Navigating the Mapping Landscape

Megan Kudzia, Digital Scholarship Librarian, Michigan State University

Description

This workshop will start by giving a broad overview of map types and the considerations involved in beginning a DH mapping project, then will move into specific suggestions you will be able to implement in your own work. We will briefly cover some specific mapping tools, with attention to the strengths and drawbacks of each, and wrap up with a discussion of how to choose and evaluate mapping tools for your project.

What should I do to prepare for this workshop?

1. Make sure you have a Google account that allows you to create Google Maps. (This may be a personal account or an institutional one, if your university uses the Google Suite.)

Slides

Direct link to Google Slides

PDF of slides: Navigating the Mapping Landscape.pdf

Additional Resources and Tools

Resources

• UIC Library Guide: Data - guide to finding data compiled by your friendly neighborhood librarians, so it's specifically applicable to researchers at UIC
• Your GIS Librarian - probably your single best resource for mapping projects!
• "Getting Started with Open Refine" - Thomas Padilla - great resource for data preparation and normalizing
• "Tutorial: Batch Geocoding Location Information" - Kristen Mapes - how to add geospatial references to your data set
• "Visualize your Data on a Custom Map Using My Maps" - Google - working with Google Maps to create a custom map

Tools

• RAW graphs - browser-based, good for exploring your data; might not have literal maps, but has lots of other map-adjacent visualization types
• OpenRefine - excellent for normalizing data, especially "fuzzy" data