Sanborn Map Company fire insurance surveyors successfully mapped many thousands of cities and towns across North America, but they were often viewed with suspicion by locals and they were not granted access to every building they sought to map. This post describes what happened when they were refused, and the creative ways they could sometimes get around property owners’ reservations about their work.
I recently saw a public library Instagram reel that explained the breakdown of an entire call number of a book—using the Dewey Decimal System. The video pointed out that the demystification of these call number codes can be incredibly helpful to our users. If users can de-code the sequence, they can unlock how to find, …
The Geography and Map Division has three geospatial news items to an announce: an upcoming virtual orientation on Geospatial Resources, a new GIS and Geospatial Resources Research Guide, and a new digital collection featuring Library of Congress Geospatial Applications.
Filled with heavy topics of war and occupation, War map: pictorial and propaganda map collection 1900-1950 contains maps and messages that frequently are pointed, unapologetic, and echo the anger and desperation of nations at war. The collection of 180 maps typifies how cartographs were used to influence popular opinion and garner support for military and political efforts …
The Geography and Map Division (G&M) is pleased to announce the release of Triumph and Liquidation: An Essay and Guide to a Series of Ten Pictorial Wall Maps Created to Illustrate the Successes of the Red Army in the Russian Civil War of 1917-1922. The maps celebrate the victory of Bolshevism over its enemies. Critical …
On April 6, 1917, the United States declared war on the German Empire, bringing the country into the world’s deadliest and most destructive up that point in history. The Great War, as it was called at the time, started in 1914 and ended with an armistice on November 11, 1918. More than 38 million civilians …
In honor of Women’s History Month this March, Worlds Revealed is featuring weekly posts about the history of women in geography and cartography. Today, we’ll give a brief overview of what’s to come. You can click on the “Women’s History Month” category see all related posts. Women cartographers envisaged, engraved, drew, and printed every kind …
As the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) began this week, it is important for all of us to study how we are affected by global climate change. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), future changes to our Earth include a warmer atmosphere and oceans, more acidic oceans, higher sea levels, and larger …
