Web Mapping Illustrated

Acquiring the Data You Need

Once you have determined your mapping and data needs, you have to find the appropriate data. To find such data, you can, for example, search the Internet, trade with friends, or download from a government site. This chapter takes you through several examples from searching for premade maps to finding data to do your own mapping and conversion.

Finding Premade Maps

Sometimes all you want is a premade, basic map of the world or a specific country. The Internet can be a good place to find these. One excellent site is the CIA World Factbook at http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ag.html. Here you will find a basic political map for every country and also a detailed demographic, cultural, and political summaries. Large-size, print-quality reference maps are also available in Portable Document Format (PDF).

Another good resource is the University of Texas Online Map Library at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/. With a brief walk through some of the links, you can find diverse maps that show, for example, a street map of Baghdad or a shaded relief map of the United Kingdom, nicely showing the Scottish Highlands. The library has scanned many of these maps and made them available to the public domain.

Finding Satellite Images or Shaded Surface Maps

Premade maps from images or shaded elevation models are also available. The CIA Factbook (http://www.cia.gov/ciapublications/factbook) has small political maps for each country. Other reference maps that show ...