Maps are great - (as a geography graduate, perhaps I would say that, eh, ewe2?) Ordnance Survey have made all their maps available online - you can even order a map to be printed to your specifications!And by putting maps online and making them interactive, they just got even better.
and this is just a small selection of what's out there.
you can get satellite view, road maps, hybrid view and also street view (via Google Maps).
You can enter your starting position, and where you want to get to and the map will generate directions, even giving you distance and time.
TASK 1
- use any of the mapping tools and try getting directions from your house (perhaps using the postcode) to the Medical Library (CB2 0SP) - exactly how far is it? - post the distance (not your address!!!) on your BLOG.
StreetView is part of GoogleMaps, and it "provides panoramic views from various positions along many streets in the world. It was launched on May 25, 2007, originally only in several cities in the United States, and has since gradually expanded to include more cities and rural areas worldwide"It's not without it's critics - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7959362.stm
TASK 2
Go to using Google Maps, search for your house and play with Street View.
Why not go to Paris, or Berlin or New York, and enjoy the Street View.
BLOG about what you thought of it
TASK 3
Watch the video below - Tim Berners Lee is showing what can be done with maps when they are combined with other data. As more and more data is made available by government (both local and national) it's possible to present information in a variety of more meaningful ways.
OpenStreetMap is also presented - a wiki-map (remembering that a wiki is an opportunity for lots of people contribute to the same document).
Then compare the quality of OpenStreetMap (you can read about OpenStreetMap),with Google Maps - look at an area of Cambridge (or anywhere!) that you're familiar with, and see which is the most up to date. If you cycle a lot does OpenCycleMap give you routes you didn't know about?
Write a BLOG post about the difference.
EXTRA TASK (OPTIONAL)
Create your own google map (such as this one - click on the blue pins to read the comments about each library):
View 5 libraries in cambridge in a larger map)
- go to google maps, and login with your google/blogger login
- click on "my maps" and "create a map"- give your map a title, and a description if you like
- look for the blue pin, click it and drop it wherever you want on your map- give your pin a title (and description if you like), and click OK
- Once you're done, get the code for your map and embed it in your blog (click on the link option in the top right-hand corner of the map, copy the text in the box headed "paste HTML to embed in webpage" - and do as you did to embed the YouTube video!)
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Thank you for your lovely compliments Isla, and I am very glad you have noticed the new signs!
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