Mapping Historical Photographs – Old S.F.

Posted on October 21, 2011 by

Old S.F. is an application which displays historical photographs in the San Francisco Bay area over a Google Maps basemap. The developers (who can be followed on Twitter: @danvdk and @ravejk) geocoded thousands of images based on the subject of respective photographs in addition to cross streets in the images. According to the site, the developers have geocoded 13,000 out of 20,000 photographs, found in the San Francsico Historical Photograph Collection, that have information regarding location.

Geography Awareness Week Kickoff Event – November 3, 2011 @ UConn

Posted on October 21, 2011 by

Geography: The Adventures in Your Community
Thursday, November 3, 2011 4:45-8:00pm
Thomas J Dodd Research Center at UConn
Storrs, Connecticut

The heart of this year’s theme will revolve around a series of topics that encourage individuals or teams of students, families, or friends to explore their own communities through geographic eyes, and challenge them to look at things from a geographic perspective.

Program Agenda

4:00-4:30	Pre-conference tour of UConn Libraries – MAGIC
4:30-4:45	Registration – Thomas J. Dodd Research Center
4:45-5:00	Welcome – Bill DeGrazia & Tom Brodnitzki, CGA Co-Coordinators
5:00-6:00	Keynote Speaker – Arthur Bakis – U.S. Census Bureau Boston Regional Office
6:05-6:55	Buffet Dinner and Remarks
7:00-7:50	Breakout Sessions I – Elementary Teachers – Allyson Lubs, Professional Development CGA II – Middle & High School Teachers – Kristie Blanchard, NE Geography Teacher of the Year III – Exploration of American Community Survey (ACS) – Michael Howser, Connecticut State Data Center
7:50-8:00	CEU Records and Drawings

Participation Fee: $25 (add $10 if you would like to be awarded .3 CEUs upon completion of the program). The fee includes registration and a light dinner. Checks should be made payable to “Connecticut Geographic Alliance.“

Pre-Service Teachers receive a reduced registration fee of $10 and currently enrolled UConn Students receive free admission.

This workshop is a collaboration of the Connecticut Geographic Alliance, University of Connecticut Department of Geography, University of Connecticut Libraries Map and Geographic Information Center (MAGIC), and the Connecticut State Data Center.

To register for this event download the Registration form.

Free ESRI Presentation – Creating Map Books Using Data Driven Pages

Posted on October 21, 2011 by

ESRI offers a free online presentation that gives a great overview of the capabilities of using data driven pages to create map books in ArcMap. The presentation is about 60 minutes long and includes software demonstrations. At the end of the presentation one will find suggested resources to learn more about creating map books. A great tool to create an organized multi-page PDF document with maps, tables, charts and figures to present to your stakeholders. This presentation is a recorded web presentation so you do not have to schedule time to be available to view it.

U.S. Census Economic Indicators Discussion on C-SPAN – October 21, 2011 at 9am

Posted on October 20, 2011 by

On Friday, Oct. 21, from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., Bill Bostic, U.S. Census Associate Director for Economic Programs, will appear live on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal to discuss key economic indicators and how they measure our economy. His presentation will include a rich mix of statistical visualizations and discussion, including a public call-in segment.

You can view this event and watch the program either on C-SPAN from 9-10am on Friday October 21 or live through the Internet at:
http://www.c-span.org/Series/Washington-Journal/ (Not viewable until tomorrow, October 21, 2011)

For more information and to view the presentation graphs, please visit the following link, which will be live Friday morning (Oct. 21): http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/miscellaneous/econ_ind.html

A recording of the presentation will be available afterward from the Ethernet TV Media Library.

Be sure to follow the U.S. Census Bureau on Facebook and Twitter for an ongoing discussion of economic indicators and for other information from the Census Bureau.

Converting JP2000, JP2 files to other formats

Posted on October 15, 2011 by

There is a host of good reasons why archives like to preserve their images as JP2000 or JP2 files. The two biggest reasons are the compression saves a large amount of space and the visual quality is excellent after the compression takes place.

What is a JP2000?

The downside to these file formats (depending on who you are) is that they are not very accessible in terms of software that can view or edit. This is especially true if you are a dedicated user of non-apple personal computers.

So what do you do when you find an amazing map on the Library of Congress site that you download as a JP2000? Not much, unless you find some third party software that can handle this file type and convert it into a much more accessible format. This is where the Freeware IrfanView steps up and helps us all out.

Library of Congress Map Collection Site

IrfanView is a free image viewer that allows for light editing of images as well as converting file formats. If you do use IrfanView be sure to download the optional plugins so that you can convert your JP2000 files to something more useful to you.

1. After loading a JP2 or JP2000 file you can see the basic and clean layout of the image viewer.

2. To convert the file simply navigate to the File drop-down menu and choose Save as… Note the many file types available and options within each file type.

3. That’s it! You’ll also notice a batch conversion option in the File menu which will perform the same operation with a few more options. It’s also helpful if you have a large amount of images you’d like to convert!

Indeed there are a host of viewing software packages available, so if this platform does not suit your taste I’m sure you will find others! I have had good experience with this platform because its lightweight, converts files with ease, and the batching feature is a must with large digital image collections (really helpful when you work at a Map and Geographic Information Center). So at the very least give it a try when Photoshop won’t read your JP2000 file to get you out of a jam.

Cross posted MT and G

ESRI Develops Interactive Map of Occupy Wall Street Protests

Posted on October 14, 2011 by

As they did for Hurricane Irene, ESRI has developed an interactive map that showcases social media related to the Occupy Wall Street Protests. The map features pictures from Flickr, Tweets, and YouTube videos. Currently, the majority of the content of the map is from the lower Manhattan protests, but the map also displays social media from outside the New York area. It will be interesting to see if the geographic distribution of social media shared on the map spreads as protests have sprouted up all over the country.

Percentage of Populations in the US Living in Poverty

Posted on October 13, 2011 by

Yesterday, I generated the above map of poverty using TIGER shapefiles and data from the 2010 American Community Survey 1 Year Estimate. This map demonstrates the unequal geographic distribution of poverty in the United States. Most notably, there is a sharp contrast between the relatively low percentages of the northern states and the higher percentages of southern states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C. According to the data, Mississippi (18.9%) has the highest percentage of its population living below the poverty level while New Hampshire (7.8%) has the lowest.

Here is a shot of the data I acquired from the American Fact Finder:

Although ACS estimates can be useful in identifying patterns, they can also have a large margins of error, so it should be understood that the data is limited in its capabilities.

Map of National Homicide Rates

Posted on October 11, 2011 by

Yesterday, The Guardian’s DataBlog posted the above map of homicide rates, per 100,000 people, of countries around the world. The data is gathered from national sources by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and can be found here. A handful of countries in South America and Africa show the highest rates while most of Europe, China, Australia, and Canada, among others, show the lowest rates. The United States falls in between.

Connecticut Forum on Digital Initiatives – October 28, 2011 at Connecticut State Library

Posted on October 10, 2011 by

Connecticut State Library presents the Connecticut Forum on Digital Initiatives

The Connecticut Forum on Digital Initiatives will bring together academic and research libraries, museums and cultural institutions from around the state to talk about the digital projects happening in our historic state. It’s a chance for institutions to bring their projects and ideas to the table and learn from each other about how to improve and enhance them. The theme of this forum is collaboration, and how in the face of ever tightening budgets, Connecticut institutions and organizations can work together to create better digital projects for the people of Connecticut.

Speakers from institutions including Yale University and the Hartford History Center will cover issues just as diverse. Topics will cover the digital lifecycle of a project, from digitization to preservation as well as platforms, like Omeka and Historypin. Several successful collaborative projects underway in Connecticut will be highlighted.

The forum will broaden participant’s skills and perspectives on digital initiatives, and encourage participants to form new collaborative partnerships. This may be a simple collaborative collection, or a complex grant partnership. In order to facilitate this, we hope to create a project repository where institutions can list their digital projects. Take this opportunity to meet people institutions next door and help create a community that will move Connecticut forward.

Date: October 28, 2011

Time: 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Location: Connecticut State Library, Memorial Hall, 231 Capitol Avenue, Hartford, Connecticut

Directions http://www.cslib.org/directions.htm

Who Should Attend: This is not an introduction to digitization. It is strongly recommended that attendees currently be involved in some form of digital project or initiative. Attendees must be from Connecticut based institutions.

Cost: There is no fee for registration.

Register: To register access the Connecticut Continuing Education Calendar of Events @ http://evanced.info/cslib/evanced/eventcalendar.asp

Presenters:

Paul Baran, Assistant State Archivist, Connecticut State Archives
Michael Bennett, Digital Projects Librarian & Institutional Repository Coordinator, University of Connecticut
Jack Dougherty, Associate Professor of Educational Studies, Trinity University
Chris Edwards, Digital Studio Production Manager, Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscripts Library
John French, Director, Visual Resources Department, Yale Art Gallery
Kathleen Foulke, Project Director, Connecticut History Online
Michael Howser, Undergraduate Education and GIS Librarian, Homer Babbidge Library, University of Connecticut
Gail Hurley, Statewide Library Catalog Coordinator, Connecticut State Library
Brenda Miller, Curator, Hartford History Center
Leah Prescott, Digital Projects Coordinator, Getty Research Institute
Tom Scheinfeldt, Managing Director, Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
Nick Stanhope, CEO, We Are What We Do/Historypin
Kendall Wiggin, State Librarian, Connecticut State Library

A special thank you to the Connecticut Humanities Council for sponsoring Nick Stanhope, CEO, We Are What We Do/Historypin.

For more information please contact:

Christine Pittsley

Digital Collections Technician

Connecticut State Library

231 Capitol Ave.

Hartford Ct. 06106

860-757-6517

Email – Christine.Pittsley@ct.gov

Media Advisory — Census Bureau to Hold Webinar Prior to Releasing List of Jurisdictions Required to Offer Language Assistance to Voters

Posted on October 10, 2011 by

What:

The U.S. Census Bureau will hold a webinar to discuss the upcoming release of a list of jurisdictions that must provide language assistance to voters. Under Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act, jurisdictions must provide assistance to specific minority groups who are unable to speak or understand English adequately enough to participate in the electoral process. This is the first time American Community Survey estimates will be used to determine the list of jurisdictions.

The event will consist of an audio conference and online presentation. The webinar will explain background information on Section 203, how the list of jurisdictions is determined and provide information on the upcoming release. It will conclude with a question-and-answer session for reporters. We suggest participants log in and call in early.

When:

Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2011, 1 p.m. (EDT)

Who:

Cathy McCully, chief, Census Redistricting Data Office
Rod Little, associate director, Research and Methodology Directorate

Details:

Audio conference ― access information
Toll free number: 1-888-324-8115
Participant passcode: CENSUS
Note: Stay on the line until operator asks for the passcode. Do not key in passcode.

Online presentation ― access information
Please login early, as some setup is required.
URL: https://www.mymeetings.com/nc/join/

Conference number: PW8555041
Audience passcode: CENSUS