Check out this interesting presentation by Yao-Yi Chiang, Associate Research Professor at the Spatial Science Institute at USC, about using machines to read historical maps and process printed text.
Machine Reading Maps
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Mapping Our Place in the World
Throughout history, cartography has revealed the way humans perceive themselves. Click below to check out the May/June 2021 edition of Library of Congress Magazine!
Chair and Vice Chair needed for California GIS Council
The California GIS Council needs a Chair and a Vice Chair to serve July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022. The Vice Chair would move into the Chair position for the July 2022 – June 2023 term.
The original deadline of May 7 has been extended. The nomination period for the Council’s Chair and Vice Chair for 2021-2022 fiscal year will close at 5:00 pm on May 13, 2021. Self-nominations are highly encouraged! Please consider nominating a colleague or stepping up yourself for this opportunity to help facilitate greater cooperation throughout the State of California by supporting the collection, acquisition, sharing, and dissemination of GIS data, standards, and policies.
Nominees must specify a constituency that they identify with. Please note that identification with a constituency does not imply any official representation; rather, an individual brings the perspective of one’s work within that constituency to the Council. The Council Charter identifies the following constituencies:
State Government
Federal Government
County Government
City Government
Tribal Government
Regional Government and Regional GIS Councils
Special Districts
Education
Private Industry
Professional Associations
Nonprofits
Public and Private Utilities
The positions’ responsibilities are specified in Section 4 of the Council Charter:
“The Chair will be responsible for scheduling Council meetings, presiding over the Council, and representing the Council in public meetings.”
“The Council will elect a Vice Chair from a different constituency than the Chair for a one-year term. The Vice Chair becomes the Chair the following year. The Vice Chair will be responsible for supporting the Chair in his or her responsibilities and fulfilling the Chair’s duties when the Chair is unavailable.”
The time commitment for the Chair position can average out to about 8 hours per month. Additional time may be needed for any Workgroups that the Chair may also be involved with. The most time is spent in the weeks leading up to the quarterly meetings. It’s usually a bit less for Vice Chair. Anyone considering taking on these roles is welcome to contact the current Chair Jane Schafer-Kramer and current Vice Chair Ashlee Llewellyn at ca.gis.council.chair@gmail.com or message us on LinkedIn to inquire further.
Nominations are being accepted now and will close at 5:00 p.m. on May 13, 2021. Please use the form linked below to enter your nomination. Those nominating themselves should be prepared to include a brief candidate statement. If you are nominating someone else, please inform them that you are doing so!
GIS Council Chair Nomination Form https://forms.gle/h2CgNkcvweb7j7P5A
GIS Council Vice Chair Nomination Form https://forms.gle/7hNv9NtcYg9NUdk37
Thank you,
Jane Schafer-Kramer
California GIS Council Chair until June 30, 2021
Follow us on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/california-gis-council/
Cinco De Mayo on the Map
The holiday of Cinco De Mayo, The 5th Of May, commemorates the victory of the Mexican militia over the French army at The Battle Of Puebla in 1862. It is primarily a regional holiday celebrated in the Mexican state capital city of Puebla and throughout the state of Puebla, with some limited recognition in other parts of Mexico.
Check out the story by clicking the map below!
Still Time for your MS in GIS!
One-Year MS in GIS @ CSULB – Apply Now for Fall 2021!
The Department of Geography at California State University is accepting applications for our 1-year 30-unit Master of Science in Geographic Information Science (MSGISci). Classes are scheduled on weeknights and weekends to accommodate working professionals. Program details and application instructions can be found at http://www.beachgis.com. Applications are being reviewed on a rolling basis, and will be accepted until June 1st 2021.
Mapping Stickers
Looking for that special mapping sticker? Click below to see a bunch!
US High Tide Flooding Probability
High tide flooding today mostly affects low-lying and exposed assets or infrastructure, such as roads, harbors, beaches, public storm-, waste- and fresh-water systems and private and commercial properties. High tide flooding is likely more disruptive (a nuisance) than damaging. The cumulative effects, however, are becoming a serious problem in several coastal locations.
See where high tide flooding is probable over the next 80 years and how many flood days are expected annually with the High Tide Flooding app using NOAA study data.
The Mythology of Snow’s Map of Cholera
Most of you that took Geography, Cartography, or GIS courses remember reading about the story of Dr. John Snow and his map showing the cholera outbreak in Soho, London in 1854.
You also probably remember how he plotted cholera cases on the map and how he used that information to figure out that there was a strong spatial relationship between the cases and a polluted well on Broad Street, so he had the pump removed and the outbreak stopped. The map has been used as an example of the principles of GIS using layers of information and spatial relationships.
Well … despite it being a great story, unfortunately it’s not really how it played out. Both the use of the famous map and the story surrounding it have become somewhat modified through the passage of time. Click below to read the mythology of Snow’s cholera map.
The Impact of Earthquakes
Check out this interesting post about using ArcGIS Online and the Living Atlas data to find 2020 population statistics that fall in a recent earthquake shake intensity area.
Hands-On Mapping: The Story of a Blind Cartographer
The talk will take place Friday, April 23, 2021 on Zoom.
On the event of the fifth anniversary of the David Rumsey Map Center at Stanford University, please join us for an online talk by special guest Dr. Joshua Miele who will talk about his story as a blind cartographer.
Joshua will use the creation of TMAP – Tactile Maps Automated Production – to frame the broader landscape of how tactile maps and graphics can be used by blind people to understand many kinds of spatial information. He will discuss the power of touch as a spatial percept, as well as the design constraints on tactile representations that are surprising and challenging to most visual designers. Key topics include historical techniques for creating tactile maps, examples and counterexamples of tactile map use cases, and promising technologies for expanding the availability of accessible maps in the future.
Please register here: https://events.stanford.edu/events/908/90805/
SoCalGIS.org 