The location search seems to be a broader issue, as it's not working on Old Maps Online <https://www.oldmapsonline.org/> either (also a Klokan site). The error seems to be "Missing key - Get your FREE key at https://cloud.maptiler.com/account/keys/" -- which would suggest perhaps an expired API key. On Fri, Feb 24, 2023 at 8:47 AM Andrew, Paige G. <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Good morning Sebastian, > > I use Chrome. My colleague and team mate here uses Firefox. We tried it on > Edge yesterday. Was not working on any of those platforms. I will be at > work soon and see if it is working at the website, which I also tried > yesterday to no avail. > > Paige > ------------------------------ > *From:* Maps-L: Map Librarians, etc. <[log in to unmask]> on behalf > of Sean de Basti <[log in to unmask]> > *Sent:* Friday, February 24, 2023 1:54 AM > *To:* [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> > *Subject:* Re: Suggestions for an improved Extent Helper tool > > Some people who received this message don't often get email from > [log in to unmask] Learn why this is important > <https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification> > Hi Librarians, > > I use the tool from their website https://boundingbox.klokantech.com/ > <https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fboundingbox.klokantech.com%2F&data=05%7C01%7Cpga2%40PSU.EDU%7Cfa351bd26d0a4bd9962608db1662a2f1%7C7cf48d453ddb4389a9c1c115526eb52e%7C0%7C0%7C638128385133290985%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=V0futIgwLVbDTpoYtwuuOLnA7nFC8iIZMuz5e%2BCkIGY%3D&reserved=0> and > it is still working. On which platform do you use it? > > Kindly regards > Sebastian > > > On 24.02.23 at 01:03, Andrew, Paige G. wrote: > > From: "Andrew, Paige G." <[log in to unmask]> > Date: 24. February 2023 > To: [log in to unmask] > Cc: > Subject: Suggestions for an improved Extent Helper tool > I am a long-time user of the Klokan Bounding Box tool and have recommended > it to other map catalogers/catalogers for determining bounding box > coordinates for our bibllographic records. As many of you know, Klokan's > tool has been down all day today (last time I checked was about an hour ago > so I might be wrong now), which puts a scare in to me in terms of wondering > how stable this tool might be going forward. Naturally, we have a similar > tool at our disposal, Extent Helper, which until today I have not used in > earnest in some time -- to my own detriment I admit. So, to keep moving > things off of my pile of maps of Oregon "regions" (i.e., national forests, > national wildernesses, even a map of an old electric company's district > boundaries in the Portland, Oregon area) I opened Extent Helper and started > refreshing myself on how to use and navigate it. I fully admit that upon > first try of about ten minutes I closed it down in frustration and finished > editing all other aspects of the record I was working on and then put it in > the OCLC online save file to wait for Klokan to return so I could quickly > and precisely come up with coordinates for the portion of the Pacific Crest > Trail that runs through the state of Oregon. > > This afternoon I returned to Extent Helper with a fresh mindset and > started over again, with some success. However, I would like to make some > suggestions for improvement for those who are the creators of this tool in > the hopes that it can be manipulated and used in a bit more friendly > manner. I will frankly admit that I am not well-versed in using this tool > and therefore likely am both ignorant of some of the ways one can use it or > have overlooked an icon or similar to put to good use, so take the > following with a grain of salt as needed. > > As any Klokan user knows, you put a place name in the search box and it > returns either a bounding box of the formal extent of that location, or a > point from which you can click on the drawing tool and create a bounding > box of whatever size you need around that point. The software returns a *bounding > box* to you and either your work is done then and there if it matches > what is shown on the map you are cataloging or can be used as a starting > point. The opposite occurs in Extent Helper results, you are given a > centerpoint coordinate for the place and then must proceed to draw your own > bounding box. Is it possible for Extent Helper to deliver results in the > same manner as Klokan? > > A second frustration (and again, maybe there is something I am missing > here?) is the lack of clarity with the background "streets" basemap, it is > unfortunate that the basemap is not planimetric like the "streets" one is > in Klokan. Planimetric rather than shaded topographic makes it visually > easier to see the street network and any other boundary layer and one can > more quickly pick up the locations of populated places large and small. > This is pretty imperative when attempting to create a bounding box for a > non-jurisdictional region, such as the electric company's districts I > mentioned early on -- I could pick up the larger places closest to the > edges of the irregularly-shaped districts but even zooming in 2-3 times did > not reveal a couple of key small towns or communities that I could have > used as a guide. I managed to hone in on a highway and follow it to the > map's edge but with great difficulty as the road network is so light in > color and appears "washed out" as do even features like names of rivers or > mountain peaks. Switching to "satellite image" is not helpful nor to USGS > topographic (though, when I was working on a map of Mount Rainier National > Park later the USGS topographic basemap was helpful because it shows the > Park's boundaries pretty well). > > One last frustration to share and ask for a possible change. Due to the > little squares on all four sides of a bounding box being fixed in one place > one their lines it requires a lot more zooming in and out in order to > locate a specific thing such as a town or lake or other point being used as > an identifier to determine the edge or near-edge of the map being > described. If one grabs instead the line itself after locating at least one > boundary that you do not want to move/change you quickly learn that your > entire bounding box moves -- and you have to start over again. In Klokan > the little bar on all four sides also does not move BUT if you grab inside > the bounding box the entire image moves, NOT the bounding box, meaning one > is not re-sizing/moving the bounding box itself. I had to learn to zoom in > to find an object of interest to key in on, but not touch the bounding box, > then zoom back out to find the bar to move the line one way or another. All > that zooming in order to not mess up and change the bounding box takes much > more time to create the final bounding box that fits the map being > described. > > Fingers crossed that Klokan is back up and running tomorrow! In the > meantime, I will keep practicing with Extent Helper because ultimately we > know that an unsupported Klokan might go away in the near future. Oh...and > I will be contacting LC to see if maybe they can change the existing > nonsense source code of "ngmdbeh" to something akin to Klokan's "bound" > like how about "extent"??? > > Paige > -- Ryan Mattke Map & Geospatial Information Librarian Head, John R. Borchert Map Library <https://www.lib.umn.edu/borchert> Adjunct Faculty, MGIS Program <http://cla.umn.edu/mgis> Program Lead, Big Ten Academic Alliance Geospatial Information Network <https://sites.google.com/umn.edu/btaa-gdp/> Co-Director, Mapping Prejudice <https://mappingprejudice.umn.edu/> Phone: 612.624.5757 Web: http://www.lib.umn.edu/borchert <https://www.lib.umn.edu/borchert> ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8816-9289