Digital information has had great impact on geography, probably more so than any of the social science disciplines. This is a small, but selective sample of the sort of information now found easily on the web. Please note that these are examples so that the list is incomplete and may exclude important resources.
The About.com Geography web site is notably comprehensive with many useful links. Take the "Weekly Geography Quiz" and see how well you do.
geoCommunity is a reasonably comprehensive site for GIS resources.
Geoplace.com is a comprehensive site for geospatial information.
Internet Geography provides a wide range of information with some emphasis on resources valuable for students and teachers. An attractive and most interesting site.
provides a variety of mapping and information sources and services, including National Geographic News which covers geography news and not just the Society.
The most comprehensive cartography site appears to be Odden's Fascinating World of Maps and Mapping.
ALA Map and Geography Round Table.
The Association of American Geographers
The Royal Canadian Geographic Society provides a variety of interesting content, including games and quizzes and a learning center.
The SLA Geography and Map Division.
The Western Association of Map Libraries WWW site includes a very useful map librarian's tool box.
Homefair.com has comparative costs of living and is useful for those considering a move.
HotelsByCity.net provides over 500 city guides for cities in the U.S. and abroad.
Sperling's BestPlaces includes 3,000 city profiles. Excellent for the anyone considering moving to a new city. Clearly superior.
American Ethnic Geography [cultural geography course].
GeoLib, at Florida State University, serves libraries via geographical and marketing research. Focus on easily used digital geographic information.Perhaps my favorite academic library guide is "Geography: Guide to Geographical Resources" at the University of Wisconsin.
Most of the sites below are also useful for adults.
Aneki.com's Country Information provides reasonable number of facts and figures for about 200 countries.
Fifty States provides easy access to the official home page of each state.Finding your way with a map and a compass is easily understood. By USGS.
Fundamentals of physical geography is a solid online text useful for interested HS and college students.
Geoexplorer is especially useful for the lower grades. Strong in references and links with a good variety of solid, helpful items.
Another good guide for K12 is Geography for All Levels.
Geography Olympics consists of some reasonably difficult identification problems.
GeoSpy by National Geographic is a game that tests geographic identification skills.
Geo Teacher contains many helpful links aimed at high school students, teachers, and parents.
Geography World is reasonably comprehensive for physical and political geography. Wide variety of helpful links.
Internet Geography is a comprehensive portal for the several kinds of geography.
National Geographic Education Guide includes lesson plans, photographs, easily printed maps, and teacher guides.
Standard Grade Geography is a British site with solid content and good exercises to test learning.
Xpeditions Atlas: maps made for printing and copying includes about 1800 b&w maps for student use.
The GEONet from the National Imagery and Mapping Agency provides access to the official names of foreign geographic features.
Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names includes U.S., foreign, and some historical names.
Places Named is a place name search engine for about 200,000 U.S. place names. Search by name, sip code, or area code.The U.S.G.S. Geographic Names Information System provides access to official names of places as well their exact latitude and longitude.
CIA World Factbook has excellent, objective content.
GeoHive is a source for reputable global statistics and charts. Good for population and economic data. Clear presentations. Good for comparative country data.
The American Memory website contains 253 published narratives by Americans and foreigners of their travels to the colonies and then the U.S. from 1750 to 1920. An extensive collection. Zoom into Maps is also part of American Memory and explores unusual maps and their various uses over time.
For those traveling abroad, the Department of State travel site provides much useful information on pretrip documents.
Mapquest is the best known of the create a map for your trip sites.Two of the many travel sites are Travelocity and Yahoo! Travel. Both are good starting places for travel planning.
USA Today's travel site is good for current awareness with its news, deals and features.
Most of the notable publishers of travel books now have helpful web sites. Rough Guides web site will eventually provide the full text of the whole series. Lonely Planet Publications web site, like their travel books, is aimed at the younger, hip traveler. The health category is good. Some travel publishers now have blogs to provide current comment on travel issues. Fodor's is called Right This Way.
AAAS Atlas of Population and Environment includes maps and related graphs that examine the relationships between population and place.
Air University Map Room is quite comprehensive. Does include military base maps.
This searchable American Memory site provides access by subject, place and title. Substantial variety of historically interesting maps.
Cornell's Digital Earth is an interactive atlas that allows users to create maps and learn quite a bit about map making. Requires Java plug-in.
David Ramsey Map Collection includes about 16,000 maps on-line with many being rare and valuable 18th and 19th Century maps. May be the largest private map collection. A "must visit."
Digital Earth allows you to search for a specific longitude/latitude location.
The Geography Network is a partnership of geographic users and information providers. Provides access to a variety of free and fee information, products, and services.
GeoGratis, by the Earth Sciences Sector of Natural Resources Canada, provides free geospatial data.
Google Maps allows you to go to a location, find a business, or get directions.HomeTownLocator Gazetter includes location information for nearly two million geographical features in the U.S.
The Internet Public Library has a good introduction to geography sources.
Map History/ History of Cartography is a guide to a variety of historical sources.The Map Room is a weblog about maps. Good for current awareness. Clear and easily understood.
Maps In Our Lives is an exhibition exploring surveying, cartography, geodesy, and geographic information systems.
MapsArea.com is a reasonably comprehensive guide to maps and atlases.Maps on the Web is an interesting and different Internet search engine. Do take a look.
The MapTech MapServer provides access to many topographic maps and charts, including NOAA nautical charts. Probably the largest on-line mapping resource.
Multimap.com is especially good for UK and European maps of all kinds, including street maps.
The National Atlas of the United States.
The National Map, the Nation's Topographic Map for the 21st Century [USGS].
Norman B. Leventhal Map Center, Boston Public Library provides access to cartographic treasures and educational programs.
Odden's Bookmarks is a substantial and well-regarded site for maps, cartography, and map data. Perhaps the best cartography site.
Places in the News often includes maps [from the Library of Congress].
ReliefWeb Map Center provides current maps of places experiencing emergencies.
TerraFly provides access to the digital U.S. Enter an address and see an aerial image.
Microsoft's Terraserver provides unique spatial perspectives via aerial views of points that the user selects. Also includes topo maps.
The U.S. Geological Survey creates a wide range of map products. Their National Map Information site contains much useful information, including geographic names information.
For those interested in military history, the United States Military Academy Map Library has an excellent selection of maps, including foreign military campaigns, i.e. Napoleon. Quality maps found under the "Atlases" link.
World War II Military Situation Maps from the Library of Congress.
U.S. Topographic maps may be found at MapQuest and also at Topozone. You will find digital versions of each USGS topographic map in four scales. Note that these maps are designed to show topographic features which rarely change and may not accurately reflect current roads and the like.
WorldMapper is a collection of 366 thematic world maps.
The World of Maps is a comprehensive gateway for maps and mapping. Variety of good link
Zoom Into Maps is an American Memory project to locate and exhibit unusual maps likely to interest students and teachers.
All Points Blog focuses on location technology and GIS.
Directions Magazine is another useful site with an emphasis on business use of GIS.
GInfoServer: WWW GIS-Resources is a comprehensive site on all aspects of GIS.
GISLinx is another well-regarded site.The GIS Lounge provides an extensive list of links and sources.
The GIS Portal is an excellent place to begin.
Nice Geography and GIS Sites is a comprehensive collection of geography sites from around the world.
A practical guide to GPS is most useful, especially for lay people who use GPS while traveling or outdoors.
The USGS Aerial Photographs and Satellite Images provides a good introduction.
The UT Libraries has a GIS website.
Jonathan Crowe's Map Room: a weblog about maps is well worth a visit.
The Western Association of Map Libraries' Map Librarian's Toolbox is a comprehensive source of information for the map librarian.
1. A patron is interested in relatively popular, easily understood information on remote-sensing and its impact on map-making. What can you find?
2. A public library is setting up a series of web pages devoted to popular consumer-oriented topics. In this case, you have been asked to develop a page with links to three to five comprehensive global travel sites. Which sites would you suggest? When would you recommend a website rather than using a print guide?
3. An undergraduate student in business is interested in learning about retail site selection with an emphasis on current information. Likely sources? What can you find?
*4. You are a reference librarian in a public library {school library media specialists may select 4B instead}. When you receive a typical outside the U.S. map-related reference question which source would you go to first? Why? {Please do not answer 4 and 4a}
* [for school library media specialists]4B. A public library patron has asked you to recommend a world atlas or a comparable website for an elementary school aged child. She has been told that the DK Concise World Atlas would be a good choice, but wants reassurance. What would you suggest? Why?
5. For a college library/media center, you have been asked to present a BI unit on thematic atlases and thematic map websites for a course in western civilization. What are thematic maps? When might they be useful? Provide a few good examples.6. An elementary student, and her mother, needs to know the state bird and tree for Idaho. You may wish to begin with that old standardState Names, Seals, and Symbols [Ref E 155 .S4 1994]. Do you need such a work when the standard encyclopedias and several websites contain this sort of information?
7. A patron has come to the public library reference desk wanting information about the State Parks in the Carolinas. She would like to plan a vacation trip. She is also concerned about access for those who are mobility challenged. What sources might be useful? {Please ignore the obvious solution of calling their toll-free number.}
8. For a course in African history, a student needs to learn about Mungo Park, an explorer. Which sources would be most useful in providing a solid overview and characterization of his contributions?
9. A user [add specifics] has a reference to TIGER files. What can you learn about these files? Most useful sources?
10. One of the trends in contemporary atlases is to include more added value features instead of just cartographic information. Using The Atlas of Medieval Europe [G 1791.K6 2000] and the Historical Atlas of the American Revolution [E 208.B36 2000] as examples, do what degree do such features add genuine value for users?
11. A patron has a short list of terms that need to be defined. Samples include "batholith," "fall line," and "monadnock." Best sources?
12. In a community college library, you have been asked to prepare a BI unit on gazetteers. Provide an outline for your presentation, and some examples of best sources.
13. An information sciences student wants to know more about geographic information systems for an exploratory paper. She needs current material that is not too technical but that is accurate. Where would you begin? Useful web sites? Periodical titles with appropriate articles?
14. A patron needs to know more about Newfoundland, including its coat of arms and flag. You might begin with Facts About Canada, its Provinces and Territories. Other useful sources? What do you find here that you would not find in a general encyclopedia?
15. A patron is interested in reasonably detailed maps of Iraq. Which sources would be most useful? Do useful maps of recent military campaigns exist?
16. You have been asked to review the geographic dictionaries and select one for the ready reference shelves. Which is best for what?
17. A patron interested in the history of railroads in the United States wants to know about atlases that show abandoned railroad lines. What can you find?
18. A public librarian creating a homework helper series of web links needs to identify three to five comprehensive geography sites especially useful for middle school students. What would you recommend?
19. A student is interested in the 30 Years war and needs maps showing the campaigns. Which sources would be best?
20. A Civil War (U.S.) buff [add particulars] is interested in maps of military campaigns in Tennessee and Georgia. Begin with a standard U.S. Historical atlas such as the Atlas of American History [Ref G 1201 .S1S2 1978]or the Historical Atlas of the United States [Ref G 1201 .S1N3 1988] and then consider the war atlases [hard copy or web-based]. Which is best for what?
21. A public library patron, a Sunday School teacher, needs maps to provide a visual context for New Testament Bible passages. In particular, she needs maps for the Holy Land during the Roman occupation. Which source is best for that?
22. A student [add particulars] has come to the public library with these questions: What is the largest country in the world? What is the longest river in the world? What is the highest place? Why are these questions problematic? Which sources were best for these questions?
23. Baedeker is a "time-honored" name in travel guides. What can you learn about this individual and his publishing house?
24. A public library user, new to the Internet, needs help in finding a website that will "map" her vacation trip from Knoxville to Hilton Head, S.C. Which site would you recommend? Why?
25. The U.S. Geological Survey is a major provider of geographic information in the United States. You might begin by a thoughtful characterization of their web site.
26. The USGS is in the process of eliminating hard copy maps for digital ones. Is that a problem for libraries and other information providers?
30. As a collection developer in a public library, you have been asked to develop a plan for selecting and replacing the standard travel book series. What would you do first? How can you insure reasonable variety and currency when there are so many series, so many books, so little money, and such a short shelf life?
31. To what degree can travel websites replace the standard annual travel book series?
Last major revision: August 2007.
