-funded
project will be incorporated in Trinity College Associate Professor of
Educational Studies Jack Dougherty’s forthcoming book, /On The/ /Line:
How Schooling, Housing and Civil Rights Shaped Hartford and its
Suburbs/, which examines the growing role of the boundary lines
connecting public education and private homes during the past century.
The book will incorporate the collaboratively developed interactive
digital maps in both the print and e-book formats.
*
*Although many of the maps will focus on metropolitan Hartford, some
will cover other regions of Connecticut. There will be three types of
maps created through this collaboration:

· Dual-window linked maps that show past and present aerial views at the
same time;
· Animated timeline maps that show change over time; and
· Interactive map simulations to engage broader audiences into viewing
the past through someone else’s eyes.

To view examples of what the maps developed during this grant-funded
project will like look visit Jack Dougherty’s project website:
http://ontheline.trincoll.edu/dual.html. These two maps illustrate the
influence of 1960s interstate highway development on urban neighborhoods
in Hartford and provide researchers the ability to view 1934 and 2008
aerial photography of the region side-by-side:

Also be sure to check out MAGIC’s website, which will be providing
public access to the datasets generated from this grant in shapefile,
KML, and other formats depending on the data being digitized.

Cheers,

Michael
--
Michael R. Howser
Undergraduate Education & GIS Librarian
Map and Geographic Information Center - MAGIC
University of Connecticut Libraries
369 Fairfield Way - Unit 2005M
Storrs, Connecticut 06269
Telephone: (860) 486-4589
Fax: (860) 486-6100
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
_IM: uconnmhowser (AOL)

_http://magic.lib.uconn.edu_ <_http://magic.lib.uconn.edu/_>