-------- 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/_>