Visual Resources Guide: Maps & GIS

Identify Geospatial Data Sources

• Open Data and Municipal Data Policy and Platforms

• Thematic Maps and Geographies

Narrate with Geospatial Visualizations

• Select Mapping platforms (including ArcGIS Storymaps, Felt, QQIS, etc, for analysis and presentation; layering open data, original data, text, images and media.

• Social Explorer for demography and data upload anaylsis.

• Explore Historical Maps Sources

Geospatial Training and Careers

• LinkedIn Learning Collection

• Professional Organizations

Learn More about the Geospatial Science, Theory, and Practice

• Books

• Journals

• Podcasts

Get Started with Social Explorer;

• Compose maps and data reports based on historical and modern census data at all geographic levels 

• Upload your data and layer it with features and demographics.

• Link an Individual Account to save, publish and collaborate maps.

1. Click on Maps 
2. Select Start Now.  You'll see a default map of the United States
3. Enter a location into the search box.
4. Pull down Show Data By and change it to your geography (county, place, census tract, etc.). Place refers to both cities and unincorporated areas.
5. Select the Change Data button
6. Browse by Category or Survey
   1. Browse by Category (tutorial): Use the slider bar to select a Census year and category.  Not all categories are available for each census year as some questions are added or dropped from survey to survey
   2. Browse by Survey (tutorial): Shows a list of all available data variables by Census year  
7. Creating a Project to enhance your map with text and images.
8. Invite Group Members to Collaborate by Share > Email Collaborators.

Map of Clinton Hill neighborhood including coastal flooding, open space, and housing data,

Video Tutorials:

Typically large-scale maps, dating back to the 1500s, historical maps serve as primary research artifacts.
Fire Insurance Maps cover the United States, Canada, and Mexico from 1800s to the present and

• Digitized FIre Insurance Maps document the size, shape, and construction of individual dwellings and commercial buildings.
• Viewing the same location over time illustrates significant changes.
• Fire Insurance Maps at the Library of Congress
• Select Fire Insurance Maps at the New York Public Library
• Full Set of NY, NJ, CT. ProQuest Digital Sanborn Maps remote access with NYPL Library Card. If you don't already have a New York Public Library Card, apply for one here.
• National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS)
• Center for Brooklyn History - Map Collections

Locating Spatial Data & Information

TIPS FOR LOCATING GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION

• Look in general GIS data repositories

• Search the internet – Include “gis”, or “data” in the search terms AND Search by location and/or topic

• Search for governmental (see below) statistical agencies or open data sites from local to global perspective.

• Contact GIS departments, universities, or researchers in your area of interest.

• Search for articles on your topic and look for the sources of the data.

Global Dataset Search Engines

National

State

County and City Data Portals

• Locate County and Municipal Data on the Web, use search terms, "geospatial" "Open Data" "GIS" plus the municipality name (County, State, or Province) to locate these data repositories.
• Use translation to navigate pages from local governments often written in different languages.
• Know that topics including Environment, Business and Economy, Food and Housing, GIS, Infrastructure, Health, Boundaries, Culture and Education are often similar but not standardized. 

Example Collections: