BTAA-GIN Collection Stories

By Tara Anthony, Penn State University Libraries Geological maps are a valuable resource for understanding characteristics of earth properties through rock and mineral formations. Historical geological maps held within map collections can span geographic areas and be useful for understanding regions across administrative regions, such as state borders. The BTAA Geoportal  can be a source for identifying where to look for historic geological map collections within BTAA institutions. This blog post will highlight what types of geological maps are able to be located from the BTAA Geoportal  as of Spring 2025. Geological maps are a resource type for narrowing down specific map types. See this search for Resource type (Geological maps)  for results. These historic geological maps are primarily from the early half the 1900s, with some earlier geological maps as well that date back to the mid-1800s. Of the results, the following institutions have materials clas...

 By Theresa Quill   Featured Item or Collection: Indiana Historic Maps; Indiana Sanborn Maps   One of the most distinctive landmarks on the Indiana University Bloomington (IU) campus is a small creek, sometimes optimistically referred to as a "river" that flows through the heart of campus. In the spring, students hang hammocks along its bank, classes take samples to study water quality, and the campus maintains a large green space in central campus because periodic floods preclude any new buildings from encroaching on the creek. This creek is currently called The Campus River, though it has had other names throughout IU's 200+ year history.   The Campus River on a snowy day. Photo Credit James Brosher/Indiana University Scanned maps from the Herman B Wells Library's Map Collection help us trace not only the name changes of this campus landmark, but also the environmental impact the creek has had on the town.   ...

By Meg Mering and Wenjie Wang  What BTAA Library submitted the item?  University of Nebraska-Lincoln  Interesting tidbits  Nebraska National Forests and Grasslands include the Nebraska National Forest, Samuel R. McKelvie National Forest, Buffalo Gap National Grassland, Fort Pierre National Grassland and Oglala National Grassland  Within the United States, North Dakota (1.72%) is the only state that has less forest cover than Nebraska (3.20%).  The Nebraska National Forest (Bessey Ranger District) began in 1902 as an experiment led by Charles Bessey, an UNL botany professor, to produce trees and plant them in what is now the largest human-made forest in the United States.   https://gisgeography.com/nebraska-state-map/   Map of Nebraska. The green highlighted areas indicate the forests in Nebraska.                                 ...

By Rob Shepard, GIS Librarian Featured Item or Collection:  University of Chicago's CAMEL Lab Collection What is the item? As part of the University of Chicago's Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures 's efforts to provide public access to information, its Center for Ancient Middle Eastern Landscapes (CAMEL) had published thousands of digitized items from its extensive collection of paper maps and satellite imagery in the institute's integrated database (IDB). However, the inability to spatially search through their collections based on location was limiting any wider public use: As CAMEL Director Mehrnoush Soroush explained "researchers need to see the coverage before selecting an item," and her team began exploring options to better serve the research community. The BTAA Geoportal's map-based interface, which accompanies faceted browsing and text searching tools, was an important factor in their decision to part...

By Shirley Li Featured Collection: Purdue University Campus Map Collection What is the item? With historical imageries from 1890 to 2014, Purdue University Campus Map Collection is preserved from a digital scholarship initiative to educate the Purdue community and the public about the historic grounds and structures of the campus. Located in the Archives and Special Collections, the physical campus maps were scanned and georeferenced by the libraries. Individual GeoTIFFs can be downloaded from this collection on the BTAA geoportal. What BTAA Library submitted the item? Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies Interesting tidbits All the historical maps are georeferenced and mosaicked into one mosaic dataset , which was published to ArcGIS server as one image service. University Hall is the oldest remaining building on campus. Completed in 1877, it is the only building remaining of the original six-building. Purdue Campus Maps: West Lafayette, Indiana, 1890-2...

 By Jaime Martindale. In recent years, the University of Wisconsin-Madison has made improving access to LiDAR and aerial imagery a priority in the B1G Geoportal. Building on the popularity of the historic 1937-1941 aerial photos of Wisconsin , (one of the most popular resources in the B1G Geoportal for several years running) our current focus has been on enhancing discovery to more current aerial imagery and LiDAR elevation data currently housed within the WisconsinView repository. WisconsinView.org (part of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Space Science and Engineering Center) serves as the repository for remotely sensed data in Wisconsin -- from LiDAR and satellite imagery, to digital orthophotography, tornado and flood data. In partnership with WisconsinView, the UW Robinson Map Library and WI State Cartographer’s Office are working to write metadata and facilitate access to these collections via the B1G Geoportal. This work results in greater exposure to the data and ima...

By Margaret Mering What are the items? These maps show the Eastern Saline Wetlands areas of Lancaster and Saunders counties, Nebraska. The first map identifies the three categories of saline wetlands with Category 1 being of the highest quality. The aerial map identifies the names of the wetland areas. Caption: Saline Wetland Areas map produced by LPS Natural Resource District in 2003 showing locations around Lincoln, NE. ( https://mediacommons.unl.edu/luna/servlet/detail/UNL~126~126~14388~1516077 ) Caption: Saline Wetland Areas aerial image showing the names of the wetlands ( https://mediacommons.unl.edu/luna/servlet/detail/UNL~126~126~14454~1516211 ) What BTAA Library submitted the item? University of Nebraska Lincoln Interesting tidbits: The Eastern Saline Wetlands once covered an area of over 200,000 acres. Today, because of the drainages of Salt Creek, Little Salt Creek and Rock Creek and residential, commercial and agricultural development, the area is only around 4,000 acres (Li...

By Cecilia Smith University of Chicago Library GIS Data Hub What is the item? The University of Chicago’s GIS Data Hub is a portal to a curated set of historical Chicagoland data. There are currently 33 vector layers covering different themes. The data was produced by several sources, including UChicago researchers and Library Map Collection staff. What BTAA Library submitted the item? University of Chicago Interesting tidbits: The collection contains the city boundaries for Chicago starting in 1868. Ward boundaries for the years 1986, 1992, and 1998 are popular layers for researchers interested in redistricting and social outcomes. The 77 community areas as of 1990 are available, and continue to be very similar to contemporary areas. A number of layers were derived from a 1948 dissertation by Henry Hughes Presler, titled "The effects of subsidy of Presbyterian Churches in metropolitan Chicago, 1871-1942." In the dissertation, Presler maps religious congregations and their et...