ASSOCIATION OF CANADIAN MAP LIBRARIES AND ARCHIVES
BULLETIN
ASSOCIATION DES CARTOTHÈQUES ET ARCHIVES CARTOGRAPHIQUES
DU CANADA
NUMBER 148 / FALL 2014
NUMÉRO 148 / AUTOMME 2014ASSOCIATION OF CANADIAN MAP LIBRARIES AND ARCHIVES /
ASSOCIATION DES CARTOTHÈQUES ET ARCHIVES CARTOGRAPHIQUES DU CANADA
MEMBERSHIP in the Association of Canadian Map Libraries and Archives is open to both individuals and institutions having an interest in maps and the aims and objectives of the Association. Membership dues are for the calendar year and are as follows:
Full (Canadian map field)... $45.00
Associate (anyone interested)... $45.00 ($35 US)
Institutional... $65.00 ($50 US)
Student... $20.00
Members receive the ACMLA Bulletin, the official journal of the Association, which is published three times a year.
Officers of the Association for 2014/2015 are:
Peuvent devenir MEMBRES de l’Association des cartothèques et archives cartographiques du Canada tout individu et toute institutions qui s’intéressent aux cartes ainsi qu’aux objectifs de l’Association. La cotisation annuelle est la suivante:
Membres actifs(cartothécaires canadiens à plein temps)... 45$
Membres associés (tout les intéressées)... 45,00$
Institutions... 65,00$
Étudiant... 20,00$
Le Bulletin de l’ACACC sera envoye aux membres trois fois par annee.
Les MEMBRES DU BUREAU de l’Association pour
l’année 2014/2015 sont:
Views expressed in the Bulletin are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the Association.
The Association of Canadian Map Libraries and Archives gratefully acknowledges the financial support given by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Les opinions exprimées dans le Bullein sont celles des collaborateurs et ne correspondent pas nécessairement à celles de l’Association.
L’Association des cartothèques et archives cartographiques du Canada remercie le Conseil de recherches en sciences humaines du Canada pour son apport financier.
1st Vice President / 1er Vice-Président
Siobhan Hanratty
Data/GIS Librarian
Government Documents, Data, and Maps
UNB Libraries
P.O. Box 7500
5 Macaulay Lane
Fredericton, NB E3B 5H5
vice.president1@acmla-acacc.ca
Past President / Président sortant
Dan Duda
Map Librarian
Queen Elizabeth II Library
Memorial University of Newfoundland
St. John’s, Newfoundland A1B 3Y1
tel: (709) 737-3198
past.president@acmla-acacc.ca
Treasurer / Trésorier
Rebecca Bartlett
GIS and Digital Resources Librarian
MADGIC, Carleton University Library
Carleton University
Ottawa, Ontario, K1S 5B6
treasurer@acmla-acacc.ca
President / Président
Rosa Orlandini
Librarian and Head
Map Library
102 Scott Library
York University
Toronto, Ontario
president@acmla-acacc.ca
2nd Vice President / 2e Vice-Président
Deena Yanofsky, Liaison Librarian
Humanities & Social Sciences Library
McGIll University
Montreal, Quebec H3A 0C9
vice.president2@acmla-acacc.ca
Secretary / Secrétaire
Courtney Lundrigan
Instructional and Reader Services Librarian
John W. Graham Library
Trinity College in the University of Toronto
6 Hoskin Avenue
Toronto, ON M5S 1H8
(416) 978 5851
secretary@acmla-acacc.ca
ACMLA MAILING ADDRESS / ACACC ADRESSE D’AFFAIRES
Association of Canadian Map Libraries and Archives /
Association des cartothèques et archives cartographiques du Canada
PO Box 60095
University of Alberta Postal Outlet
Edmonton AB T6G 2S4
http://acmla-acacc.ca
ACMLA Bulletin index available at http://toby.library.ubc.ca/resources/infopage.cfm?id=187Bulletin Staff / Collaborateurs
Editor:
Eva Dodsworth
Geospatial Data Services Librarian
University of Waterloo
Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1
tel: (519) 888-4567 x 36931
email: edodsworth@uwaterloo.ca
New Books and Atlases Editor:
Peter Genzinger
Reference/Collections Librarian
Wilfrid Laurier University Library
Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3C5
email: pgenzinger@wlu.ca
New Maps Editor:
Cheryl Woods
Map & Data Centre
Western University
London, Ontario N6A 5C2
tel: (519) 661-3424
email: cawoods@uwo.ca
Reviews Editor:
Sarah Simpkin
GIS and Geography Librarian
University of Ottawa
309E, Bibliothèque Morisset Library
sarah.simpkin@uottawa.ca
Regional News Editor:
Tom Anderson
Private Records
Provincial Archives of Alberta
8555 Roper Road
Edmonton, Alberta T6E 5W1
tel: (780) 415-0700
email: Tom.Anderson@gov.ab.ca
Geospatial Data and Software
Reviews Editor:
Andrew Nicholson
GIS/Data Librarian
University of Toronto at Mississauga
3359 Mississauga Rd. North
Mississauga, Ontario L5L 1C6
email: anichols@utm.utoronto.ca
GIS Trends Editor:
Courtney Lundrigan
Instructional and Reader Services Librarian
John W. Graham Library
Trinity College in the University of Toronto
Toronto, ON M5S 1H8
courtney.lundrigan@utoronto.ca
BULLETIN DE L’ACACC
NUMÉRO 148 AUTOMME 2014
ACMLA BULLETIN
NUMBER 148 FALL 2014
ON THE COVER...
Henry Ellis, London, 1794
Reproduced from an original in the National Map Collection, Public Archives of Canada. Published in co-operation with Glenbow-Alberta Institute, Calgary, Alberta, 1981. Facsimile No. 72.
ACML Facsimile Twenty-Fifth Anniversary (ISBN 0-9695062-2-8)
Table of Contents
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE - Rosa Orlandini 2
THE SCARBOROUGH HISTORICAL GIS MAPPING PROJECT - Kim Pham 3
A NOTE ON THE HISTORY OF DIGITAL GEOSPATIAL DATA FORMAT STANDARDS: THE ARC/INFO INTERCHANGE FORMAT (E00) - Amber Leahey 6
A NEW VIEW FROM SPACE: MAKING TERRASAR-X DATA ACCESSIBLE TO THE CANADIAN RESEARCH
COMMUNITY - Barbara M. Znamirowski 10
REVIEWS 23 The Map Thief/Michael Blanding
Mapping Time: Illustrated by Minard’s Map of Napoleon’s Russian Campaign of 1812/Menno-Jan Kraak
Web Cartography: Web Design for Interactive and Mobile Devices/Ian Muehlenhaus
REGIONAL NEWS - Tom Anderson 27
NEW BOOKS AND ATLASES - Peter Genzinger 34
NEW MAPS - Cheryl Woods 35
GIS TRENDS - Courtney Lundrigan 37
ACMLA 2014 FULL MEMBERSHIP LIST 39 ACMLA Bulletin Number 148, Fall 2014
2
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Hello Everyone!
2015 Conference and Annual General Meeting
Mark your calendars! The 49th annual conference and annual general meeting of the Association of
Canadian Map Libraries and Archives / Association des cartothèques et archives cartographiques du
Canada (ACMLA-ACACC) will be held in Ottawa from June 16th to June 19th, 2015. Our colleagues
at Carleton University will be hosting the workshops on June 16th and the conference sessions will
be held at the University of Ottawa from June 17th to June 19th. We are looking for volunteers to
assist with local arrangements, the website and the program. So if you would like to help, please
contact Siobhan Hanratty at vice.president1@acmla-acacc.ca.
New Bylaw and Certificate of Continuance
On July 2, 2014 our new bylaw and Article of Continuance was signed, sealed and delivered
to Industry Canada. Much to the relief of our secretary, Courtney Lundrigen, we received the
Certificate of Continuance in August. As of July 2nd, 2014 our Association officially continues to
exist as a Corporation under the Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act. The new bylaw is located
on our website. With the legal work completed, the next stage is in progress. In the weeks and
months to come, the Executive of the Association with assistance from committee members will be
communicating changes based from our new bylaw and revisions to our procedures starting with the
implementation of our new membership categories, striking task forces, and transitioning to the new
structure of the Board of Directors. If members have any questions, feel free to contact me, president@
acmla-acacc.ca, Courtney, secretary@acmla-acacc.ca or any other member of the executive.
Mentorship Program
ACMLA continues to grow and welcome new members each year, especially student members. In
this issue of the Bulletin you will find a full list of our current members. It is interesting to note that
this year we have 31 new individual members, including 5 student members, most of whom are
Library and Information Studies students intrigued by print maps, geospatial data, and geographic
information technologies. Courses in GIS and Map Librarianship at the iSchool (UofToronto),
Western University and online courses in the United States have generated a renewed interest in
our profession. Our association provides a unique opportunity and sandbox for LIS students. With
this in mind, we will be launching a new mentoring strategy in December that includes students.
I would like to encourage all experienced members of our association to spread their enthusiasm
and knowledge by considering mentoring one of our new members. Of course, if you are a new or
returning member, a student member or a full member, and you would like to have a mentor you
are most welcome to apply. To find out more about our mentoring program, go to http://www.
acmla-acacc.ca/mentoring.php .
In addition, if you want to become more involved in ACMLA-ACACC as a volunteer or a member of
a task force or committee, feel free to contact me at president@acmla-acacc.ca .
Best Regards,
Rosa Orlandini
President – ACMLA/ACACC
Bulletin de l’ACACC Numéro 148, Automme 2014
3
THE SCARBOROUGH HISTORICAL GIS MAPPING PROJECT
Kim Pham
Digital Projects & Technologies Librarian
University of Toronto’s Digital Scholarship Unit
View the map along with additional project
documentaiton http://uoft.me/1UA
INTRODUCTION
The Scarborough Historical Society and Archives
collection houses a number of newspapers,
heritage photographs, maps, census data,
genealogies and other local history resources.
As a historical society their mandate is ‘to
preserve, promote and stimulate an interest in
the history of Scarborough’(Schofield). Their
most notable photo collections can be accessed
on their Facebook page Scarborough, Looking
Back (facebook.com/scarborough.lookingback).
This page provides their members with the
opportunity to share interesting stories, past
experiences, and knowledge. A popular photo
set are the “Then & Now” albums, which
shows historical images of Scarborough (from
1900-1990) contrasted with photos of the
same scene but in in the present (2010-2013).
These photos can also be found on Flickr as
well in online forums such as urbantoronto.ca.
The Scarborough Historical GIS Mapping
Project was designed to locate and display these
images and place them on a map. The map locates
where the photo was taken and aims to visualize
the changes in Scarborough’s geography across
photographs, in contrast to viewing these images
without any spatial reference on a static webpage.
As of April 2013, the map contains 56 markers
that link to photos that provide additional
information when the images are clicked.
Different template styles can be used to show
different views of Scarborough and can be used
with the land ownership maps from 1878, 1910,
and 1932.
The map was made using open-source tools
and mapping libraries, including QGIS, Leaflet,
and GDAL. In total the map is comprised of
three map overlay layers, four Cloudmade style
layers on top of the original OpenStreetMap
data, a GeoJSON layer that contains all of the
markers, a cluster feature to group markers
by proximity, a navigation control to turn
layers on and off, and a feature to obtain the
coordinates of any point clicked on the map.
PURPOSE
The map allows the user to explore the photos
in different parts of Scarborough to see how
Scarborough has changed and is still changing
today. For instance, looking through these images
it was noticed that throughout all of Scarborough
south of Sheppard Ave., automobiles have a
significant presence in the photographs from the
1960s. Early on from the 1950s and 1960s the
infrastructure was in place in Scarborough
for “car culture”: there are drive-in diners
(A&W Santo’s), drive-in theatres (Birch Cliff
Plaza, Kennedy Theatre), a drive-in church
(Cliffside Plaza), gas stations, auto shops, wide
paved roads, and spacious parking lots. These
photographs also show the transition in the ‘Now’
photos to the construction of low and high-rise
in apartments (taking place between the 80s and
90s but were non-existent two decades earlier)..
ACMLA Bulletin Number 148, Fall 2014
4
The map helps to see what is lost and what is
gained, but also where these changes happen.
Ideally, the map could eventually be made
into a project that allows further engagement
by inviting users to collaborate by adding
their own stories, comments, and images.
WEB MAPS
The power of GIS lies in its ability to overlay
geospatial data and perform complex spatial
analysis on data. Web tools, though individually
still lacking many of the features found in GIS,
can be used to make visually stunning interactive
maps. One of the major benefits of creating a
web map is its ability to display dynamic data.
By letting the user interact with the content, web
maps allows the viewer to participate in exploring
and discovering information and features. In
web maps, information can be hidden and
revealed compared and at the user’s discretion.
Many web maps have been embraced for
disseminating certain information during crisis
events, for social media, journalism, and more.
Web maps are especially effective at mapping
not only space like most GIS applications, but
can also show changes in time. They can be
updated, added to, and used to show events that
are happening from all over the world to just
one neighbourhood. Web maps played a large
role in updating voting ballots during the last
U.S. Presidential elections, used by large news
outlets such as the New York Times, CNN, and the
Huffington Post.
WEB MAPS AND LIBRARIANSHIP
Colleen Beard discusses the different service
levels in libraries for GIS users and the mediation
involved in activities from acquiring and
preparing data to instruction that provides better
learning outcomes (Beard, 118). Librarians
can provide the required context needed that
goes into making maps as a way of creating
and seeking information (Eaves). This can
include how to access data, what formats to use
to display and disseminate information, and
verifying the accuracy of content, and more.
Nowadays, creating digital map content can be
made in a number of ways, including using GIS,
JavaScript, R, GMT, Google, or 3-d models. These
all require different, unique skills and can
produce very different results in representing
information (Gregorius). In learning these
tools and understanding what information
needs to be conveyed, librarians can assist
users in selecting the appropriate tools to use
to discover and convey the information they
desire. Web mapping tools will continue to
improve, and it should be part of librarian’s
domain to keep abreast of and utilize the tools
that help facilitate knowledge creation (Beard).
Understanding and interpreting web maps
entails knowing how individuals might use them,
how data is manipulated, what purpose they
serve, what resources they use. Librarians
with this understanding can assist users
to make better-informed decisions for the
kind of maps they seek or seek to create.
SOURCES
Beard, Colleen. “Reference Service Levels for Spatial
Data Delivery and GIS Activity in Libraries: a local
assessment”, Bulletin [Association of Canadian Map
Libraries and Archives], 118 (Fall 2003):4-8.
Eaves, David. “Learning from Libraries: The
Literacy Challenge of Open Data.” http://eaves.
ca/2010/06/10/learning-from-libraries-the-literacy-
challenge-of-open-data/.
Gregorius, Thierry. Are You A Map Maker, A Map
Builder, A Map Scripter Or A Map Creator? | Gary’s
Bloggage. (n.d.). Retrieved April 9, 2013, from
http://www.vicchi.org/2013/03/13/are-you-a-map-
maker-a-map-builder-a-map-scripter-or-amap-creator/.
Bulletin de l’ACACC Numéro 148, Automme 2014
5
The Scarborough Historical Mapping Project - http://uoft.me/1UA
Rumsey, David and Williams, Meredith. “Historical
Maps in GIS” in Knowles, Anne Kelly, ed.
Past Time, Past Place: GIS for History (Redlands, Calif.:
ESRI Press, 2002).
Schofield, Richard. “About Us | Scarborough
Historical Society.” Accessed April 8, 2013. http://
scarboroughhistorical.ca/?page_id=9.
Kim Pham is a 2014 graduate from the University of Toronto
iSchool and has worked at the Map and Data Library in
Robarts Library and at OCUL Scholars Portal on their odesi
and Dataverse repository. Kim’s research interests include
applications for data visualization and diital preservation in
libraries. She is working as a Digital Projects & Technologies
Librarian at the University of Toronto’s Digital Scholarship Unit.
ACMLA Bulletin Number 148, Fall 2014
6
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) involve
data and systems used for digital geographic
analysis, and to a greater extent, are built with
and dependent on software to capture, store,
manipulate, and visualize data. GIS evolved out
of the larger quantitative data shift in the 1950s,
where data were collected and stored on large
mainframes mainly in advanced research or
government facilities. Today, personal desktop GIS
software and distributed web-based tools make
GIS much more accessible, impactful, and versatile
for researchers. Given the wide demand for GIS,
the adoption and use of standard software and
data formats has evolved to enable data sharing.
For desktop GIS software, such as ESRI ArcMap,
MapInfo, Manifold, even Google, and also, open
source software such as QGIS and GRASS, standard
file formats are used to facilitate data sharing
and reuse. As GIS is adopted by increasingly
more researchers across a variety of disciplines,
it is important for research and data stewards,
including GIS libraries, to take note of the relative
sustainability of file formats and systems used
to generate, capture, and package geospatial
data. The Library of Congress has developed the
Sustainability of Digital Formats Planning guide1,
a useful tool that describes the major GIS data
standards and file formats in libraries. A long-term
digital preservation strategy is required if
geospatial data are to remain usable over time
(Gregory and Ell, 2007). The approach taken
in this brief discussion isn’t meant to establish
a digital preservation strategy, but rather to
open and continue discussion (and, potentially
spur more of it!) around some of the history of
proprietary (and some open ) geospatial data
formats, including those that aim to facilitate
data sharing, interchange, and reuse. This note
focuses specifically on the use of the Arc/Info
Interchange format (E00), and the sustainability
of this format for use and interchange between
software systems and versions over time. This
isn’t an endorsement of any one standard or
software, simply a reflection on the history
and current use of this format in GIS libraries.
Given the close alignment between spatial file
format specifications and software, the stability of
file formats is difficult to manage since software is
constantly evolving. Currently, in terms of software,
ESRI’s ArcGIS software is the largest and most
widely used software for GIS in the world. ESRI
has a long history in GIS, as a software innovator
since the 1970s and 80s with their software Arc/
Info. ESRI’s Arc/Info and ArcView, with support
for a variety of spatial data file formats, was
released in the 1990s to facilitate a GUI driven
desktop GIS. More recently open source GIS has
paved the way for greater transparency, open
source development, and low-cost GIS. However,
the data standards for spatial data exchange
remain relatively unchanged, proprietary, and
not-open as one might put it. This may or may
not be changing; it’s not easy to tell at this point.
Nevertheless, and this is true in most quantitative
research domains where newer versions of
A NOTE ON THE HISTORY OF DIGITAL GEOSPATIAL DATA
FORMAT STANDARDS: THE ARC/INFO INTERCHANGE FORMAT
(E00)
Amber Leahey
Data Services Metadata Librarian
Scholars Portal, Ontario Council of University Libraries
1Library of Congress. Sustainability of Digital Formats Planning for Library of Congress Collections. http://www.
digitalpreservation.gov/formats/
Bulletin de l’ACACC Numéro 148, Automme 2014
7
software used to analyze data, use updated file
formats and backward compatibility (and note,
the ability to read older data formats does not
last long) (Gregory & Ell, 2007). Even worse,
propriety formats may disappear altogether if
the company that owns them goes out of business
(Gregory & Ell, 2007). Given this history and
concern, it’s reasonable to argue that any format
tied so closely to software is vulnerable to change.
The Arc/Info Interchange format (E00) is an
interesting example of a proprietary standard that
enables the exchange of spatial data to and from
older ESRI software (i.e. ArcView, Arc/Info etc.) to
share data, even today. For many years, this was
the only reliable way to exchange data between
ESRI systems. As of 2011, there are effective
tools for conversion and exchange in binary form
including the use of the ESRI Arc Geodatabase data
model that provides easier interoperability among
ArcGIS file formats (Library of Congress, 2011).
ESRI software is heavily used by government data
producers in Canada and in the United States, for
some time now. As a result, some of the historical
and larger data series are delivered using the
E00 format, still today. For example, much of the
historical digital collection from Statistics Canada,
including the Census Cartographic Boundary
Files for Census years 1981 – 2001, are made
available and have been maintained as Arc/Info
Interchange (E00) files. ESRI’s current software
products (now at ArcMap version 10.3) can still
import E00 format, importing into a coverage or
grid using the stand alone conversion tool such
as IMPORT71 (there are also other conversion
tools now built into ESRI software). Before the
use of the ESRI Geodatabase, the Arc/Info Export
format (E00) as it’s more commonly known, was
widely used by GIS professionals and governments
as the method to export, share, and deliver data.
It, unlike some other spatial standards, is built
using a simple data structure. Data in E00 are
represented as simple ASCII text, and are easily
opened and viewed in any common text editor
(WordPad, Notepad, Notepad ++ etc.). To give you
a sense of the typical data structure of an E00 file,
an example of an actual ARC file is provided below:
Taken from Daniel Morissette. Arc/Info Export (E00) Format Analysis. 2000-02-24.
http://avce00.maptools.org/docs/v7_e00_cover.html#ARC_FILES
ACMLA Bulletin Number 148, Fall 2014
8
There are several files that come embedded in the
E00 file itself, many of these relate to the spatial data
coordinates and coverage geometry (coverages are
what the E00 data are derived from), including
the arc coordinates (ARC), topology, centroid
coordinates (CND), label points, file and coverage
history, as well as file logs (LOG), projection
information (PRJ), spatial indexing and tolerance
indicators (TOL), and so on (Morissette, 2000).
Care must be taken when an E00 file is created to
ensure that the feature type (e.g., coverage) of the
data being exchanged is declared so that the import
functions of the conversion tools can recreate the
proper feature type (Library of Congress, 2011).
Using E00 files data can be a bit difficult. Its use
today is dependent on a number of factors mainly
to do with the ability of researchers themselves
to use this kind of data effectively, and, the
management and conversion of this data by third
parties that either redistribute data on behalf of
the government, or, maintain and preserve this
information. The latter of these two scenarios is
believed to be an effective solution for improving
access to data, and can facilitate better ease-of-use
for a wide variety of researchers. Libraries play an
important role in enabling this kind of long-term
access to resources, especially digital resources.
The Scholars GeoPortal (http://geo.scholarsportal.
info), a geospatial data portal project of the
Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL)
is continuously adding data to the shared OCUL
repository (the portal). The major sources of
government data including Statistics Canada
(Data Liberation Initiative – DLI) data, are on
the list of priorities to load. To date, the Census
boundaries (layers) for the 2011, 2006, and the
2001 Census, have been loaded into the portal. For
2001, the Census Boundary Files were supplied
in E00 format directly from the DLI, Statistics
Canada. As a third-party distributor, effort was
made to convert these data and ingest them into
our current GIS system (using ArcGIS Server 10).
Given the structure of the E00 format, conversion
to coverages and then to shape file format (.shp)
was required. The data supplied by Statistics
Canada in E00 format provides data as multi-part
polygons, and the data appear to be disassociated
from their original unique identifiers. In most
cases the number of polygons did not adequately
represent the number of spatial features (i.e.
boundary polygons) in the data set. In order to
make the 2001 boundaries consistent in terms
of their structure and presentation with other
census years, some polygon dissolution was
performed on the datasets in order to re-associate
the polygons to their specified feature type.
For example the following considerations
and steps were taken for the 2001 Economic
Regions of Canada, Cartographic Boundary File:
a. There are only 76 Economic Regions
in Canada for the 2001 Census, however, the
original imported data amounted to 5057 features;
b. The E00 file represents all land and
water polygons (including islands in Canada’s
north) as features in the dataset, with no
associated groupings based on common census
geography (i.e. Economic Region boundary);
c. In order to present the ER boundary as the
unique features in the data set, a dissolve function
was performed on the ERUID (common geographic
unique identifier for this data). This dissolved
the polygons into the features of interest i.e. ERs;
d. Finally, a merge was performed on the
table to join to the original data attributes that were
lost during the dissolve process, unnecessary data
columns were deleted before saving and publishing.
The process of file conversion requires careful
consideration of the existing formats and data
structures, as well as an understanding of the
intended use of the converted product. In the case of
Bulletin de l’ACACC Numéro 148, Automme 2014
9
the 2001 Census boundary files, we intended
the data to be used in historical and comparative
geospatial analysis and thus we converted the data
in order for it to be used alongside more modern
GIS datasets and tools. Sometimes this required
further data manipulation and standardization,
beyond just the regular data loading process of
loading data into the GeoPortal. In the future, we
intend to load the full series of boundary files
back to 1981 (and older if available). It is hoped
that conversion of the data will improve access to
this historical collection and improve usability of
these data for analysis by researchers across OCUL.
We’ve also identified that some similar conversion
and value added work has already been done by
member libraries (including the University of
Western Ontario’s Equinox System http://equinox.
uwo.ca/), and it is hoped that this will be reused
in the Scholars GeoPortal wherever possible.
We welcome comments and feedback about
these files, and seek to learn more about file
formats in use, as well as, the rich and varied
history of software and data standards in GIS.
Works Cited:
Gregory I.N. and Ell P.S. Historical GIS: Technologies,
methodologies and scholarship. Cambridge
University Press: Cambridge. 2007.
Library of Congress. Sustainability of Digital
Formats Planning for Library of Congress
Collections: ESRI ArcInfo interchange file (E00).
2011. Accessed Nov. 13, 2014.
http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/formats/
fdd/fdd000291.shtml
Morissette, Daniel, (original author unknown).
“Arc/Info Export (E00) Format Analysis”. Feb.
24, 2000. Accessed: Nov. 13, 2014.
http://avce00.maptools.org/docs/v7_e00_
cover.html#ARC_FILES
ACMLA Bulletin Number 148, Fall 2014
10
A NEW VIEW FROM SPACE: MAKING TERRASAR-X DATA
ACCESSIBLE TO THE CANADIAN RESEARCH COMMUNITY
Barbara M. Znamirowski
Maps, Data and Government Information Centre (MaDGIC)
Thomas J. Bata Library, Trent University
Abstract
This paper discusses work with TerraSAR-X data
undertaken by the Maps, Data & Government
Information Centre of the Trent University
Library. It is divided into three sections: the
first provides a brief description of TerraSAR-X
satellite and imagery options, the second describes
German-Canadian agreements for data access,
and the third provides a brief overview of the
Maps, Data & Government Information Centre’s
pilot project with imagery. This paper expands
on information provided at the Association of
Canadian Map Library and Archives (ACMLA)
Carto2014 conference in Montreal in June 2014.
Introduction
In their roles as campus centres for spatial data
and spatial technologies, libraries have partnered
with a number of agencies to make their data
and technologies widely available to Canadian
universities for research and teaching. One recent
and promising partnership, now under development,
is that between the Canada Centre for Mapping and
Earth Observation (CCMEO) of Natural Resources
Canada, the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Airbus
Defence and Space, and Canadian universities. Its
objective is to further current opportunities in
place for accessing one type of satellite imagery:
synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data produced by
the TerraSAR-X satellite system. A particular focus
of this initiative is on how libraries might play a role
in facilitating the integration of these data sets into
teaching curriculum. Discussions are underway to
explore how libraries can facilitate access to data sets,
expanding on existing DLR programs that a number
of researchers have already made use of. This paper
describes work underway at Trent University Library,
in collaboration with other colleagues and agencies
that explores the potential of this partnership. It,
describes the TerraSAR-X satellite system and the
imagery options that it provides, reviews background
information regarding the German-Canadian
agreement for TerraSAR-X imagery and options for
obtaining imagery, and, finally, describes a pilot
project now underway at Trent Library’s Maps,
Data & Government Information Centre (MaDGIC)
that is examining how library technologies might
be used to support the provision of these data.
Section One: Satellite Description1
TerraSAR-X (also referred to as TSX or TSX-1)
is a German Earth-observation SAR satellite. It
was launched on June 15, 2007, and it has been
fully operational since January 7, 2008. The
satellite is in a near-polar orbit, at an altitude
of 514 kilometres and a revisit time of 11 days.
In June 2010 TanDEM-X, a virtually identical
satellite also owned and operated by the DLR,
was launched and operates in close formation.
Together they are acquiring data which will result
in a variety of imagery and also permit the creation
of a highly accurate global Digital Elevation Model.
The radar satellite technologies used by these
satellites involve radar antenna which emit pulses
of electromagnetic radiation in the microwave part
of the spectrum, and then detect and record the
reflection “echo” of the pulses from the object in its
line of sight. Unlike optical sensors which rely on
“passive” energy (such as the sun), a key advantage
of “active” radar sensors is that they carry their
own radiation source, and are therefore operational
both day and night, during (most) inclement
weather conditions. They can also penetrate cloud
cover. As such they are well suited to a variety
of applications including disaster management,
agriculture, forestry, marine study and security.
Bulletin de l’ACACC Numéro 148, Automme 2014
11
Fig. 1 TerraSAR-X Satellite
Source: Source: German Aerospace Centre (DLR) web site. Taken down on 2 June
2014, from: http://www.dlr.de/dlr/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-10377/565_read-
436/#gallery/350
Fig. 2 TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X: tandem formation
Source: Source: Airbus Defence and Space. Taken down from German Aerospace (DLR)
web site on 21 November 2014: http://www.dlr.de/eo/en/desktopdefault.aspx/
tabid-5725/9296_read-15979/
The TerraSAR-X satellite carries a high frequency Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) X-band
sensor which can be steered2 and programmed to operate in different operational beam
modes to obtain recordings of various strip widths, resolutions and polarizations.
ACMLA Bulletin Number 148, Fall 2014
12
Fig.3 Scanning Modes of TerraSAR-X
Source: From German Aerospace (DLR) website description of TerraSAR-X Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) technologies. Taken
down on 30 May 2014, from: http://www.dlr.de/dlr/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-10382/570_read-431/#gallery/356
Some key imaging modes:
Polarisation Mode:
Single(S) for all modes
Dual (D) for High Resolution SpotLight (HS), SpotLight (SL) and StripMap (SM)
Pass Direction:
Ascending (A) or Descending (D)
The following documents are recommended for further information on the TerraSAR-X satellite and available
imagery products:
Bulletin de l’ACACC Numéro 148, Automme 2014
13
1. Airbus Defence & Space, TerraSAR-X image Product Guide: Basic and Enhanced Radar Satellite Imagery,
Issue 2.0 August 2014. Available from: http://www.geo-airbusds.com/files/pmedia/public/r459_9_201408_
tsxx-itd-ma-0009_tsx-productguide_i2.00.pdf
2. DLR German Aerospace Centre TerraSAR-X The German Radar Eye in Space. TerraSAR-X_D-GB_July 20019.
Available from: http://www.dlr.de/dlr/en/Portaldata/1/Resources/documents/TSX_brosch.pdf
Section Two: Opportunities for Academic Libraries and Researchers
This section provides some background on the status of the German-Canadian agreement for TerraSAR-X
imagery: explaining who is involved in the negotiations, and how imagery for academic research can be
obtained at this time.
Fig. 4 Participants
Source: Source: Microsoft Office Power Point 2010, Clipart.
The TerraSAR-X project is supported by the BMBF (German Ministry of Education and Science) and
managed and operated by the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt;
DLR). In 2002 Airbus Defence & Space (at the time it was known as EADS Astrium) was awarded a contract
to implement the TerraSAR satellite (TerraSAR-X) on the basis of a public-private partnership agreement.
Airbus Defence & Space funded part of the implementation cost of the TerraSAR-X system, and successfully
developed and tested the satellite system, receiving in exchange exclusive commercial rights for the data.
The satellite is owned and operated by DLR, which also retains the scientific and educational data rights3.
Canada has a long-standing interest in development and use of radar satellite technologies, including
the Canadian RADARSAT-1 and RADARSAT-2 initiatives. In 2010 the Government of Canada established
the Inuvik Satellite Station Facility (ISSF) in collaboration with a number of partners. Built above the
Arctic Circle (a polar location improves reception) the ISSF land is owned by the Government of Canada
and managed by the CCMEO. One of the antennas currently hosted by the ISSF belongs to the DLR.
ACMLA Bulletin Number 148, Fall 2014
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Fig. 5 Inuvik Satellite Station Facility (ISSF)
Source: “Inuvik Satellite Station Facility. Terry Halifax Photography ©2011
downloaded on 3 June 2014, from: http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/earth-sciences/
geomatics/satellite-imagery-air-photos/satellite-facilities/ISSF/10953
Sensors on Canadian land are subject to the Remote
Sensing Space Systems Act (S.C. 2005, c.45, assented
2005-11-25) which includes provisions for ensuring
that raw data collected about a country be shared
with that country (Section 4c). In the case of the
specific Canadian agreement with the DLR it has
been agreed that the CCMEO can access up to 400
scenes per year for each satellite that has had data
received at the Inuvik Satellite Station Facility
(ISSF). Faculty, librarians and graduate students can
apply to obtain data for their research under this
agreement following the process described below.
Academic research proposals, including requests
for TerraSAR-X imagery, can be submitted to the
DLR for evaluation through DLR’s TerraSAR Science
Service System. Forms and descriptions of different
programs are provided at: http://sss.terrasar-x.
dlr.de/. While some of the Announcements of
Opportunity are time sensitive, applications can
also be made at any time under the “General
Proposal Submission” process. The DLR archive
can be reviewed at any time through DLR’s data
portal EOWEB at http://centaurus.caf.dlr.de:8080/.
Researchers wishing to obtain imagery may also
wish to consult the archive maintained by Airbus
Defence & Space (located at: http://terrasar-x-archive.
infoterra.de/), to identify available imagery
before defining their requests for new imagery to
be tasked. Both new and archived imagery should
be requested through this application process.
In addition to research proposals, the CCMEO, DLR,
and Airbus Defence & Space are examining whether
it will be possible to introduce TerraSAR-X data
more broadly into teaching curriculum at Canadian
universities and colleges. Dr. Gordon Deecker, Senior
Advisor, Business, Planning and Development,
has been consulting with some ACMLA members
(including Larry Laliberté, University of Alberta,
Simon Trottier from Université de Sherbrooke, and
Barbara Znamirowski from Trent University) to see
how we might move forward on this initiative, with
a goal of implementing a “DLI type”5 agreement.
Bulletin de l’ACACC Numéro 148, Automme 2014
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A numbers of challenges exist to establishing a model
that would allow libraries to dispense imagery to
faculty and students for teaching or research under
a collective agreement. Most notably, distribution of
TerraSAR-X data has to comply with German Satellite
Data Security Law (SatDSig) and the Canadian
Remote Sensing Space Systems Act (RSSSA).
Canadian libraries wishing to learn more about
getting data for a specific academic course should
contact the author or Dr. Deecker from the CCMEO
regarding options for data access and status of
negotiations.6 We are pleased that a process has
been defined for considering individual research
proposals from faculty, librarians and graduate
students, and we will continue to explore avenues
for introducing data through library agreements.
The remainder of this paper discusses Trent
University Maps, Data & Government Information
Centre’ s pilot i n i t i a t ive with SAR da t a .
Section 3: Trent Pilot Project
Application Process, Goals and Methodology
Between January and March 2014 Trent University
Library completed the documentation process
required for a Technical Evaluation of TerraSAR-X
imagery. This included signing a Technical Evaluation
License and providing a Certificate of Residence, Proof
of ID, and photo ID.7 Our project goals were to become
familiar with the TerraSAR products, and to explore
best practices for managing and introducing the data to
faculty and students. We also wanted to evaluate how
our existing technical framework and use of GIS web
technologies could be adapted to support these goals.
In identifying an area of interest, it was suggested
that we supply a shp extent file of our boundary
comprising an area of not more than 6 to 8 km². A
smaller area would keep overall file size reasonable
for a test, and would ensure that the higher resolution
imagery could be obtained in a single pass. The area we
defined was Jackson Park, in Peterborough (Fig. 6), an
area familiar to course instructors and many students.
Fig. 6: Study Boundary: Jackson Park, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
Source: Image Credit: Ontario. Make a Topographic Map. Powered by Land Information Ontario.©Queen’s Printer
for Ontario, 2014 Downloaded on 23 November 2014, from: http://www.giscoeapp.lrc.gov.on.ca/web/mnr/gib/
basedata/viewer/viewer.html?
Several factors make the Jackson Park area an appropriate site for this trial. This area includes several
habitats: forests, stream, wetlands and open fields, as well as urban development, providing a basis for
analysis of imagery of several land use types. The presence of diverse ecological habitats and hydrological
ACMLA Bulletin Number 148, Fall 2014
16
regimes provides an opportunity for analysis of, for example, habitat change over time and patterns of
water flow and snow melt. The area is also facing pressures related to urban development, such as a
proposed highway bridge across a natural area and a new suburban neighborhood planned adjacent to
a significant wetland; images of these developments could provide a basis for analysis of their impacts.
We requested and received six images at different imaging modes of the same area.
Fig. 7: Areas covered by imagery at six different imaging modes
Source: Imagery: TerraSAR-X imagery; Airbus Defence & Space and German Aerospace Center
(DLR), Base Map: ESRI World Topographic Map Software: ESRI ArcGIS for Server 10.1
Bulletin de l’ACACC Numéro 148, Automme 2014
17
The download process was quick and intuitive,
involving FTP transfer from Airbus Defence & Space.
Technical Procedures
We are publishing web services on a Windows 2008
server using ESRI ArcGIS for Server 10.1 and IIS. For
the initial test, all development work was restricted
to a Virtual Machine (VM) accessible only to staff of
the Maps, Data & Government Information Centre.
Before publishing the data, several processing
steps were completed. Initial processing of the
data was done on a local machine using ESRI’s
ArcGIS for Desktop (ArcMap). This involved
unbundling the six files we received (one for
each imaging mode). We were impressed by the
variety of products available for each mode, which
included a high resolution TIFF file and composite
3-band images as well as extensive metadata.
Before moving the data to our server, we projected
the imagery from the original coordinate system
(UTM 17 N) to Web Mercator. Web Mercator is
not necessarily the best for analytical uses, but it
permits speedy reproduction on the web without
intermediary caching. For the purposes of this test
we have not created tile caches and are rendering
images dynamically. This will give us more flexibility
in future if we wish to adjust the service, or offer
options for activating dynamic processes on the
image. Using ArcGIS for Desktop the data was
converted to raster pyramids (to increase rendering
speed) and stored in file geodatabases. We created
six file geodatabases to support the six web services
we envisioned, one for each image mode containing
five components: the original high resolution SAR
image by itself, the composite 3-band image, and each
of the single bands from the composite separately.
In addition to using ArcGIS for Server our GIS
Developer has written a number of programs to
support the web site, including work done in C#
for compiled web applications working with IIS
(for example, search results, list of services, secure
paths that can be authorized), work done in python
which interacts with ArcGIS for Server (for example,
potentially, downloading of imagery) and work done
in HTML 5, CSS and JavaScript for front end web site
development (for example, drag and drop menus).
Figure 8 shows the structure of the ArcGIS for
Server service directories and geodatabases.
Fig. 8: ArcGIS for Server Services Directory and
Geodatabase structure
Source: Trent University Library ArcGIS for Server
10.1 TerraSAR-X directories
ACMLA Bulletin Number 148, Fall 2014
18
The services are called by a custom C# application,
which is able read all component web services
when the web site is opened, but only renders
components visible when selected by the researcher.
We did evaluate the feasibility of running separate
services for each component of an image, but it
was not considered essential for our purposes.
We are managing the data deliberately this way
to reduce the number of services required for
display purposes within ArcGIS for Server. Although
these methods require more programming work,
there is less impact on server resources for
publishing (including memory and CPU time).
For the purposes of this test we have not created
tile caches and are rendering images dynamically.
This will give us more flexibility in future if
we wish to adjust the service, or offer options
for activating dynamic processes on the image.
A number of enhancements were added to the
graphic interface including drag and drop menus,
opacity options, and options for base maps.
Fig. 9: Trent University Library Web Site for TerraSAR-X imagery showing Staring Spotlight image of Jackson
Park
Source: Snapshot from Trent University Library Server, Data: Airbus Defence & Space and German Aerospace
Center (DLR), TerraSAR-X Staring SpoLight (ST) 0.2m Composite, dims_op_oc_dfd2_372764075, 16 Februrary 2016,
Production date: 3 March 2014 ©Airbus Defence and Space
Software: ESRI ArcGIS for Server 10.1
We received extensive metadata for each image, which came packaged as a large XML file, which then also
linked to other XML files. At this time we have copied the file as one long xml page and made the information
available from our web site through clicking on an “i” information button on the options menu. Eventually we
would like to do further work on presentation of metadata, such as potentially writing a program to parse
out essential fields from metadata and introducing different options for viewing the entire metadata file.
Bulletin de l’ACACC Numéro 148, Automme 2014
19
We are still evaluating options for download including
authentication, but anticipate that the methodology
would include something similar to what we
currently use for aerial photography. This involves
authenticating with Trent User ID and password
through use of EZ Proxy and LDAP. During this
process the researcher is also prompted to complete
a brief online form which includes acceptance of
license conditions. For download, images would
be offered following our standard practice of
delivering products in their original coordinate
system, calling the image using a script (most likely
python). We would also like to experiment with
implementation of some of the analytical features
available within ArcGIS for Server, such as, for
example, applying high-pass or low-pass filters.
Conclusion and Acknowledgements:
Web GIS development work for this project was
completed by Mike Kyffin, GIS Programmer and
Developer, Trent Library Maps, Data & Government
Information Centre.
Trent University Library is extremely grateful for
the opportunity to participate in the Technical
Evaluation of TerraSAR-X imagery. We wish to thank
all persons and institutions involved in providing us
with access to TerraSAR-X imagery, including Gordon
Deecker, CCMEO, Alexander Kaptein, Airbus Defence
& Space, Marchus Jochum, Airbus Defence & Space
and Achim Roth, DLR. We look forward to making
continued progress on a model library partnership
agreement for all Canadian university libraries, and
to further introducing TerraSAR-X imagery to our
university communities and academic programs.
All inaccuracies or omissions within this article are
the responsibility of the author.
1Information for this Section 1 of this paper has been
taken from:
1. Airbus Defence & Space, TerraSAR-X image Product
Guide: Basic and Enhanced Radar Satellite Imagery,
Issue 2.0 August 2014. Available from: http://www.geo-airbusds.
com/files/pmedia/public/r459_9_201408_tsxx-itd-
ma-0009_tsx-productguide_i2.00.pdf
2. DLR German Aerospace Centre TerraSAR-X The
German Radar Eye in Space. TerraSAR-X_D-GB_July 20019.
Available from: http://www.dlr.de/dlr/en/Portaldata/1/
Resources/documents/TSX_brosch.pdf
3. eoPortal Directory, TSX (TerraSAR-X) Mission
https://directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/
t/terrasar-x. Credit note on web site: “The
information compiled and edited in this article was
provided by Herbert J. Kramer from his documentation
of:”Observation of the Earth and Its Environment: Survey
of Missions and Sensors” (Springer Verlag) as well as many
other sources after the publication of the 4th edition in
2002. - Comments and corrections to this article are
always welcome for further updates (herb.kramer@
gmx.net)” Available from: https://directory.eoportal.
org/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/t/terrasar-x
2The DLR web sites expands on this key advantage as follows:
“The radar beam can be electronically tilted within a range
of 20 to 60 degrees perpendicular to the flight direction,
without having to move the satellite itself. This has an
obvious advantage: it allows the radar to zoom in on many
more ground targets from the satellite’s orbit than would
be possible using a ‘non-steerable’ radar.” http://www.dlr.
de/dlr/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-10377/565_read-
436/#/gallery/350, accessed on: November 8, 2014
3EO Sharing Earth Observations Resources, https://
directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/
t/terrasar-x#footback109%29 and TerraSAR-X
The German Radar Eye in Space, http://www.dlr.de/dlr/
en/Portaldata/1/Resources/documents/TSX_brosch.pdf
4 “(c) that raw data and remote sensing products from
the system about the territory of any country — but
not including data or products that have been enhanced
or to which some value has been added — be made
available to the government of that country within a
reasonable time, on reasonable terms and for so long
as the data or products have not been disposed of, but
subject to any licence conditions under subsection (6)
or (7) applicable to their communication or provision”
From: Remote Sensing Space Systems Ace S.C. 2005, c.45
Assented to 2005-11-25
5 Agreement modeled after the Data Liberation Initiative (DLI)
held between Canadian universities and Statistics Canada.
ACMLA Bulletin Number 148, Fall 2014
20
6Barbara Znamirowski, Head, Maps, Data &
Government Information Centre, Trent University
Library: bznamirowski@trentu.ca ; Dr. Gordon
Deecker, Senior Advisor, Canada Centre for Earth
Observation, Canada Centre for Mapping and Earth
Observation, Earth Sciences Sector, Natural Resources
Canada: Gordon.Deecker@NRCan-RNCan.gc.ca
7 The Certificate of Residence is an official document
available from Canada Revenue Agency and required
for European Union Tax Law; Proof of ID is an official
letter confirming institutional identity and affiliation of
researcher, photo ID must including citizenship information.
It should be noted that research applications and technical
evaluation applications vary in what forms are required.
Bibliography
Web Sites:
Airbus Defence & Space Archive, “TerraSAR-X Archive”
http://terrasar-x-archive.infoterra.de/
Airbus Defence & Space, “TerraSAR-X Documentation”
http://www.geo-airbusds.com/en/228-terrasar-x-technical-
documents
DLR German Aerospace Center Web Site and brochures
on TerraSAR-X http://www.dlr.de/dlr/en/desktopdefault.
aspx/tabid-10377/565_read-436/#/gallery/350
DLR TerraSAR Science Service System http://sss.
terrasar-x.dlr.de/
EO Sharing Earth Observation Resources eoPortalDirectory,
https://directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/
t/terrasar-x
Natural Resources Canada Inuvik Satellite Station Facility
http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/earth-sciences/geomatics/
satellite-imagery-air-photos/satellite-facilities/
ISSF/10953
Articles:
Helko Breit, Thomas Fritz, Ulrich Balss, Marie Lachaise,
Andreas Niedermeier, and Martin Vonavka, TerraSAR-X
SAR Processing and Products, IEEE Transaction On
Geoscience And Remote Sensing, VOL. 48, NO. 2, February
2010,727-740.
Jürgen Janoth, Steffen Gantert, Thomas Schrage, Alexander
Kaptein, TerraSAR Next Generation – Mission Capabilities,
Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS),
2013 IEEE International, 2297 - 2300.
Naomi Short, Brian Brisco, Nicole Couture, Wayne
Pollard, Kevin Murnaghan, Paul Budkewitsch, A
comparison of TerraSAR-X, RADARSAT-2 and ALOS-PALSAR
interferometry for monitoring permafrost environments,
case study from Herschel Island, Canada Remote Sensing
of Environment, 115 (2011) 3491-3506Pages 3491-3506.
Barbara Znamirowski
Head, Maps, Data & Government
Information Centre (MaDGIC)
Trent University Library
Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
Twitter: @Trent_MaDGIC
Bulletin de l’ACACC Numéro 148, Automme 2014
21
ACMLA Student Paper Award
Association of Canadian Map Libraries
and Archives
The Association of Canadian Map Libraries and Archives (ACMLA) announces its annual student
paper contest. Essays may deal with access to and information about geospatial data, cartography,
cartographic materials, map information, map data, GIS data and geo-referenced information.
Eligibility
A student from Canada or studying in Canada
currently enrolled in a post-secondary institution
(college or university) is eligible to apply to enter the
contest. All papers shall be prepared during the
Essay
The essay shall be original and unpublished, and of no
more than 3,000 words. Judging of the papers will
give primary consideration to the essay’s originality
and its contribution to new knowledge and insights.
Other considerations will be the author’s
demonstration of the relevance of the subject, the
quality of presentation and documentation, and the
literary merits of the essay.
Award
$250.00 and free membership in the Association for
one year. The award includes an invitation to present
the paper at the ACMLA annual conference, normally
held at the end of May/early June. If the winner
chooses to attend the conference, the Association will
waive registration fees and provide a travel stipend of
$250.00.
Deadline: 15 April 2015
Eva Dodsworth, ACMLA Awards Committee,
Geospatial Centre, University of Waterloo Library,
Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1
edodsworth@uwaterloo.ca
Submit a paper to the Contest!
Eleventh Annual
2014-2015 school year
ACMLA Bulletin Number 148, Fall 2014
22
ACMLA AWARDS
The ACMLA Awards Committee is responsible for three awards given by the Association. We
invite nominations for these awards and encourage members to participate in the selection of
the awards for outstanding accomplishments in our field.
ACMLA Honours Award
The Awards Committee invites nominations for the ACMLA Honours Award. According to
the guidelines for the award, the nominee should be a person who has made an outstanding
contribution in the field of map/GIS librarianship. The contribution may either be for a
specific activity or for general services and contributions such as continued membership in
the Association with active participation either as an executive officer, committee chairperson,
or committee member. Normally, membership in ACMLA is a prerequisite, however that does
not preclude considering outstanding non-members.
- Deadline : April 15th, 2015
ACMLA Cathy Moulder Paper Award
To be nominated for the Paper Award, which carries a $200 monetary prize, a feature article by
one or more authors consisting of at least three pages in length must have appeared in issues
143-145 of the ACMLA Bulletin.
- Deadline : April 15th, 2015
ACMLA Student Paper Award
The Student Paper Award will consist of a prize of $250 and free membership in the Association
for one year. The award includes an invitation to present the winning paper at the Annual
Conference. The Association will waive registration fees and provide a travel stipent of $250.
The award will normally be given on an annual basis to a student from Canada or studying in
Canada currently enrolled in a post-secondary institution (college or university). The essay
shall be original and unpublished and of no more than 3000 words. Priimary consideration
for the award will be given to the essay’s originality and its contribution to new knowledge
and inight. Other considerations include the author’s demonstration of the relevance of the
subject, the quality of the presentation and documentation, and the literary merits of the essay.
- Deadline: April 15th, 2015
For more information on ACMLA Awards, contact:
Eva Dodsworth
Chair, ACMLA Awards Committee
edodsworth@uwaterloo.ca
Bulletin de l’ACACC Numéro 148, Automme 2014
23
GEOSPATIAL DATA AND SOFTWARE REVIEWS
LandScan Global Population Database
Reviewed by Eva Dodsworth
Geospatial Data Services Librarian
University of Waterloo
Developed at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak
Ridge National Laboratory, LandScan features the
highest-accuracy global population data available
on the market offering three levels of population
data : countries, first-level administrative
boundaries (provinces, states), and square-kilometre
cells. LandScan is distributed by
East View Information Services and is available
through a yearly subscription (representing
data collected in the previous year). East View
also offers The LandScan Global Archive, a
compilation of the historical LandScan data sets.
Description
LandScan offers world-wide ambient population
distribution (average over 24 hours) at one-kilometer
resolution (30” x 30”) and can be
customized to define individual pixel points.
Using GIS and remote sensing, LandScan uses
spatial data and imagery analysis to disaggregate
census counts within an administrative boundary.
LandScan consists of raw data files in raster
format, including:
Population - A subdirectory containing the
ArcGIS grid of the population. There is also a
“Layer” for ArcGIS. Each cell value represents
the number of people in that 30 arc-second cell.
Admin1 with Demographic Boundaries - A
subdirectory containing the ArcGIS grid of
the countries/sub-countries. These are the
standard Level 1 Administrative Boundaries.
The attribute table for this grid contains
the age-sex factors for the “admin1” units.
The factors can be used to create various
demographic grids for your own needs.
For example, to produce a population grid for
females, ages 5-9 you would use the Map Calculator
in the Analysis Menu with the command:
( [lspop2012] * [world_admin1 . Pf5_9])
Also contains a DBF for the demography factors
of each admin1 area.
Country - A subdirectory containing the ArcGIS
grid of the countries. These are the standard
Country Boundaries. Also contains a DBF giving
the country name for each country “number” in
the grid and has demographic factors similar to
the Admin1 table.
AreaGrid - A subdirectory containing a grid of
areas of 30 arc-second cells. The data table contains
the cell areas. The units are square kilometers.
Additionally, LandScan is also available as a
cloud-based web mapping service. This is an
ideal option for casual users and for quick access
to the information and tools. Population counts
can be accessed, however population density can
only be calculated using GIS software. Population
counts are available for areas visible on the
map by using the “Current View Population”
button, as well as for “Custom Area Populations”
which provides a unique population count
within a user-defined boundary. Additional
tools allow users to download population
data by country or by custom area in a raster
data file that can be used with GIS software.
ACMLA Bulletin Number 148, Fall 2014
24
Figures 1 and 2 : LandScan via Web Mapping Program
Bulletin de l’ACACC Numéro 148, Automme 2014
25
Figure 3 – Landscan via ArcGIS; Map courtesy Jon Morgan
Figure 4 – Attribute table via ArcGIS
ACMLA Bulletin Number 148, Fall 2014
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The LandScan Global Archive
The LandScan Global Archive was released
in March 2013 and is a compilation of the
historical LandScan data sets from 2000 up to
the prior year of current release. The level of
detail and accuracy varies for early years due
to the improvements of imaging and analytical
algorithms applied. The data are available in
the original GIS format and online.
Technical Aspects
The data are distributed in both Esri grid
format and an Esri binary raster format and
can be downloaded by FTP or via a OGC Web
Service. Additionally a Web Application is also
available, developed by East View. The Web
application can be linked from the library’s
website offering users an easy way to view
the population levels, as well as charts which
represent population distribution by age
and sex. Basic topographic base layers are
available as well, including land cover and
buildings in the more densely populated areas.
Terms
• Permissions: Display / download / print
limited portions. Scholarly sharing.
• Restrictions: No systematic downloading
/ systematic printing / distribution. No
commercial use. No removal / modification of
copyright notice or disclaimer.
• Authorized users: Faculty, staff, students,
and on-site public users
Conclusion
The uses of LandScan data are varied and
extensive with a wide range of applications
across numerous fields like business, planning,
health, humanitarianism, homeland security,
emergency planning and management,
urban sprawl analysis and much more.
National and international organizations
including the United Nations (UN), the World
Health Organization (WHO), the Food and
Agricultural Organization (FAO), and several
federal agencies in the U.S. and other countries
currently employ this data in their analyses.
East View and the U.S. Department of Energy’s
Oak Ridge National Laboratory note that
LandScan is a valuable resource for academic
research, and in instruction for courses that
use census and geographic information.
With East View’s Web Mapping program, the
data and experiences are much more user
friendly and appeal to a wider audience.
Eva Dodsworth
Geospatial Data Services Librarian
Geospatial Centre
University of Waterloo
Bulletin de l’ACACC Numéro 148, Automme 2014
27
REVIEWS
Compiled by Sarah Simpkin
The Map Thief by Michael Blanding
Reviewed by Jordan Hale
Blanding, Michael. The Map Thief. New York: Gotham
Books, 2014. 300p. $32.00 CAD. ISBN 978-1-592-
40817-7
Much like a theatrical script, The Map Thief begins
with a cast of characters, detailing the relationships
between the title villain, E. Forbes Smiley III, and his
family members, associates in the rare map trade,
and the cartographers of the early modern era whose
creations he targeted. Beyond setting the stage for
this work of true crime, this listing enumerates the
victims of his exploits, and provides a historical
lens to the extent of his many acts of library larceny.
The exposé, written by investigative journalist
Michael Blanding, begins with a compelling
reconstruction of Smiley’s criminal undoing in the
Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale
University, when he failed to notice a spare knife
blade fall from his pocket while attempting to make
off with several maps bound in rare books. Over
the course of the text, the protagonist’s personality
unfolds through extended biographical anecdotes as
well as vivid descriptions of crime scenes and court
appearances, juxtaposed with historical vignettes
that convey the importance of the items seized within
broader histories of cartography and exploration.
The Map Thief follows in the footsteps of Miles
Harvey’s The Island of Lost Maps (2001), the
precedent book about thievery from cartographic
collections – indeed, some of the same characters
make an appearance in both. The most significant
difference between the two texts is that Blanding
was able to secure the cooperation of his subject:
Smiley provided many interviews over the course of
its writing. Despite the many similarities in subject
and structure, the narrative of The Map Thief is
tighter and the tone more nuanced than The Island
of Lost Maps, which I found quite pedantic in places.
Though directed at a wider audience than cartophiles
and library personnel, The Map Thief is quite
successful in its discussions of issues pertinent
to those working with maps, beyond the obvious
matter of collection security. Detailed item-level
cataloguing ultimately led to the identification and
recovery of several of the missing maps – I think
wistfully of the many sheets currently stored in
drawers and piles in my office, waiting for their turn
to be catalogued, hoping that my attention to detail
now will never be called upon for a recovery mission
in the future. I was also pleased to read of the role
Books Reviewed in this Issue:
The Map Thief by Michael Blanding
Reviewed by Jordan Hale
Mapping Time: Illustrated by Minard’s Map of Napoleon’s Russian Campaign of 1812 by Menno-Jan Kraak
Reviewed by Larry Laliberté
Web Cartography: Web Design for Interactive and Mobile Devices by Ian Muehlenhaus
Reviewed by Ryan Nayler
ACMLA Bulletin Number 148, Fall 2014
28
of collaborative problem-solving on library listservs
in the investigation of Smiley’s crimes. Despite the
anxiety-inducing storyline, what makes The Map
Thief so appealing to those working in cartographic
collections is the evident care Blanding takes in his
descriptions of the maps at the heart of the text,
and the details of the labour that those working
with them put into their jobs. It is very fitting that
the book ends with an extended cartobibliography.
Jordan Hale, Original Cataloguer & Reference
Specialist
Map & Data Library, University of Toronto
Toronto, ON
Mapping Time: Illustrated by Minard’s Map
of Napoleon’s Russian Campaign of 1812 by
Menno-Jan Kraak
Reviewed by Larry Laliberté
Kraak, Menno-Jan. Mapping Time : Illustrated by
Minard’s Map of Napoleon’s Russian Campaign of
1812. Redlands: Esri Press, 2014. 159p. $49.99
USD. ISBN 9781589483125.
Minard’s map of Napoleon’s Russian Campaign,
published almost 150 years ago, has the capacity to
captivate the imagination of anyone looking at the
drastic diminishing line thickness as Napoleon’s
troops moved west, with every moment along the way
linked to dropping temperatures. The map is held in
such high regard that Edward Tufte, a leading expert
on information design, has stated that “it may well be
the best statistical graphic ever drawn” (Tufte, 1983).
The author Menno-Jan Kraak, who has more than 200
publications on cartography and GIS, has crafted a
supremely rich narrative, including more than 100
full-color illustrations. The book begins with a brief
historical overview of the campaign, followed by
a complete overview of Minard’s “flow line map”.
In Chapter Three, Kraak initiates the reader into
the central theme of the book, time, by quoting St.
Augustine: “Everyone knows what it is, and few can
define it”. What follows is a very useful outline of
both the elements of temporal data visualization,
including types of time, events, and change which
are then fused with discussions on map basics and
design and data analysis, and at every step of the
way are illustrated with effective examples pointing
back to Minard’s map. Chapter Five moves beyond
the static map which serves as a temporal snapshot
by looking at the map as a narrative and how it can
express change. Here the book makes great use of
flow diagrams to show the relationships between
the nature of change, perceptual properties, visual
variables, and the resulting basic symbols. The
chapter ends with Kraak running Minard’s map
through its paces by expressing it as a cartogram, a
space-time cube, and a map animation. The book’s
final chapter, “Maps and Temporal Exploration”
looks at how GIS and its tenets: mining, mapping,
modeling, analysis, and visualization of data,
allow one to move beyond presenting information
to exploring information to gain knowledge.
Simply stated, Kraak’s book is not only a wonderful
recreation and exploration of both the dramatic
and subtle elements embedded within Minard’s
original visualization, but is an extremely instructive
text —especially given the recent “spatial turn” in
historical studies under the banner of “Historical
GIS” (HGIS) —on the critical concepts that need to be
addressed when mapping time. Highly recommended!
Larry Laliberté
Geospatial & Data Services Librarian, University of
Alberta
Edmonton, AB
Web Cartography: Web Design for Interactive and
Mobile Devices by Ian Muehlenhaus
Reviewed by Ryan Nayler
Muehlenhaus, Ian. Web Cartography: Web Design
for Interactive and Mobile Devices. Boca Raton: CRC
Press, 2014. 240p. $90.00 USD. ISBN 878-1-4398-
7622-0.
Bulletin de l’ACACC Numéro 148, Automme 2014
29
Web Cartography provides a thorough look into
both the function and design of web mapping
technologies. Muehlenhaus offers a brief history
of web cartography, and looks at various types of
mapping technologies, while offering some key
suggestions for both experienced and aspiring
mapping application developers. The book is not a
technical manual and it does not teach readers how
to build maps from scratch, although it does provide
reviews of some of the best mapping applications
currently on the market, and it informs readers which
coding and scripting languages would be useful to
learn as well as the drawbacks and limitations of each.
Several of the chapters in this book focus on best
practices in map design and key considerations, such
as colours, symbols and labelling, animations and
sounds, and more. Since there is such a wide array
of mapping technologies for a user to choose from,
Muehlenhaus has presented some crucial elements to
consider that apply to most technologies, as opposed
to walking readers through how to design for just one.
In terms of the writing style, most readers will find
the language to be very accessible, and the author
remains succinct and on-topic with very little filler.
Full-colour graphics and illustrations also serve as a
valuable aid to readers. The author, Ian Muehlenhaus,
is a qualified subject expert, possessing a PhD in
Geography and teaching courses in web mapping.
Overall, this work serves as a useful starting
point to inform new cartographers, or anyone
interested in web mapping, what is possible with
mapping technologies, which products are currently
available, and what industry best practices are.
This book would make a great addition to library
collections, especially academic libraries who serve
students researching geography and web technology.
Ryan Nayler
From the Reviews Editor:
Thanks to those who submitted book reviews and
to all who have expressed interest in reviewing! I’ll
continue to request review copies from publishers
- but please let me know if you have read a book
of interest to the ACMLA and would like to submit
a review, and if you have any suggestions for
titles/sources. Here are the review guidelines:
Review Format
1. Bibliographic Citation
This should include: author, title, edition, place of
publication, publisher, date, number of pages, price
(if known) and ISBN. Example:
Bussey, Ben and Spudis, Paul D. The Clementine
Atlas of the Moon. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2004. 316p. $80.00 US. ISBN
0-521-81528-2.
2. Content
The review should describe and critically
evaluate the work. Typical review elements
include: scope, purpose and content of the work;
intended audience; writing style; background
and authority of the author; how the work
compares with other titles on the same subject;
its usefulness as a research tool; any unique
features; and its suitability for library collections.
The length of the review is at the reviewer’s discretion,
but should normally reflect the importance of
the work. A typical review is about 500 words.
3. Your name, title, institutional affiliation,
city and province/state
Editorial Policy
Opinions expressed in reviews are those of the
reviewer, not of the ACMLA. The Reviews Editor
may make minor edits, without communicating
with the reviewer. Should the Editor determine
that a major revision is required, she will contact
the reviewer for discussion.
Sarah Simpkin
Reviews Editor
ACMLA Bulletin Number 148, Fall 2014
30
REGIONAL NEWS
Compiled by Tom Anderson
Alberta
Edmonton
David Jones
david.jones@ualberta.ca
The Edmonton Map Society held its fall meeting
on October 14th. There were two presentations,
both regarding WWII maps. John Horrigan
discussed three WWII maps produced for home
use to inform citizens of the progress of the
war. Michael Fisher reported on his research
for producing maps in the third edition of War
& Genocide: A concise History of the Holocaust
by Doris Bergen, using historical period maps of
the Second World War in the William C. Wonders
Map Collection. These maps were produced
by German and American cartographers.
Our next meeting is planned for early in the new
year. For further information or to be included
in our mailings please contact: david.jones@
ualberta.ca.
University of Calgary
Susan McKee
smckee@ucalgary.ca
Spatial and Numeric Data Services is busy
downsizing and preparing our map and air
photo collection for move to offsite storage,
with a very tight six month timeline. Recently
we renegotiated our Data License Agreement
with the City of Calgary, marking our ten year
anniversary with City data. Also, we are very sad
to report that Sharon Neary passed away last
August. Sharon was the University of Calgary
Library’s Data Librarian for many years and was
a pioneer in the field. We will miss her greatly.
Ontario
Carleton University
Rebecca Bartlett
Rebecca.Bartlett@carleton.ca
Downloading GIS software and local datasets
Thanks to collaboration with the MacOdrum
Library’s Systems Department (notably Kevin
Bowrin), Carleton students, faculty and staff can
now download the Student Edition of the ArcGIS
Software and the vast majority of our licensed GIS
datasets from anywhere with an internet connection
by using their MyCarletonOne credentials. The
GIS datasets available include aerial images of
Ottawa-Gatineau from as early as 1958, detailed
Ottawa-Gatineau and Carleton campus topographic
datasets, and 3D buildings from several global cities.
The Find GIS page (http://www.library.carleton.ca/
find/gis) has been updated to reflect this change,
including a custom search box for Scholars GeoPortal
created for us by Kevin. This is in line with our goal
in making our services more accessible to our users
and, to date, this change has been well-received.
Ottawa Room at Carleton’s Maps, Data &
Government Information Centre (MADGIC)
To further high quality research and cross-disciplinary
collaboration, MADGIC has initiated a
project to identify and bundle existing local Ottawa
area resources from within the Library’s collection.
By assembling this material under the theme of
the Ottawa area we can enhance its use and help
promote full utilization of these materials for
academic research and teaching needs and to help
forge new research links within Carleton’s academic
community. These resources have a physical
presence within the library and include a digital
component linking GIS, scanned images, web based
resources and eventually include digital displays.
Bulletin de l’ACACC Numéro 148, Automme 2014
31
GIS Day
On Wednesday November 19th, the MacOdrum
Library’s MADGIC in conjunction with the
Department of Geography & Environmental
Studies hosted GIS Day celebrations. The
event was attended by well over 300 hundred
participants including Carleton students, faculty,
and staff, members of the general public, and
students from local high schools. The event
involved lightning talks, exhibitor booths, GIS
games, geocaching, demonstrations of 3D printing,
and opportunities to try out the Oculus Rift, which
allowed participants to step into a virtual world.
Ryerson University
Daniel Jakubek
djakubek@ryerson.ca
Creation of a new Geospatial Map & Data
Centre (GMDC) website
Rebranding - Consultations with GMDC staff,
faculty, and students led to a rebranding of our
collections and services. To more clearly link
our virtual and physical space, the website was
rebranded as the Geospatial Map & Data Centre.
Patrons now search the GMDC Inventory to access
geospatial data resources exclusive to the Ryerson
University Library. Previously, our website was
branded as Maps & Data at Ryerson (MADAR).
GMDC Blog – We implemented a GMDC News
blog to improve communication with our patrons.
This blog has replaced the Geospatial Community
mailing list in an attempt to reach a larger audience
and more effectively highlight our three major
collections and services: GIS & Geospatial Data,
Paper Maps, and Statistics & Data. In addition,
our patrons now have the ability to provide
feedback in a public forum that will guide future
development of our collections and services.
Navigation – Development of an effective
navigation strategy for the GMDC website was
developed based on feedback from our patrons
and the Student Advisory Committee at Ryerson.
In response, original icons were created to
help patrons navigate the GMDC website.
Program specific web pages dedicated to GIS
& Geospatial Data Support – Investigation of
current GIS integration across disciplines led to
the development of program specific GIS support
pages. Content includes discipline specific
information related to key resources and services
accessible through our collection and externally e.g.
sources for subject specific data, recommended GIS
courses and help guides, and software availability.
This is just a starting point for these pages. As the
Fall and Winter semesters progress, we intend
to work with faculty and students to customize
these pages e.g. host course and/or assignment
level support guides, highlight the integration
of GIS by faculty and students in each discipline.
Google Tools for Appointment Booking and
File Transfer – Google Forms was implemented
to standardize the process for requesting research
consultations, workshops, in-class instruction for
faculty, data resources and software. Google Drive
was implemented as our new tool for transferring
data which is governed by data release agreements
that do not allow direct download. This solution
will increase efficiency by minimizing the need
for in-person consultation for data transfer.
GIS Community Outreach
#Maptime Toronto – We collaborated with the
Open Source GIS community in Toronto. Specifically,
we co-hosted (along with the department of
Geography) a #Maptime Toronto event in the
library. http://maptime.github.io/toronto/
RULA to Host GIS Day – The GMDC has confirmed
collaboration with the department of Geography
and the Student Association of Geographic
Analysis (SAGA) to host a campus wide GIS Day
in the library. We plan to raise awareness of
the GMDC and encourage participation from
university departments such as Urban & Regional
ACMLA Bulletin Number 148, Fall 2014
32
Planning, Civil Engineering – Geomatics, and the
Office of the President. The day will feature a series
of keynote presentations from GIS practitioners,
live demonstrations, and a poster exhibition.
Univerity of Ottawa
Sarah Simpkin
Sarah.Simpkin@uottawa.ca
It has been a busy semester!
In early November, Talia Chung, Head of the
GSG Centre, joined our Health Sciences Library
for a one-year appointment as Acting Director.
We’ll miss her dearly, but know that their team
will be in good hands. Our Data Analyst, René
Duplain, also became a new dad this semester,
welcoming baby Gabrielle on October 28th.
Work is progressing on our many projects,
including the digitization of our air photo indexes.
We continue to offer drop-in GIS support to students
and faculty, and will begin delivering more formal
GIS workshops for students through our library’s
BiblioExpert series in the winter semester.
Government Information Librarian Catherine
McGoveran and Talia Chung were instrumental
in the success of the second annual Government
Information Day, hosted by the University of
Ottawa on October 16th. Conference materials
are available online in English at: http://bit.ly/
GID-EN and in French at: http://bit.ly/GID-FR.
Susan Mowers, Data Librarian, is testing
new data service opportunities for accessing
detailed microdata. One of these new services
is Real Time Remote Access, (RTRA), through
Statistics Canada. Thanks to the Faculty of
Social Sciences, this fall, research assistant Sarah
Roach has been providing SAS and RTRA data
support. A number of researchers have been
interested in using confidential RTRA data as
a complement to public microdata and RDCs.
University of Waterloo
Eva Dodsworth
edodsworth@uwaterloo.ca
The Geospatial Centre at the University of Waterloo
has been in a bit of a catch up mode all Fall since
Talsan Schulzke, our GIS Specialist resigned for
a position in the U.S. Many projects were put on
hold (including GIS Day) as we focussed on library
instruction classroom sessions (23), GIS workshops
(2) and reference/consultations. We’ve had a
surprising amount of undergraduate courses using
paper maps in their course assignments, so many
NTS map sheets need replacing now. We revised
our workshop schedule this term and decided to
offer novice and intermediate workshops, with
the advanced one pending until the Winter term.
The novice workshop covered:
• Understanding what GIS is and geospatial data are
• Navigating ArcGIS software and tools
• Finding and adding data to a map
• Discovering information and attributes about
the data
• Producing a simple map that shares visualization
of the data
The Intermediate workshop covered:
• Creating points, lines, and polygons from scratch
• Adding XY coordinate data to your map
• Plotting addresses from a table on your map
(geocoding)
• Using the editing templates and tools in ArcMap
• Geo-locating aerial imagery in real space
(georeferencing)
The advanced workshop will cover:
• Summarizing data as they relate to other data
• Performing single- and multiple-ring buffers
• Analyzing distance and time proximities
• Identifying hot spots in your data
• Managing spatial relationships between data
Bulletin de l’ACACC Numéro 148, Automme 2014
33
We had great turnouts for the first two workshops
(between 15-20 students) and we hope to see
this pattern continue for future workshops.
Aside from instruction sessions, casual and
co-op staff have been working with me on
Omeka’s Neatline to create a product that
will serve as a crowd-sourcing data entry tool
for military mapping. Geoff Hayes, a history
professor at the University of Waterloo and I
have received an internal grant to map both
World Wars’ memorials and memorabilia
present within the Waterl oo Reg ion .
Lastly, on November 12th, the Department of
History, the Geospatial Centre and the history
librarian hosted a History Speaker Series
presentation by Dr. Jim Clifford, “Mapping
London’s Global Hinterlands: Spatial Text
Mining Eight Million Pages of Nineteenth
Century Texts”. Dr. Clifford presented on digital
techniques, including text mining, relational
databases, geographic information systems
mapping (GIS) and information visualization
to explore the spread of commodity frontiers,
the expansion of global trade and the resulting
environmental consequences through the study of
nineteenth-century London’s global supply chains.
The Geospatial Centre offered a tour after the
presentation which featured a display of historical
topographic maps, road maps, fire insurance
plans, and air photos.
Western University
Cheryl Woods
cawoods@uwo.ca
All of the fire insurance plans held by the Map
and Data Centre will soon be searchable in
the Shared Library Catalogue and in Summon.
The 400 records represent the more recent (1951-73)
small format plans across Canada. For more information
about the collection of fire insurance plans, see our
website (http://www.lib.uwo.ca/madgic/fips.htm).
Christine Homuth, GIS Technician, has given several GIS
workshops this fall: Introduction to GIS (using ArcGIS
and QGIS); Data Discovery; Creating Maps with Google
Drive; Georeferencing Air Photos; Mobile Mapping.
Plans are underway to host GIS Day on Friday, November
21. Events will include a poster session, presentations,
and a hands-on workshop using GIS technology.
The Department of Statistical and Actuarial Sciences
in cooperation with Western Libraries provides a
Data Analytics Help Service which offers statistical
consulting, workshops on software and data
analysis, and tutoring for statistics courses offered
across campus. This service is being provided in
the Map and Data Centre area, 15 hours a week.
Two graduate students from the Master of Library
and Information Science program have joined the
Map and Data Centre team on a part-time basis
to work 7 hours each per week for the academic
year. They are working on projects that have been
awaiting our attention since we moved into our new
space over a year ago. Two of the larger projects are
to do an inventory check of our historical atlases
and reorganize the quick reference atlas shelves.
ACMLA Bulletin Number 148, Fall 2014
34
NEW BOOKS AND ATLASES
Compiled by Peter Genzinger
Abrahart, Robert J. and Linda M. See (eds.). 2014.
GeoComputation. 2nd ed. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
455 p. ISBN: 9781466503281.
Acharya, Rajat. 2014. Understanding satellite
navigation. San Diego: Elsevier Academic Press. 389
p. $146.08 CDN. ISBN: 9780127999494.
Albu, Emily. 2014. Medieval Peutinger map: imperial
Roman revival in a German empire. New York:
Cambridge University Press. 169 p. $94.95 CDN.
ISBN: 9781107059429.
Allen, David. W. 2014. GIS tutorial for Python
scripting. Redlands, CA: ESRI Press. 276 p. $69.99
CDN. ISBN: 9781589483569.
Borradale, Graham. 2014. Understanding geology
through maps. Boston, MA: Elsevier. 183 p. &78.81
CDN. ISBN: 9780128008669.
Braatz, Dieter. 2014. Wine atlas of Germany.
Translated by Kevin D. Goldberg. Berkeley: University
of California Press. 277 p. $66.98 CDN. ISBN:
9780520260672.
Bryars, Tim and Tom Harper. 2014. A history
of the twentieth century in 100 maps. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press. 224 p. $50.24 CDN. ISBN:
9780226202471.
Canty, Morton John. 2014. Image analysis,
classification and change detection in remote
sensing: with algorithms for ENVI/IDL and python.
Boca Raton: CRC Press. 527 p. $156.24 CDN. ISBN:
9781466570375.
Chen, Ruizhi and Robert Guinness. 2015. Geospatial
computing in mobile devices. Norwood, MA: Artech
House Publishers. 211 p. $154.95 CDN. ISBN:
9781608075652.
Dale, Peter. 2014. Mathematical techniques in GIS.
2nd ed. Boca Raton: CRC Press. 331 p. $100.42 CDN.
ISBN: 9781466595545.
Field, Kenneth and Alexander J. Kent (eds.). 2014.
Landmarks in mapping: 50 years of the Cartographic
Journal. Leeds, UK: Manley Publishing. 406 p.
$139.55 CDN. ISBN: 9781909662384.
ESRI Press. 2014. ESRI map book. Redlands, CA: ESRI
Press. 136 p. $24.99 CDN. ISBN: 9781589483576.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations. 2014. Using spatial information to support
decisions on safeguards and multiple benefits for
REDD+ in Tanzania. Rome: Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations. 48 p. $22.04 CDN.
ISBN: 9789251080894.
Knox, Paul. 2014. Atlas of cities. Princeton:
Princeton University Press. 256 p. $55.26 CDN. ISBN:
9780691157818.
Kurland, Kristen S. and Wilpen L. Gorr. 2014. GIS
tutorial for health. 5th ed. Redlands, CA: ESRI Press.
460 p. $79.99 CDN. ISBN: 9781589483729.
Narangoa, Li and Robert Cribb. 2014. Historical atlas
of northeast Asia, 1590 - 2010: Korea, Manchuria,
Mongolia, eastern Siberia. New York: Columbia
University Press. 336 p. $150.00 CDN. ISBN:
9780231160704.
Panigrahi, Narayan. 2014. Computing in geographic
information systems. Boca Raton: CRC Press. 275 p.
$133.91 CDN. ISBN: 9781482223149.
Pegg, Richard A. 2014. Cartographic traditions in east
Asian maps. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
136 p. $50.00 CDN. ISBN: 9780824847654.
Robinson, Enders A. and Dean Clark. 2014. Remote
sensing in action: the curious case of Sherlock
Holmes and Albert Einstein. Tulsa, OK: Society of
Exploration Geophysicists. 360 p. $99.00 USD. ISBN:
9781560803133.
Treur, Anton. 2014. Atlas of Indian Nations.
Washington, DC: National Geographic Society. 320
p. $46.00 CDN. ISBN: 9781426211607.
Bulletin de l’ACACC Numéro 148, Automme 2014
35
NEW MAPS
Compiled by Cheryl Woods
Tibet: Township Map & Place Name Index
Scale: 1:1,900,000
Publisher: Tsering Wangyal Shawa
Year of Publication: 2014
Morocco
Scale: 1:1,000,000
Publisher: Michelin
Year of Publication: 2014
Miami metro city map
Scale: NA
Publisher: Rand McNally
Year of Publication: 2014
Kaui travel map
Scale: 1:85,000
Publisher: Phears Maps
Year of Publication: 2014
Maui travel map
Scale: 1:110,000
Publisher: Phears Maps
Year of Publication: 2014
Oahu travel map
Scale: 1:110,000
Publisher: Phears Maps
Year of Publication: 2014
Hawaii (The Big Island) travel map
Scale: 1:233,500
Publisher: Phears Maps
Year of Publication: 2014
Thailand, 9th ed.
Scale: 1:1,500,000
Publisher: Borch Map
Year of Publication: 2015
New Zealand, 9th ed.
Scale: 1:1,300,000
Publisher: Borch Map
Year of Publication: 2015
Las Vegas, 12th ed.
Scale: 1:20,000
Publisher: Borch Map
Year of Publication: 2015
Seattle, 10th, ed.
Scale: 1:10,000
Publisher: Borch Map
Year of Publication: 2015
Venice, 16th ed.
Scale: 1:6,500
Publisher: Borch Map
Year of Publication: 2015
Tuscany, 11th ed.
Scale: 1:400,000
Publisher: Borch Map
Year of Publication: 2014
Virgin Islands, 5th ed.
Scale: 1:80,000
Publisher: Borch Map
Year of Publication: 2014
Ireland, 18th ed.
Scale: 1:700,000
Publisher: Borch Map
Year of Publication: 2014
Eesti [Estonia] road map
Scale: 1:500,000
Publisher: Jana Seta
Year of Publication: 2014
Lietuva [Lithuania] road map
Scale: 1:500,000
Publisher: Jana Seta
Year of Publication: 2014
ACMLA Bulletin Number 148, Fall 2014
36
General Map of the Petroleum Industry of Iran,
4th ed.
Scale: 1:1,650,000
Publisher: Iran Oil Gas
Year of Publication: 2014
Spain and Portugal, Map 734
Scale: 1:1,000,000
Publisher: Michelin
Year of Publication: 2014
Europe road map
Scale: 1:5,000,000
Publisher: HarperCollins
Year of Publication: 2014
Scotland road map
Scale: 1:550,000
Publisher: HarperCollins
Year of Publication: 2015
Chart C12: Eastern English Channel
Scale: 1:300,000
Publisher: Imray, Laurie, Norie & Wilson Ltd.
Year of Publication: 2014
Chart C10: Western English Channel Passage
Scale: 1:400,000
Publisher: Imray, Laurie, Norie & Wilson Ltd.
Year of Publication: 2014
Chart G121: Inland Sea – Ionian
Scale: 1:95,000
Publisher: Imray, Laurie, Norie & Wilson Ltd.
Year of Publication: 2014
Countries of the Mediterranean
Scale: 1:6,957,000
Publisher: National Geographic Society
Year of Publication: 2014
South Africa
Scale: 1:3,044,000
Publisher: National Geographic Society
Year of Publication: 2014
Pacific Crest Trail
Scale: 1:700,000
Publisher: National Geographic Society
Year of Publication: 2014
Namibia-Botswana
Scale: 1:1,500,000
Publisher: Nelles Verlag
Year of Publication: 2015
Afghanistan
Scale: 1:1,500,000
Publisher: Nelles Verlag
Year of Publication: 2014
Central America
Scale: 1:1,750,000
Publisher: Nelles Verlag
Year of Publication: 2014
Myanmar-Burma
Scale: 1:1,500,000
Publisher: Nelles Verlag
Year of Publication: 2014
Tanzania-Rwanda-Burundi
Scale: 1:1,500,000
Publisher: Nelles Verlag
Year of Publication: 2014
Israel, Palestine
Scale: 1:250,000
Publisher: Reise Know-How Verlag
Year of Publication: 2014
Uganda
Scale: 1:600,000
Publisher: Reise Know-How Verlag
Year of Publication: 2014
Brazil
Scale: 1:3,850,000
Publisher: Reise Know-How Verlag
Year of Publication: 2014
Oman
Scale: NA
Publisher: Reise Know-How Verlag
Year of Publication: 2014
Bulletin de l’ACACC Numéro 148, Automme 2014
37
GIS TRENDS
ON THE MAP : THE MAP TREND LOCATOR
Courtney Lundrigan
courtney.lundrigan@utoronto.ca
OpenHeatMap
http://www.openheatmap.com/
About
OpenHeatMap is a web-based mapping tool
that allows users to generate maps instantly
with no GIS knowledge required. It creates
the maps from spreadsheets (both Excel and
Google spreadsheets are accepted), and users
can customize their map and embed or share it.
Creator Pete Warden says that OpenHeatMap is
“a bit like YouTube for geographic visualizations.”
Scope
There are no limitations to the subject matter
and time periods covered in OpenHeatMap. If the
uploaded spreadsheet contains some location
information in one of the many accepted value
formats, OpenHeatMap will display it on a map.
ACMLA Bulletin Number 148, Fall 2014
38
Strengths
• It generates maps instantly with a single click
• There are many location names and values accepted
Limitations
• It only accepts spreadsheets
Features
• It has the ability to animate maps by adding a ‘time’ column to the spreadsheet
• Colour customization available
• A few options to customize markers, including adding images as markers
Connected?
Yes
There is an option for users to embed their maps. They can also be shared via email and on the following
social networks:
• Facebook • Twitter
• Pinterest • LinkedIn
• Google + • Digg
• Reddit • Stumble Upon
• Tumblr
Recommended for Users?
Yes, especially beginners and non-specialists. For beginner users with no prior GIS knowledge, OpenHeat-
Map is a useful tool to visualize spreadsheet data.
From the Editor:
This is Courtney Lundrigan’s last GIS Trends column. On behalf of all ACMLA Bulletin staff and readers,
I would like sincerely thank Courtney for developing this column and for contributing such timely
content every issue! If anybody is interested in taking over this column, please contact Eva Dodsworth
Bulletin de l’ACACC Numéro 148, Automme 2014
39
Associate Members / Membres associes
Paige Andrew
Maps Cataloging Librarian
Pennsylvania State University
pga2@psu.edu
*Dr. Jean-Luc Arnaud
Aix-Marseille Université
jlarnaud@mmsh.univ-aix.fr
Dr. Andrew S. Cook
dalrymple.research@yahoo.co.uk
Judith Fox
Map Librarian
University of Reading Library
j.a.fox@reading.ac.uk
Philip Hoehn
philhoehn@juno.com
Ingrid Kessel-Taylor
Public Safety Canada
kesseltayi@smtp.gc.ca
Rebecca Lowery
Map and Data Services Librarian
University of Illinois Chicago
rplowery@uic.edu
David Malaher
david@malaher.org
Gerald Penney
Gerald Penney Associate Ltd.
gpaltd@NL.ROGERS.COM
*Nicole Rutherford
GIS Mapping Technician
Focus
nicole.rutherford@focus.ca
This list represents the current membership as of November 10, 2014. An asterisk (*) indicates a
new members in 2014
Membres 2014 Members
Daniel T. Seldin
seldin@indiana.edu
Petra Thoms
World of Maps
pthoms@worldofmaps.com
Chan Tsang Priscilla Kwok Yu
Map Librarian
University of Hong Kong
hragtky@hku.hk
Full Members / Membres à par entières
*Emanuel Actarian
Bibliothécaire-Catalogueur remplaçant
University of Ottawa Library
eactaria@uottawa.ca
Tom Anderson
Archivist
Provincial Archives of Alberta
tom.anderson@gov.ab.ca
Marilyn Andrews
Geography Liaison Librarian
University of Regina
Marilyn.Andrews@uregina.ca
Tracy Armstrong
Trent University
tracyarmstrong@trentu.ca
*Valérie Arsenault
Technicienne en documentation
Université Laval
Valerie.Arsenault@bibl.ulaval.ca
Alberta Auringer Wood
awood@mun.ca
ACMLA Bulletin Number 148, Fall 2014
40
Mary-Ellen Badeau
Archivist – Cartographic Records
Provincial Archives of New Brunswick
mary-ellen.badeau@gnb.ca
Rebecca Bartlett
GIS and Digital Resources Librarian
Carleton University Library
rebecca.bartlett@carleton.ca
Colleen Beard
Head, Map, Data & GIS Library
Brock University
cbeard@brocku.ca
*Maryna Beaulieu
Chef de bibliothèque
Université de Montréal
maryna.beaulieu@umontreal.ca
Gordon Beck
Map Specialist
McMaster University Library
beckg@mcmaster.ca
Francine Berish
Stéfano Biondo
Géothécaire or Map and Gis Librarian or cartothécaire
Université Laval
stefano.biondo@bibl.ulaval.ca
Trudy Bodak
tbodak@yorku.ca
*Jean-François Boucher
Chef du service des registres du domaine de l’État
Bureau de l’arpenteur général du Québec (Ministère
des Ressources naturelles)
jean-francois.boucher@mrn.gouv.qc.ca
Daniel Brendle-Moczuk
Geography/Maps Librarian
University of Victoria
danielbm@uvic.ca
* Dr. Jason Brodeur
Manager, Maps/Data/GIS
McMaster University Library
brodeujj@mcmaster.ca
P. Louise Buck
*Chris Burns
Research Support & Data Services Librarian
Kwantlen Polytechnic University
chris.burns@kpu.ca
Talia Chung
Head, GSG Information Centre
University of Ottawa Library
talia.chung@uottawa.ca
Dana Craig
York University
dcraig@yorku.ca
Edward Dahl
Noel Damba
Ryerson University
n2damba@ryerson.ca
Cynthia Dietz
GIS Environmental Studies Librarian
University of Manitoba
cynthia.dietz@umanitoba.ca
Eva Dodsworth
Geospatial Data Services Librarian
University of Waterloo Library
edodsworth@uwaterloo.ca
*Marie-Andrée Drouin
Technicienne en géomatique
Université Laval
marie-andree.drouin@bibl.ulaval.ca
Danial Duda
Map Librarian
Memorial University of Newfoundland, Map Room
dduda@mun.ca
Bulletin de l’ACACC Numéro 148, Automme 2014
41
Monica Ferguson
Carleton University Library
monica_ferguson@carleton.ca
Marcel Fortin
Head, Map and Data Library
University of Toronto Library
marcel.fortin@utoronto.ca
Erin Forward
Geospatial Data Librarian
Queen’s University
erin.forward@queensu.ca
Bonnie Gallinger
Maps Assistant/Public Service Assistant
University of Alberta Libraries
bonnie.gallinger@ualberta.ca
*Mireille Gagnon
Technicienne en documentation
Université de Sherbrooke
mireille.gagnon@usherbrooke.ca
Peter Genzinger
Librarian
Wilfrid Laurier University Library
pgenzinger@wlu.ca
Suzette Giles
sgiles@ryerson.ca
Claire Gosson
Geographer (Retired)
National Atlas of Canada
Susan Greaves
greaves@queensu.ca
*Alex Guindon
GIS and Data Services Librarian
Concordia University
alex.guindon@concordia.ca
*Jordan Hale
Original Cataloguer & Reference Specialist
University of Toronto Library
jordan.hale@utoronto.ca
Siobhan Hanratty
Library Assistant - Map Room
University of New Brunswick
hanratty@unb.ca
*May Hmaidan
Librarian
Vancouver Public Library
may.hmaidan@vpl.ca
Christine Hoeppner
Head of Resource Analysis & Service Assessment
University of Winnipeg
c.hoeppner@uwinnipeg.ca
Dan Jakubek
GIS and Map Librarian
Ryerson University
djakubek@ryerson.ca
David Jones
Map Librarian Emeritus
University of Alberta Libraries
david.jones@ualberta.ca
Andreas Korsos
ankorsos@northwestvoyageur.com
Jacqueline Kreller-Vanderkooy
Sylvie Lafortune
Carleton University Library
Sylvie_Lafortune@carleton.ca
Larry Laliberté
Geospatial Data Services Librarian
University of Alberta Libraries
llaliber@ualberta.ca
Amber Leahey
Metadata Librarian
Scholars Portal, Ontario Council of University
Libraries
amber.leahey@utoronto.ca
*Pierre Leblanc
Cartographic and GIS Support Specialist
University of Ottawa Library
pleblanc@uottawa.ca
ACMLA Bulletin Number 148, Fall 2014
42
*Catherine Leduc
Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières
Catherine.leduc@uqtr.ca
Teresa Lewitzky
University of Guelph
tlewitzk@uoguelph.ca
Courtney Lundrigan
Instructional and Reader Services Librarian
University of Toronto Library
courtney.lundrigan@utoronto.ca
*Carina Xue Luo
Geospatial and Data Analyst
University of Windsor
carina@uwindsor.ca
Lori Martin
Cartographic Applications Officer
Ontario Ministry of Transportation
lori.martin@ontario.ca
Jennifer Marvin
Data Resource Centre Coordinator
University of Guelph
jmarvin@uoguelph.ca
Susan McKee
Geospatial Librarian
University of Calgary
smckee@ucalgary.ca
Linda Mitchell
Government Documents Librarian
Lakehead University
linda.mitchell@lakeheadu.ca
*Richard Mongeau
Arpenteur-Géomètre Chef d’Équipe
Ville de Montréal
rmongeau@ville.montreal.qc.ca
Iris Morgan
Maps and GIS Assistant
University of Calgary
ilmorgan@ucalgary.ca
*Tomasz Mrozewski
Data, GIS & Gov Docs Librarian
Laurentian University
tmrozewski@laurentian.ca
Andrew Nicholson
GIS/Data Librarian
University of Toronto Mississauga
Andrew.nicholson@utoronto.ca
Rosa Orlandini
York University
rorlan@yorku.ca
Jean-François Palomino
Cartothecaire
Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec
jeanfrancois.palomino@banq.qc.ca
Micheline Picard
Technicienne en documentation
Université du Québec à Montréal
picard.micheline@uqam.ca
Susan Pinard
Cartographic Specialist
Carleton University Library
Susan_pinard@carleton.ca
*Gaetan Poulin
Coordonnateur, Géomatique
Ministère des Transports du Québec
gaetan.poulin@mtq.gouv.qc.ca
*Virginia Pow
Map Librarian
University of Alberta Libraries
virginia.pow@ualberta.ca
Joel Rivard
Cartographic Specialist
Carleton University Library
joel.rivard@carleton.ca
*Léon Robichaud
Professeur agrégé
Université de Sherbrooke
leon.robichaud@usherbrooke.ca
Bulletin de l’ACACC Numéro 148, Automme 2014
43
*Gerald Romme
GIS Analyst
University of Toronto Library
gerald.romme@utoronto.ca
Joseph T. Sas
Library and Archives Canada
joseph.sas@bac-lac.gc.ca
*Quin Shirk-Luckett
University of Guelph
qshirklu@uoguelph.ca
*Sarah Simpkin
GIS and Geography Librarian
University of Ottawa Library
sarah.simpkin@uottawa.ca
Sylvie St-Pierre
Cartothécaire/Map Librarian
Université du Québec à Montréal
St-pierre.sylvie@uqam.ca
Sherri Sunstrum
Map Specialist
Carleton University Library
Sherri_sunstrum@carleton.ca
*Vanessa Thorson
Government Records Archivist
Yukon Archives, Yukon Tourism and Culture
vanessa.thorson@gov.yk.ca
Rudolf Traichel
Map Cataloguer
University of British Columbia
rudi.traichel@ubc.ca
Leanne Trimble
Data and Geospatial Librarian
Scholars Portal, Ontario Council of University
Libraries
leanne.trimble@utoronto.ca
Simon Trottier
Conseiller en systèmes d’information géographique
Université de Sherbrooke
simon.trottier@usherbrooke.ca
Wenonah van Heyst
Instructional Associate
Brandon University
fraserw@brandonu.ca
*Laura Walton
Coordinator, Geographic Resources Centre
York University
lwalton@yorku.ca
Roger Wheate
University of Northern British Columbia
wheate@unbc.ca
Cheryl Woods
Western University
cawoods@uwo.ca
Kathleen Wyman
kwyman@torontopubliclibrary.ca
Deena Yanofsky
Liaison Librarian
McGill University
deena.yanofsky@mcgill.ca
Barbara Znamirowski
Head, Maps, Data & Government Information Centre
Trent University
bznamirowski@trentu.ca
Honorary Members / Membres honoraires
Lorraine Dubreuil
lorraine.dubreuil@mcgill.ca
Betty Kidd
Cathy Moulder
moulder@mcmaster.ca
Serge Sauer
ACMLA Bulletin Number 148, Fall 2014
44
*Yves Tessier
Grace Welch
gwelch@uottawa.ca
Joan Winearls
joan.winearls@utoronto.ca
Student Members / Membres étudiant(e)s
Michael Dorn
*Meg Miller
Coop student from Western MLIS program
University of Guelph
*Kaitlin Newson
*Melissa Rivosecchi
MLIS student
McGill University
*Allison Smith
Institutional Members / Établissement membres
Alexander Turnbull Library
Archives nationales du Québec
Archives of Ontario Library
B.C. Institute of Technology
Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec
Bodleian Libraries
British Library - Map Library
British Library - Serial Acquisitions Unit DSC (AO)
Brock University
Carleton University Library
Clark University
Commission de toponymie
Dalhousie University Libraries
Dartmouth College
Duke University
Goldstream Publishing Inc.
Hydro-Québec
Illinois State Library
Indiana University Libraries
McMaster University Library
Memorial University of Newfoundland
Memorial University of Newfoundland, Map Room
National Library of Scotland, Maps
New Brunswick Museum
New York Public Library
Newberry Library
Nipissing University/Canadore College
Northwestern University Libraries
NRCan Library
Ohio State University Libraries
Princeton University Library
Provincial Resource Library
Pusey Library
Queen’s University
Ryerson University
Simmons College Library
State Library of Victoria
State University of New York – Binghamton
Syracuse University Library
Texas A & M University
Toronto Reference Library
Trent University
UCLA Maps & Govt Serials
Univ Autonoma de Madrid-Btca. Humanidades
Université de Moncton
Université de Montréal
Université du Québec à Chicoutimi
Université du Québec à Montréal
Université du Québec à Rimouski
Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières
*Université Laval
University of Alberta Libraries
University of British Columbia
University of Calgary
University of Georgia Libraries
University of Illinois
University of Melbourne
University of Michigan
University of Minnesota Libraries
University of New Brunswick
University of Ottawa Library
University of Saskatchewan
University of Toronto Library
University of Toronto Scarborough
University of Toronto, Inforum
University of Victoria
University of Washington
University of Waterloo Library
University of Windsor
University of Winnipeg
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Vancouver Public Library
Western University
Wilfrid Laurier University
Wilfrid Laurier University Library
Yale University Library
York University
*Yukon Archives, Yukon Tourism and Culture
