11.1 Information Challenges

Geospatial collections come with unique challenges. Physical maps have been considered to be of lesser importance to libraries than other holdings, and this has sometimes led to neglect. To start, the library may not even have a good understanding of what maps it owns, and if they do know, those maps may not be easily searchable along with the rest of the holdings. Due in part to both a lack of awareness and difficulty searching for them, it is common for map collections to be relegated to storage in basements, attics, or even offsite locations. In these kinds of situations, it is not uncommon for maps to have become damaged due to a lack of proper care. On the digital side, geospatial data may not want for storage space the same way printed maps do, but digital data encoded on physical media remain subject to potential degradation. Proper storage is an important factor regardless of media. Also, a lack of technical skills or computing resources may lead to both staff and patrons being unable to leverage digital information (Sweetkind-Singer, Larsgaard, & Erwin, 2006).

Of course, none of these problems are insurmountable. With a growing public awareness of the importance of geospatial thinking and information, and the existing goals of patron support, libraries are poised to be important stewards of maps and geospatial technologies. In many ways digital data may be easier to handle, as computers and Internet access are already established components of libraries. Unfortunately, commercial GIS and remote sensing software is expensive, requires powerful computer hardware to run, and comes with a steep learning curve. Free, open-source software mitigates the cost issue, but still requires powerful hardware and may be more limited in its technical abilities. It also lacks some of the support infrastructure that comes with commercial software. Archival policies for digital media likely exist in most institutions, but ensuring that they are followed and that concerns like metadata updates are taken seriously is crucial.

In regards to physical map collections, the challenges may relate more to issues of space and preservation within the library, see Chapter 6. All facilities, no matter how large and well-funded they may be, eventually run into issues of space. In the past, maps have been one of the resources that were deemed less valuable, which is why they ended up in storage, or more sadly, thrown out. Although the value of maps may be much more broadly understood by the public today, this does not mean that the library would have suddenly found a suitable empty space for map storage and reading. Finding the resources to house maps, support software, and teach geospatial skills in already-tight budgets requires justification, which may often be its own challenge. Public promotion of the library’s holdings and available geospatial services is therefore an important job.

11.2 Promotion of Library Resources

Library facilities likely have map and geospatial data resources available to patrons, but promoting awareness of those resources may be a challenge. Many patrons may not realize that the library collection extends beyond books and periodicals to include geospatial information and research facilities with modern geospatial technologies. The good news is that people love maps, and awareness of the importance of geospatial knowledge among the public is quite high today.

For promotion of map collections and geospatial data resources, one good place to start is simply to ensure that the collection is visible to the public. This could be done by publishing a special write-up in the library newsletter, Facebook page, or announcements via Twitter, and creating a webpage that focuses on the collection. Having a dedicated webpage within the larger library page would be valuable to making patrons aware of the existence of geospatial resources. Another idea is to display maps in prominent locations in the facility. Historic maps of the local area are always crowd pleasers; remember that any given institution likely has local historic maps that do not exist in any other collection. Historic GIS data could also be used to create modern maps representing historic features, or change in the local landscape over time. These are excellent candidates for promoting both map collections and other historic resources held by the library.

In terms of visual displays, the natural beauty of the Earth’s surface is a draw for many. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) website hosts a variety of educational products that may be either purchased or downloaded for printing. In particular, the Earth-As-Art series showcases stunning imagery of the Earth collected by the Landsat 7 satellite platform (U.S. Geological Survey, 2012). These images show features of natural beauty, atmospheric phenomena, and evidence of human activity on the landscape in both true- and false-color compositions. Fig. 11.1 shows an example of one of these posters that focuses on patterns of human activity, namely center-pivot irrigation near Garden City, Kansas.

Another USGS product that might be useful to catch patrons’ attention is the Earthquake Summary Posters prepared as a part of the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program (U.S. Geological Survey, 2016). More than just maps, these posters provide summary information about specific earthquake events around the world, including information on the location, the magnitude, and the impact on the surrounding region. Whether earthquakes are regularly experienced locally or not, people often have a fascination with natural hazards and these posters could help to promote knowledge of the Earth Sciences and geospatial technologies. An example of one of these posters is shown in Fig. 11.2.

Maps that visualize off-beat topics may also be popular and help to demonstrate the power of modern geospatial technology. In particular, two paranormal topics, UFO and Bigfoot sightings have readily available online datasets that may be loaded into GIS software to create maps. Also, attractive maps representing these phenomena may be found online at various sources for purchase or download. There are several websites that collect and display UFO sightings, but the National UFO Reporting Center has an accessible online database of sightings that is searchable by the date of the sighting, the state where the sighting occurred, and the shape of the UFO observed (Davenport, n.d.). These data may be easily joined to other geospatial data layers to symbolize the locations of UFO sightings. On the Sasquatch side, the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization’s Geographic Database of Bigfoot/Sasquatch Sightings & Reports has a similar database of sighting locations, albeit for terrestrial curiosities (BFRO.net, 2016). While both of these topics might seem silly, maps showing local paranormal activities would draw interest from patrons and may be used as icebreakers to introduce people to the geospatial technologies used to create them.

Promoting the availability of geospatial technologies may take a bit more effort than hanging posters. Not unlike more traditional library research resources, the tools used to find and work with geospatial data require some hands-on training for most patrons. Unfortunately, training on how to use GIS packages such as ArcGIS is too complex for a single afternoon’s session given the learning curve of the software. That being said, simpler software such as Google Earth and many of the online resources described in Chapter 7 would be good candidates for sessions focused on collecting and displaying specific geospatial data. This could take the form of a training session on how to search the U.S. Census Bureau for data on specific demographic topics, or it could be showing patrons how to use the National Geologic Map Database to find both current and historic geologic maps. For more GIS-literate audiences, sessions could be held promoting the various sources of publicly available data that may be found online. Naturally, any resources that are specific to a local institution would be excellent candidates for public promotion as well.

11.3 Geography Awareness Week, GIS Day, and Earth Science Week

Beyond local resources, there are several national and international events that exist to promote the Geosciences and GIS technology. Geography Awareness Week (GAW) was created in the United States near the end of President Reagan’s second term in office, and is held on the third week of November each year (Reagan, 1988). The week is a way to promote geographic education and to raise awareness of the role that geographic knowledge and inquiry play in our lives. Past years have had specific themes such as rivers, Africa, or exploring public lands. Future GAWs will continue to have a slogan focused on one component of geography, but participants are encouraged to explore all aspects of geography (National Geographic Society, 1996–2016a).

Major planning for GAW is provided by National Geographic, but many other organizations assist and host their own events, including the American Association of Geographers, Esri, and the National Education Association (NEA). Local organizations and institutions are encouraged to take part in GAW by hosting their own events, and many of the major partners provide resources for doing so. For example, the NEA has educational lesson plans and activities tailored for grade school, middle school, and high school aged students (National Education Association, 2016). Likewise, National Geographic also provides material available for local hosts along with how-to instructions for gatherings, webinars, and other forms of public outreach (National Geographic Society, 1996–2016b).

As a complement to GAW, GIS Day was founded by Esri as an opportunity to promote the impact that GIS has on the world (Esri, n.d.). GIS Day happens yearly on the third Wednesday of November in the middle of GAW. The first official GIS Day was held in 1999, and Esri continues to support the event by providing free resources at http://www.gisday.com/ for local event hosts. These resources include templates, videos, and logos that hosts may include in their promotional materials, free eBooks on GIS and how it relates to global issues, and hands-on GIS activities. The activities are prepared such that they are appropriate for separate audiences like children, young adults, and adults. These activities provide ready-made GIS data and resources for demonstrations or to be used as exercises for students. Weimer, Olivares, and Bedenbaugh (2012) suggested that if libraries participate in GIS Day, a recommended marketing practice would be to have a dedicated webpage on these past and future outreach events.

Not to be outdone by the geographers, the American Geosciences Institute (AGI) has promoted Earth Science Week (ESW) on the second week of October each year since 1998 (American Geosciences Institute, 2016). Just like GAW or GIS Day, ESW is a way to promote geosciences education and public awareness. The AGI provides information on existing gatherings, as well as resources for hosting your own event. Available materials for educators include the Earth Science Week Toolkit with various posters and educational materials, and lesson plans and activities designed to function at different grade levels. As there is a good deal of content overlap between ESW, GAW, and GIS Day, all three are perfect opportunities to promote the geosciences, spatial literacy, and local geospatial resources.

11.4 Geocaching and GPS Activities

Geocaching is another way a library could promote local resources and encourage patrons to participate in geospatial activities. For those who are not already familiar with geocaching, it is a GPS-enabled treasure hunt where participants are provided coordinates for hidden caches of items. Typically, participants are expected to record their participation in a physical cache log left in the cache, and if they take any items from the cache, they are expected to leave something of equal or greater value and to avoid leaving troublesome items such as weapons or drugs. Geocaching first took off in popular culture after the Selective Availability function of Navstar GPS satellites was turned off. Prior to this, GPS accuracy was too poor to effectively locate small hidden objects in the landscape. Additionally, in the early days of GPS functionality participants were required to have expensive dedicated units to locate caches. Today, the ubiquity of GPS-enabled smartphones, tablets, and wearable technology has opened up the activity to many more participants as multiple apps, both free and paid, are available on Android and iOS.

Anyone may set up their own caches, and posting the locations may be done through a variety of methods. For locally focused geocaching, such as an event promoting local library or community facilities, the location of caches may be published and distributed in any format, such as a printed flyer or library website. If a larger reach is desirable, there are multiple websites where cache locations may be submitted for hosting. Groundspeak’s https://www.geocaching.com/ is one of the largest, although it is a commercial operation with some features only available to paying customers (Groundspeak, 2016). The OpenCaching Network, not to be confused with http://opencaching.com, a now-defunct website sponsored by GPS manufacturer Garmin, is a free option that has websites covering North America and many of the major European countries (OpenGeoWiki, 2016).

While traditional geocaching has focused on open participation of placing and finding physical items, smartphones have enabled gamified activities that are similar to geocaching, but with commercial aims. Munzee uses QR codes as markers rather than physical caches. Instead of rewarding players with objects, they receive points for placing and finding these codes which allow them to gain levels within the Munzee system. In addition to the game component, the Munzee system also allows businesses to advertise and offer discounts to players who find their hidden QR codes. Another similar but more strongly gamified activity is the smartphone app Ingress. Available on both Android and iOS, Ingress takes an augmented-reality approach where players find portals in the physical world located at real-world landmarks via their smartphones. The control of these portals allows for a back-and-forth team-based exercise in territorial control. The company that created Ingress, Niantic, Inc., is also responsible for the Pokémon GO smartphone and tablet augmented reality game, and it shares some similarities with Ingress in terms of structure and how the GPS component is used. Of the three commercial apps described here, Pokémon GO is the closest to a traditional geocaching activity, as players must visit specific locations verified by their GPS coordinates in order to capture virtual Pokémon, not unlike opening a physical cache. As commercial endeavors, none of these apps are suited to open administration like traditional geocaching, which has no real centralized governing organization. Regardless, patrons may have used these apps, and they may provide an avenue to expose and educate people about geospatial technologies.

11.5 Conclusion

Effective use of geospatial resources may require convincing both patrons and administrators that they provide value. Many people today understand the value of these resources more so than in the past, but that does not mean that budget and space constraints would suddenly disappear. The public promotion of geospatial holdings and research resources may help to raise awareness that these resources are valuable and should be supported within the institution. As geospatial technologies become more and more prevalent and important, librarians would be smart to increase their participation in the promotion and education of geospatial topics.

11.6 In Summary of Map Librarianship

In the beginning, this book introduced maps and librarians from the perspective that maps have served to orient lives and navigate landscapes, creating a sense of place throughout the years. Librarians began as caretakers of these resources, but map and geospatial librarianship does not have a sense of place in every library today.

With the advent of online mapping programs, the public has the potential to be geographers and cartographers, sharing in map-making experiences by crowdsourcing relevant information gathered via social media and sharing it online. Librarians have moved from individual card catalogs in each library building to contributing to a worldwide cataloging system, Worldcat. If library catalogs include map and geospatial data resource collections, then these resources could be shared wherever Internet access is available.

However, a report on community perceptions of libraries concluded that no one started an information search on a library website, and 75% of Americans surveyed associated libraries primarily with books (OCLC, 2011). The public’s perception is firm that the library brand is books, not maps, spatial data, or the multitude of resources a modern library holds. Nevertheless, librarians keep preserving the past, while organizing and providing access to current resources. Fig. 11.3 depicts the state of the world through the visual representation of a map. This document has existed for centuries. A challenge for librarians today is to ensure the same preservation status for natively digital maps produced today.

The evolution in map-making resources and techniques is entwined with neogeography that leverages technology for social change, as well as the digital platforms made possible by neocartography. In general, the evolution of map librarianship and GIS collections and services has not kept pace with the ubiquitous geospatial revolution. Map librarianship course work in academic library school programs began with the University of Illinois in the 1950s and now some courses are offered by a few LIS programs. In any case, map librarianship has extraordinary, geo-literate neomap librarians who are willing to share their expertise through professional group support networks.

This book is for librarians who “grew up” knowing the text-based book, but want to gain confidence as map librarians and enhance their geoliteracy. Each chapter provides pieces in the geoliteracy puzzle and creates a path to navigate the maze of resources and formats that map and GIS users need. The focus shifts from an emphasis on resources to services as well as the duties for map and geospatial librarians. In addition to knowing the subject, map librarians have the opportunity to handle aspects from research and reference resources to collection development and cataloging services. It is the responsibility of map librarians to preserve print and digital resources as well as promote map and spatial data collections to the public and to colleagues and library administration.

Maps and geospatial data have interdisciplinary applications for public policy-based research as well as research in geography and the geosciences, environmental sciences, health studies, history, sociology, bioscience, marketing, and many more fields. GIS has been in libraries since the 1990s and the Association of Research Libraries GIS Literacy Project of 1992 was the first coordinated effort to educate librarians in access and use of spatial data and GIS software. Maps and geospatial data are important in libraries, but in many ways, libraries are just now responding to the geospatial revolution. While challenges remain, librarians must promote these valuable resources to increase visibility and add geospatial resources and technologies to the public’s perception of the library.