Visualizing Our Futures: Using Google Earth and Google Maps in an Academic Library Setting

Transcription

1 Viualizing Our Futur: Uing Googl Earth and Googl Map in an Acadmic Library Stting Eva Dodworth and Andrw Nicholon Introduction In Octobr 2011, it wa announcd that Googl Earth had jut achivd on billon download. 1 Thi rmarkabl tatitic wa vn mor profound whn on conidrd that Googl Earth and it itr application, Googl Map had only bn availabl to th public inc Jun Th fact alo highlight what an normou impact Googl Earth/Map ha had on th way popl now utiliz gographic information. Along with it fr availability, what ha pcially drivn thi Googl Earth uag i it a of u. Ur can now arch for a plac, a wll a crat, viualiz and har gographic information all through on powrful viualization tool. For xampl, rarchr can now bring up a map with air photo or atllit imagry of thir tudy it onlin at no cot and annotat it with thir own ktch, wb it link, photograph, not, and vido. Thi ur-gnratd map can thn b hard with fllow rarchr onlin through a Googl Map account, or nt via an mail to thm and viwd through thir own Googl Earth application. A GIS Librarian working in an acadmic nvironmnt, th author wr quick to rcogniz th potntial of Googl Earth and Googl Map a gographic viualization tool. With Googl Earth fr availability and ay larning curv, a rarchr now had a nw mdium to communicat thir work, prhap vn opning up uch rarch into nw avnu of inquiry. Along with dvloping workhop and ur guid for utilizing Googl Earth for viualizing rarch, both author hav bn intrumntal in promoting Googl Earth and Googl Map to thir rpctiv faculty and taff a both a rarch and intructional tool. For xampl at th Univrity of Toronto Miiauga, Googl Earth wa introducd into a Introduction to Claical Studi cour and ngagd th tudnt to larn about claical it from th ancint world, uch a Pompii, and th rol of gography in thir hitory. Studnt wr abl to mak map and mahup in Googl Earth crating viual prntation that includd imag, vido and txt about thir particular it. At th Univrity of Watrloo, Googl Earth bcam a cntral rourc for th tudnt and intructor in th Rcration and Liur Studi cour Urban Rcration. Th tudnt ud Googl Earth to dicovr rcration opportuniti in th urban tting. Uing th fatur and tool availabl to thm, tudnt quickly larnd about thir urban urrounding and cratd map to how th connction btwn plac and pac. Background Rarch A part of thir work with Googl Earth, both author rarchd what othr Librari wr doing with Googl Earth and Googl Map tchnology. Thy Eva Dodworth i Gopatial Data Srvic Librarian at th Univrity of Watrloo, -mail: dodworth@uwatrloo.ca; Andrw Nicholon i GIS/Data Librarian at th Univrity of Toronto Miiauga, -mail: andrw.nicholon@utoronto.ca 625

2 626 Eva Dodworth and Andrw Nicholon prformd a litratur arch which turnd up vry littl in trm of how othr acadmic librari or librarian wr uing Googl Earth. 2 Nxt, th author rviwd many Canadian and Amrican acadmic library wbit to if thy wr promoting Googl Earth or utilizing th tchnology in om way. 3 Whil an nvironmntal can of wbit wa mor fruitful with th dicovry of vral acadmic librari uing th tchnology to promot acc to digital map and arial photo rourc, th author till flt that thr wa mor Googl Earth activity taking plac in acadmic librari. Rarch Survy To obtain gratr inight into how Googl Earth/Map wr bing ud, th author oon ralizd that thy ndd to ak acadmic librarian dirctly if thy ud th tchnology and for what purpo. To do thi, th author put togthr a t of urvy qution aimd at th acadmic librarian, pcially tho who work with map collction, Gographical Information Sytm (GIS), and or Gography/Earth Scinc Subjct collction. To rach th group of librarian, th urvy qutionnair wa ditributd ovr a lction of pcializd litrv, including Map-L, GovInfo, GIS4LIB and CARTA (Canadian Map & Air Photo Sytm Forum). A th author wr alo mmbr of th Aociation of Canadian Map Librari & Archiv (ACMLA) and th Wtrn Aociation of Map Librari (WAML), th urvy wa alo circulatd on thir Mmbr Only litrv of th aociation. In trm of urvy lngth, th author cho to kp th urvy brif, with only 20 qution. Th conitd of ix y/no qution, vn multipl choic, and vn hort anwr. Th urvy wa thn ditributd on Survy Monky for two month from Dcmbr 2010 to th nd of January Qution & Rpon Thank to om rmindr mail and du to th fact that th urvy wa availabl ovr a lowr priod of activity in acadmic librari, 83 rpon wr rcivd from Canadian and Amrican Librarian and Library Staff. Survy Sction On: You and Your Library Th firt ction of th urvy includd two qution that focud on th rpondnt poition titl and thir rol within thir acadmic library. A wa anticipatd, mor than half of th rpondnt indicatd that thy wr a Librarian, with th vat majority of thm indicating that thy wr a GIS Librarian or Map Librarian. Othr titl includd Govrnmnt Documnt Librarian and Spcial Collction Librarian. Svntn rpon alo cam in from GIS Spcialit, Library Tchnician and Map 90.0% FIGURE 1 What Diviion/Dpartmnt/Ara of th Library Do You Work In (click all that apply) % R p o n 80.0% 70.0% 60.0% 50.0% 40.0% 30.0% 20.0% 10.0% 0.0% Map/GIS Srvic Govrnmnt Publication Gnral Rfrnc Tchnical Srvic Othr (pla pcify) Whr in th Library do you work? ACRL 2013

3 Viualizing Our Futur 627 % R p o n d d 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% FIGURE 2 For What Work-rlatd Tak, Hav You Ud th Product? (Click all that apply 0% Intruction Promotion/Markting Anwring Rarch Qution Crating/Accing a Finding Aid Tool Othr (pla pcify) Rpon Option Aitant. Twlv rpon alo cam from Library Adminitrator, Dirctor, or Dpartmnt Had. Unfortunatly, th urvy did not includ a writ-in ara in thi ction to find out how th library ladr wr incorporating Googl Earth a part of thir rponibiliti. Intrtingly, it wa found that 81% of rpondnt workd in a Map/GIS Srvic diviion, with only 29% indicating Gnral Rfrnc. Othr ara litd includd Data Srvic, IT, and a Cntr for Digital Scholarhip. On group mntiond bing part of a pcial projct indpndnt from th campu library, but that thy dpoit thir rarch data inid thir Library Digital Collction. Likwi, vral rpon actually cam from non-library mploy, with taff indicating that thy workd for th Gography or Environmntal Scinc Dpartmnt on thir campu. Survy Sction Two: How ar you uing Googl Map/ Earth in your work? For th nxt t of qution, th author wihd to larn how ur wr taking advantag of Googl Earth and Googl Map in thir Library rlatd activiti. Ur wr providd with a lit of tak in which rpondnt could chck off all that applid. Th includd Intruction, Promotion/Markting, Anwring Rarch Qution, and Crating/Accing a Finding Aid Tool. Thr wa alo an Othr option which allowd a fill in anwr. Intrtingly, th rult indicatd that 82% of rpondnt ud Googl Earth and Googl Map to anwr rarch qution; 61 % ud th tool a a finding aid rourc for map and arial photo; 56% for library intruction; 27% for promotion/markting of Library collction; and 20% litd Othr activiti. For Othr, rpondnt litd a wid rang of intrting tak from go-rfrncing map imag, mapping digital mdia, and crating larning objct for cour aignmnt. Survy Sction Thr: Library Intruction uing Googl Earth/Map Th author both bliv that Googl Earth i a powrful intructional tool. It viual capabiliti, a of u, and haring/xporting capabiliti mak it an idal platform for ngaging tudnt (and othr library taff) in gographic information and ducation. A th author hav njoyd om ucc in uing Googl Earth for intruction at thir rpctiv intitution, thy wr omwhat urprid by th urvy rult in thi ction. On tatitic which particularly tood out for th author wa that only 28% of rpondnt had a map, patial, or gopatial litracy policy in plac at thir intitution. Morovr, only 31% had vn utilizd Googl Earth or Googl Map in a claroom nvironmnt. Dpit th rlativly low numbr, th author wr ncouragd to how it ha bn rolld out in univrity claroom acro th North Amrica. For tartr, Googl Earth i bing ud at all lvl of a univrity ducation from frhman to graduat lvl. Morovr th frquncy of intruction and numbr of April 10 13, 2013, Indianapoli, IN

4 628 Eva Dodworth and Andrw Nicholon cour pak in th fourth yar of tudi, which i whn tudnt would mot likly b looking to trtch th viualization, haring and mah-up capabiliti of Googl Earth a part of thir rarch dimination. In th urvy qution, th author akd for om mor dtail about th Intruction Sion that wr offrd. Svral good rpon wr rcivd including Environmntal Awarn ducation, Improving Digitization Skill, Bach rort Analyi, Arctic Studi, and mapping vnt from Jam Joyc Uly. Th author wr alo curiou to know if th growing ubiquitou of Googl Earth/Map tchnology had ld to additional Library taff training in th u of GIS oftwar/data or raiing Gographic awarn. Intrtingly, thr wa an almot vn plit amongt library rpondnt with 51% rplying No and 49% rplying Y to th qution. Survy Sction Four: Promotion/Markting Uag of Library Srvic uing Googl Earth/Map Thi ction of th urvy containd qution xamining how th Library wa uing Googl Earth/Map for th promotion and markting of it rvic and collction. Whn rarching into th u of Googl Mapping product on Library wbit, th author had dicovrd that many had utilizd th Googl Map API cod to mbd a Googl Map into a wbit howcaing whr th Library i locatd on campu and alo to nhanc th acc to digital and papr bound collction. Dpit th prvalnc of th Googl Map API, th author wr urprid to find that only 45% of rpondnt had actually idntifid thi uag. Whn akd a follow up qution about Googl Map nhancing thir rvic, many agrd that it had and wr looking forward to doing mor with th tchnology. Many rpondnt found that Googl Mapping tool, addd contxt to thir collction, making thm mor accibl and fun to u a wll. Som citd Googl Earth a bringing a valu-addd pic to thir rvic and collction offring. In thi ction of th urvy, th author alo akd if th Library wa providing upport to th widr campu community in uing Googl Earth/Map (not counting intructional collaboration). Many indicatd that thy wr not lvraging thi xprti outid of th library, although om did not thy wr managing Googl Earth Pro licn acro thir campu. Survy Sction Fiv: KML Collction Kyhol Markup Languag fil (KML) ar digital fil ud in Googl Earth and Googl Map. Th fil may b importd into Googl Earth to crat dynamic map. Morovr thy can b alo cratd and xportd for th purpo of haring map, point of intrt, and othr information with othr. KML fil ar a common format ud by map and GIS ur and thy hav bcom a popular format typ to download from data portal. Sinc mor and mor library ur ar crating and downloading KML fil, th author wantd to find out from rpondnt if thy wr familiar with KML fil, and if o did thy crat thir own KML fil. Whn akd, 64% of urvy rpondnt indicatd that thy did work with KML fil, with 85% claiming thy cratd thir own for u with Googl Earth in cour.. A a follow up qution, th author akd if th Library gnratd KML fil wr litd and mad accibl a part of thir Library gopatial data collction. Imprivly, 30% of rpondnt indicatd that thy did provid acc to th fil a part of thir library collction, with almot all bing downloadabl from thir Library wbit. Survy Sction Six: Othr Onlin Mapping Tool A Googl Earth i mor of a gographic viualization tool, om ur may turn to mor advancd GIS mapping application for analyi, and modling function. Th author alo bliv that tho with an intrt in Googl Earth ar alo likly to u othr gographic oftwar product. A uch, th author wr curiou to what othr GIS or Digital Mapping Softwar wr in fact bing ud in Librari. With many North Amrican campu bing long tim ubcribr to it ArcGIS product, it wa not urpriing to find that th rult indicatd that th Eri family of GIS oftwar wa mot commonly ud. Othr rpon to thi qution includd u of Map- Info, Bing Map, OpnStrtMap, and OpnLayr. Concluion 4 Bad on th urvy rult, Googl Earth and Googl Map ar crtainly bing ud in acadmic library nvironmnt for a wid varity of purpo. Nvrthl, it m that th majority of u till rmain rlatd to Gography rlatd activiti, b it collction ACRL 2013

5 Viualizing Our Futur 629 managmnt and acc, or intruction in Gography or Gology cour. Th author fl that Googl Earth and Googl Map can b ud in many mor ubjct ara, apart from Gography, and that many mor librarian and library taff can tak advantag of it rich rourc of information and multimdia tool. For xampl at th Univrity of Toronto Miiauga, tudnt taking Frnch a a Scond Languag (FSL) cour utiliz Googl Earth not jut for th information databa locating Frnch languag librari, rtaurant, and community cntr, but alo a a multimdia prntation tool. Studnt can howca thir rarch and tour through a Francophon country whil thy prnt orally to clamat in Frnch. Likwi, at th Univrity of Watrloo, many tudnt u th application a a prntation tool, importing lid ovr th urfac of th virtual arth. Thy alo tak advantag of th html upportd platform, crating cutomizd graph, chart, crn ovrlay and ovrall offring a vry dynamic xhibition. Exampl uch a th ar bcoming incraingly common, pcially whn on look at ocial mdia uch a th Googl Earth Educator Blog. 5 For th nxt tp, th author would lik to xplor how non-gography and non-gology librarian ar uing Googl Earth and Googl Map in thir work, particularly in ara of library intruction and information litracy. Anothr ara worth xploring i how Googl Earth and Googl Map hav impactd th work of taff working in public librari and thir library ur ar intracting with th tchnology. Th potntial u of Googl Earth and Googl Map in acadmia i nvr-nding. Som u it for air photo intrprtation lik locating vacation pot, om u it for rarching ocial and hitorical information, and othr u it vry uccfully a imply a rourc-haring application to add contnt to. With th ability to add txt, imag, link, vido, animation, and dynamic map fil, Googl Earth ha bcom a on top hop for rarching, larning, haring and communicating all apct of information acro a wid varity of topic. Googl Earth i not jut a glob and it crtainly wa not cratd for only gographr. A mor and mor ur dicovr th hiddn gm in thi product, mor xampl of acadmic uag will urfac. Not 1. Mor than On Billion Download for Googl Earth Octobr 6 th, html 2. Som of th articl that talk about uing Googl Earth in Librari includ th following: Trry Ballard. Inhriting th Earth: Uing KML Fil to add placmark rlating to th library original contnt to Googl Earth and Googl Map Nw Library World 110 (2009): Michala Brnnr and Ptr Klin. Dicovring th Library with Googl Earth Information Tchnology and Librari 27 (2008): Mikal Jacobn and Trry Ballard. Googl Map: you ar hr: uing Googl Map to bring out your library local collction Library Journal, Octobr 15, Troy Swanon. Googl Map and Scond Lif: Virtual Platform mt Information Litracy Collg & Rarch Librari Nw 69 (2008): Michal Vandnburg. Uing Googl Map a an intrfac for th Library Catalogu Library Hi-Tch 26 (2008): Th wbit urvyd includd: McGill Univrity Air Photo Indx, McMatr Univrity Library Map Indx, htm; Brock Univrity Hitorical Air Photo Collction, php; Yal Univrity Sanborn Indx, yal.du/mapcoll/print_anborn.html; Univrity of Vrmont Library Googl Map, Trail%20Photograph; Th Clvland Mmory Projct, 4. For mor rult from our urvy, including a copy of th qution akd, pla conult Eva Dodworth and Andrw Nicholon Acadmic U of Googl Earth and Googl Map in a Library Stting Information Tchnology and Librari 31 (2012) Googl Earth Educator Blog, com/googl-arth-for-ducator/ April 10 13, 2013, Indianapoli, IN