Map Miscellany
Posted by: Rebecca Vnuk
I’ve been working on the annual update of Reference Books Bulletin‘s Atlas Roundup, and I’ve come across some interesting stuff that map lovers might appreciate. On the Times World Atlases Web site, I learned about a series of interviews coming up on BBC Radio 4 with Mike Parker, author of a book called Map Addict. In 10 15-minute programs, Parker will look at the history of mapmaking, the different uses of maps, the creation of atlases, and the effect of new technologies on cartography. The programs will air over two weeks beginning March 22, and I assume they will be available for playing on the Radio 4 site.
Maps have had to be redrawn as a result of climate change; here’s a video explaining how.
As might be expected, there are a number of map blogs, some quite general, some quite specialized, and some quite odd. The Map Scroll and The Map Room fall in the category of general. Map of the Week is maintained by a self-described “map nut” and features a variety of maps (maps of the Olympics torch relay and the earthquake in Haiti are among recent maps of the week) as well as mapping news. You can find an antique map of the week on Geographicus. Contours is the offical blog of National Geographic Maps. Digital Earth Blog keeps tabs on ”the various digital earths”–Google Earth, Virtual Earth, and the like. Twelve Mile Circle covers “the many unusual places that can be found on maps that just don’t seem to make sense.” And Cartastrophe is a blog about bad maps. There are many more; the Directory page of The Map Room is a good place to start.
Fun and totally irrelevant fact: there is a Chicago rock group called Maps & Atlases.
March 15th, 2010 at 4:47 pm
Don’t forget the Strange Maps blog!
http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/