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Posted by: Cynthia Smith
The Library of Congress holds an extensive collection of maps that have been printed, drawn and embroidered on cloth. This post features a few examples of textile maps held in the Geography and Map Division.
Posted in: 19th century cartography, 20th century cartography, 21st century cartography, American History, Asian History, European History, Military History
Posted by: Meagan Snow
The Geography & Map Division recently acquired a rare collection of maps showing the locations of television and movie filming locations in Los Angeles, California from the 1980s. This blog post explores the cartographic and cultural value of these exceedingly unique and eminently practical maps of Los Angeles.
Posted in: 21st century cartography, American History, Guest Posts
Posted by: Amelia Raines
An exploration of map scales and comparative areas, from miles and representative fractions to...the Midwest?
Posted in: 17th century cartography, 18th century cartography, 19th century cartography, 20th century cartography, 21st century cartography
Posted by: Meagan Snow
This post spotlights born-digital, georeferenced map series from the MapServer Ethiopia project, which provides modern mapping of Ethiopia at five different scales, across multiple themes.
Posted in: 21st century cartography, African History, Geographic Information Science
Posted by: Julie Stoner
This is a guest post by Rachel Trent, Digital Collections and Automation Coordinator in the Geography and Map Division. Every time you look at an online image of a historical map, what you’re viewing is really just a spreadsheet of numbers. Or more likely, three spreadsheets, one each for red, green, and blue (the technical way to …
Posted in: 20th century cartography, 21st century cartography
Posted by: Sonia Kahn
Did you know that worldwide, roughly 55 earthquakes are recorded per day? Of course, the vast majority of these seismic events are minor, making it all the more impressive that we are able to detect them. The technology used to gather data on earthquakes and seismic movements has vastly improved over time, and with it …
Posted in: 19th century cartography, 20th century cartography, 21st century cartography, Big Data and Visualization
Posted by: Amelia Raines
Recently I came across an interesting map of Florida in our collections. Dated 1823, the map was made only four years after the territory of Florida was ceded to the United States by Spain, and 22 years before it became a state in its own right. The map, authored by surveyor Charles Vignoles and engraved …
Posted in: 16th century cartography, 18th century cartography, 19th century cartography, 21st century cartography, American History, Hispanic American History, National Parks
Posted by: Meagan Snow
Maps can tell us all kinds of things about how others have viewed and shaped the world – from the borders of ancient empires to the layout of your neighborhood street grid. Today, spatial data commonly powers the maps and applications we use to access basic information about the places we inhabit: opening an app …
Posted in: 19th century cartography, 21st century cartography, City Histories, Geographic Information Science
Posted by: Meagan Snow
This is a guest post by Meagan Snow, Geospatial Data Visualization Librarian in the Geography and Map Division. Whether you’ve used an online map to check traffic conditions, a fitness app to track your jogging route, or found photos tagged by location on social media, many of us rely on geospatial data more and more …
Posted in: 21st century cartography, Geographic Information Science