Harrower and
Cartography Course Featured in On Wisconsin
Mark Harrower and the Geography 572: Graphic Design in Cartography
course is featured in the Clasroom section of this winter's
On Wisconsin alumni magazine.
The article describes how Harrower uses realistic scenarios
and peer review to create a design that is beautiful and functional--and
uses new techniques built on cartography's roots.
Wetlands Conference in Madison, Calls for
Presentations
Morgan Tanner of the WWA writes:
"The Wisconsin Wetlands Association
invites you to give a presentation at our 11th Annual Wetland
Science Forum, 'Wisconsin Wetlands: Biodiversity and Threats.'"
"The conferece will be held on the
2nd and 3rd of February, 2006 at the Monona Terrace, so it
will be very close to the beautiful Madison Campus. The proximity
of the conference creates an opportunity for students to
participate; we encourage graduate students and undergraduate
students to give a poster presentation. There are
limited scholarship opportunities available for students as
well if they are interested in attending the conference."
"Take
a look at our website www.wiscwetlands.org/2006forum.htm for
more details about the conference and instructions for abstract
submission."
Morgan Tanner, Outreach Intern, Wisconsin
Wetlands Association www.wiscwetlands.org
Abstract Submission Deadline: Monday, November
7, 2005
Recent Publications Webpage Started
Tom Tews of the Geography Library will be collecting citations
of the recent new publications from UW-Madison
faculty, grads, alumni, and affiliated geographers that he
receives. The list will be posted and updated at: http://www.geography.wisc.edu/News/publications.htm .
This Recent Publications list is NOT comprehensive, but reflects
some of the work coming into the UW Library system published
by UW geographers. This list will also be linked from the undergraduate,
graduate, and research pages to give prospective students an
idea of the scope of geographic inquiry today.
Not every publication will be picked up by the library, so
if you have published, or know of a UW alumni who has published,
please send us the citation. Send citations to: webteam@geography.wisc.edu .
UW-Madison's Robinson Map Library Partners
with U.S. Geological Survey in Digital Preservation Project
By Jaime Martindale, 10/24/2005
MADISON - The Arthur H. Robinson Map Library is taking part
in a national digital preservation project initiated by
the U.S. Geological Survey. The Map Library's extensive collection
of U.S. Geological Survey topographic maps will be utilized
in a project focused on scanning, documenting, and digitally
preserving all of the topographic maps produced by the
agency since 1879. The U.S. Geological Survey and the Robinson
Map Library are working closely with the Library of Congress
to ensure proper metadata development standards are implemented
during the creation of the digital repository of map images.
Maps within the Robinson
Map Library's collection are being
scanned on a 54-inch Contex scanner provided by the U.S.
Geological Survey Cartography and Publishing Program office
located in Madison, WI. The maps are scanned at 508 optical
dpi, 24-bit color, and are saved as uncompressed TIFF images
to ensure the best possible archival quality. In addition
to inclusion in the publicly accessible National Map online
repository, copies of all the images will be retained by
the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and also deposited into
a repository at the National Archives and Records Administration.
As of last month, all editions of the Wisconsin topographic
quadrangles at the 1:24,000 and 1:62,500 scales (held by
the Map Library) have been scanned (roughly 2400 maps). The
Map Library's collection of 1:100,000 scale maps for Wisconsin
is to be scanned next. After all the Wisconsin topographic
maps are scanned, the project will move forward with the
scanning of maps for the state of Minnesota.
Jaime Martindale of the Robinson Map Library and Greg Allord
of the USGS recently presented a paper at the North American
Cartographic Information Society's annual meeting in Salt
Lake City, UT to publicize the project. One positive outcome
of this presentation was the demonstrated interest of other
universities interested in participating by adding scanned
topographic maps of their states to the USGS's MapCat database
(which is soon to be publicly available).
Scanning of the Wisconsin topographic maps was briefly interrupted
in mid-September so the USGS could begin scanning the Map
Library's extensive collection of historic topographic quadrangles
that covered the Gulf Coast areas affected by Hurricane Katrina.
Because of a lack of staffing and resources, the USGS Map
Library in Reston, VA was unable to take on this task. As
a result, the USGS looked to the Robinson Map Library's collection
for its digitization needs.
The UW Geography Department's Robinson Map Library has proved
to be a very valuable resource, one that is being utilized
for a number of interesting projects in conjunction with
the USGS.
Olds Comments on Warwick
University Decision in FT
Krid Olds was quoted in a UK Financial Times article
on Warwick University's decision to abandon plans for a Singapore
campus due to concerns over academic freedom constraints.
Singapore has actively recruited international universities,
but requires international educational institutions
not to
conduct activities seen as interfering in domestic affairs.
Olds, who taught for six
years at the National University of Singapore, said, “The
issue will need to be grappled with
in a systematic way by both local and foreign universities
in Singapore and the
government over the next one to three years” if the
island wants to achieve its “global
education hub” goal.
Wiedemeyer Map
Selected for Library of Congress Exhibition
The
award-winning map "The Okanagan Wine Industry " by
UW-Madison graduate Jared Wiedemeyer has been selected for
display in "Maps
in Our Lives," an exhibition in recognition of a
30-year partnership between the Library of Congress' Geography
and Map Division and the American Congress on Surveying and
Mapping (ACSM).
[At left, a version of Wiedemeyer's map "The Okanagan
Wine Industry ".
Click on the map to see an enlargement.]
In March 2005, Wiedemeyer's map won the 2004 ACSM National
Geographic Society-sponsored Arthur
Robinson Award for Best Printed Map (Student Division). Winning designs are placed
in the permanent ACSM collection in the Library of Congress.
According
to the LOC Geography and Map Division press
release, the cartographic section
of "Maps
in Our Lives" exemplifies
"notable advances in cartographic interpretations, design
and production during the last 22 years". The exhibit
will be on display at the LOC until January 6, 2007.
I just wanted to let folks know that the first undergrad
Geography
Club meeting of the fall semester will be this Wednesday (tomorrow),
October 19th, from 5:45 PM to 6:45 PM in the Geography Faculty Lounge
(room 388 Science Hall -- where the department mailboxes are in the
State Cartographers Office). We will be talking about possible club
activities for this school year (especially for upcoming GIS Day),
and, to keep in club tradition, there will of course be FREE PIZZA and POP.
The club is for Geography undergraduates, but our meetings
are
always open to anyone who is interested. If people have time and are
willing, I would be greatly appreciative if you could mention the club
meeting to your classes and discussions, as well as any other
undergraduates you know whom you think may be interested. I'm hoping
the club will be more active this year, with cow tee-shirts,
geocaching trips, high school outreach, Madison Geographic Newsletter
and all, so I'm sure you'll be seeing us around Science Hall en force
in the weeks to come.
Sincerely, Ben Spaier
President - Geography Club UW
Cartography Lab Improves Great River Road
Bicycle Map
Earlier this year, Rich Worthington, Project Assistant in
the UW-Madison Cartography Lab, completed a Wisconsin Dept
of Transporation project to improve the
Great River Road Bicycle Map (GRR).
In a departure from the previous county and local bike maps,
the GRR maps use
USGS shaded relief to give riders a more accurate picture
of elevation and mileage along the routes on the Great River
Road Bikeway (GRBB) and nearby roadways.
The GRR map also shows paved shoulder
information for state highways. Most higher volume highways
have 3 or 5 foot paved shoulders. Each GRRB map section
also includes directions, route travel conditions, and symbols
for amenities along way.
The GRRB has been mapped for 250 miles in Wisconsin. The
map project was completed in coordination with the Wisconsin
Mississippi River Parkway Commission and the 10-state Mississippi
River Trail Inc.
GIS Day Expo at the UW-Madison on November
16, 2005
On Wednesday, November 16th, 2005 the UW-Department of
Geography will host the 3rd Annual GIS Day Expo at
the Memorial Union's Great Hall from 9am to 4pm. The
purpose of the event is to promote awareness of Geographic
Information Systems (GIS) and related technologies for
research, planning, management, education, and decision-making
in a wide-array of application areas. The event is free
for all participants and attendees.
Co-sponsors of this event are the Land Information
Computer Graphics Facility (LICGF), Environmental Remote
Sensing Center (ERSC), the Arthur Robinson Map Library,
the Spatial Information and Analysis Consortium (SIAC),
and the Wisconsin State Cartographer's Office (SCO).
Last year's expo was very successful, with over
250 students, faculty, staff and members of the greater
community participating in the day's activities sponsored
by 35 government agencies, academic programs, businesses
and non-profit organizations.
We invite individuals and organizations to be involved
by having an exhibition booth, giving a GIS demo or presenting
a GIS application/topic, holding an interactive activity,
or submitting a map or poster. We welcome
your creative ideas! If you wish to be a part of the 2005 GIS Day Expo,
please fill out and return the form, downloadable on
the 2005 GIS Day webpage.
For more information about this event and to take a
look back at last year's expo, see: http://www.geography.wisc.edu/GISDay . This
page will be updated frequently as plans unfold and our
participant list grows.
I hope you will join us for this exciting event!
Karen Tuerk
GIS Day Coordinator,
Department of Geography
where the department mailboxes are in the
State Cartographers Office). We will be talking about possible club
activities for this school year (especially for upcoming GIS Day),
and, to keep in club tradition, there will of course be FREE PIZZA and POP. 
