-------- Original Message -------- Subject: Open Street Map Date: Fri, 29 Nov 2013 10:05:12 -0800 From: Virginia R Hetrick PhD <[log in to unmask]> To: Maps, Air Photo, GIS Forum - Map Librarianship <[log in to unmask]> Hi, folks - I just discovered this GIS system today. Have I been in the dark for long? Probably. But now that I've found it (more on the finding process in a bit), I have been having fun with it for the past hour. In the first 10 minutes, I solved a problem that a friend of mine who's going up to Montana and Alberta for some cross-country skiing had because he wanted a map that crossed the border, such that both sides of the border were represented at the same scale on the map. I just sent the email below my signature block to a bunch of my geographer friends. If you haven't seen this be sure to give it a whirl. I think it will prove to be an invaluable resource, especially for folks who haven't fondled an ESRI system, since it doesn't involve a huge learning curve. In making the map for my buds, I discovered that the boundaries of Waterton Lakes NP in southwestern Alberta need help. It's got what looks like good trail and road coverage for them, but the park boundaries are not represented (hint, hint for somebody up there in The Frozen North). Enjoy! v ------------------------------------------------ Virginia R. Hetrick, here in sunny California Email: [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> "There is always hope." My fave: http://www.washington.edu/cambots/camera1_l.jpg There's no place like: 34N 8' 25.40", 117W 58' 5.36" if you can't be at: 48N 7' 4.54" 122W 45' 50.95" ------------------------------------------------ ------------Begin copy of included email-------------- I learned about a new GIS project today from reading my GW Alumni Magazine. It's called Open Street Map and the link is: http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=5/51.500/-0.100 I've never seen this before and it's exceptionally good across international boundaries. The very excellent part is that the "index" is navigable in the same way that google maps is navigable. The result is that if it's necessary for whatever you're doing, you can make maps of several areas that either cross international boundaries (think Washington/BC, Arizona/Sonora, California/Baja California, or Minnesota/Manitoba) at the same scale or separated areas on either side of an international boundary again at the same scale. You can also do things like add information in layers of interest just to you or correct errors (for example, the presence of my church in Port Townsend is represented at least, but it's not identified by name on the base map like some of the other churches; several churches are also completely missing from the map). The project featured in the alumni magazine and that I clicked on to read is: http://gwtoday.gwu.edu/students-help-map-nepal%E2%80%99s-kathmandu From chasing maps of all different scales and getting them transformed to so EASILY getting maps at the same scale is a hugely good deal. In the first ten minutes this morning, I got the map up on my two-headed computer so I had a gigantic space to build the map I mentioned for my cross-country skiing buds. As soon as I finish my email, I'm headed to Kinkos to print it out the map because it will be about two feet long. The great advantage of this is free and, so far, very high quality. It already has some layers and people who want to do so can build their own layers. ------------End of included email-----------------