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Got Data? Google Map It!

Got Data? Google Map It!. Paul H. Bern Numeric Data Services Librarian Syracuse University. The Problem:. Users want information for an area such as a neighborhood The Census Bureau website is not easy to use – even for us!

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Got Data? Google Map It!

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  1. Got Data? Google Map It! Paul H. Bern Numeric Data Services Librarian Syracuse University

  2. The Problem: • Users want information for an area such as a neighborhood • The Census Bureau website is not easy to use – even for us! • Geolytics CDs are easy to use, but you need to know the tract, block group, etc. numbers

  3. What’s Needed? • Users need a way to select an area or areas using a map that makes sense to them. • Need street names and other landmarks • It would be very helpful if they could see that map as they select what information they want. • Not have to flip back and forth between geography and information selection

  4. It’s Easy! • Buy a server • Buy GIS software (with web capability) • Get the mapping data • Get the census data • Load both into GIS/database • Write web pages and programs to make it work

  5. Or, You Could “Google It” • Google Maps allow users to write their own applications using their maps. • It’s Free! • End-users are more likely to have used Google Maps than Census maps • At minimum, you need to know JavaScript and XML • Fancier applications require Perl/PHP and a database

  6. For Example: • Census Data from Google Maps • http://libsites.syr.edu/mgi/gmap/Iassist_gmap.php • Resolution at wide zoom level is not great • Some markers end up in the lake! • Boundaries of adjoining geographies get written twice • There is a way to fix this • Google Maps lat/long codes may not exactly match those from other sources • Good enough for government work • Address geocoding is done by a different service (http://rpc.geocoder.us)

  7. How to: • Sample Code • http://libsites.syr.edu/mgi/gmap/Iassist_gmap.txt • Only about 50 of the 556 lines of code are specifically required by Google Maps • The first 10 of which remain the same for every application you develop • It’s all JavaScript! • The rest is PHP, HTML and text • Be careful of how different browsers render the code! • FireFox is more forgiving about “violations” of “proper” code.

  8. Further Work • Get better geocodes for markers • Pull from DB based on geocode or radius • Change icon for selected tracts • Don’t “double write” tract boundaries • Add layers for other geographies

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