Google My Maps: Creating Personalized Maps Dr. Carsten Braun Geography and Regional Planning Department Environmental Science Department Westfield State College 577 Western Avenue, Westfield, MA This activity focuses on one of the many free web mapping applications available: Google My Maps. Here you will learn how to create your own custom map in Google My Maps, complete with linked photographs and YouTube videos. 1) Introduction: Google My Maps Google Maps ( = The passive side of Google Maps Allows you to view the basic Google Map content. Search for addresses, businesses, places of interest, etc. Base maps: Traffic layer, Map layer, Satellite Layer, Terrain Layer, Earth Layer. Activate Street View by clicking on the orange person and dragging it around the map. Google My Maps ( and click on: My Maps) = The interactive side of Google Maps Create your own content (= your own personal maps), complete with imbedded photographs and YouTube videos. Browse and use the interactive content created by others. Perform some basic quantitative analysis. Share your maps and content with others. Please note: Google My Maps requires a free Google Account. 2) Useful Resources Google Maps Support Center: Great Tutorials: Google Street View: YouTube Playlist for Google Maps (a great resource!) ) Creating Personalized Maps with Google My Maps Start by watching this YouTube Video This YouTube video is great – the author shows you how to make a custom map of a walking tour around San Francisco. Please note: the author uses a slightly older version of Google My Maps, so the toolbar looks slightly different. The author also shows you how to link pictures and YouTube videos to your own map. Let’s create an original map! 1) Go to Google Maps, sign-into your Google Account, and select ‘My Maps’. 2) Select ‘Create new map’. 3) Enter a Title and a Description 4) Select the Privacy settings (Public is the default) and click ‘Save’ and ‘Done’. Now you have created a blank map. Let’s edit this map and add some original content. Click on the map and click on the Edit button. The screen changes slightly and the editing toolbar is added. 5) Zoom into the area where you want to create your map, for example your hometown. 6) Choose your background: Map, Satellite, or Earth. Add a Placemark Tool Draw a Line or Shape tool Change the properties Note that your placemarks, lines, and shapes are listed in the Table of Content pane to the left of the map, complete with the titles and descriptions you entered.  The best thing now is to practice! 4) Linking Photographs and Videos to Your Map Linking photographs to your map is easy. The sequence is the same whether you are dealing with an online photo album (such as Picasa) or a picture that is part of a website, but the details are a bit different. It is easy to link YouTube videos to your Google Map. Please pay attention to the sequence and details…linking videos can be a bit tricky at first!  The best thing now is to practice! 5) Sharing your Google My Maps Sharing your maps with the rest of the world is easy! You can use the Send or Link option provided in the upper right-hand corner of the map. Send The Send option is self-explanatory: just enter the addresses and hit the Send button. Link The Link option is even better: it provides you with a link that you can simply copy/paste into an or a discussion forum posting. It also provides you the HTML code if you want to embed your map in a website or blog. Don’t worry. The link is long and contains a bunch of weird characters…it’s not supposed to make sense!  Send the link to yourself to see how it works! 6) Assignment: Your Own Google My Map Your map can be about whatever you want: your summer vacation, your favorite beaches on Cape Cod, the best bars/clubs in this area, etc. Mapping Task Create a professional Google My Maps that includes place markers, lines, and polygons with useful titles, descriptions, and properties. Link at least two of the features to photographs and videos. Interpretation Task 1) Is Google Maps a GIS? Explain your answer. 2) How about applications – what can you do with Google My Maps? Think about and provide at least one example for each of the following applications: private use, commercial use, use for other classes, and use in research projects. Deliverables Written report with the answers to the two questions above. Send me an with the link to your map.

Google My Maps: Simple Quantitative Analysis Dr. Carsten Braun Geography and Regional Planning Department Environmental Science Department Westfield State College 577 Western Avenue, Westfield, MA Google My Maps also includes tools for simple quantitative analysis, for example to find the latitude and longitude of a location or the length and area of a geographic feature (e.g. a stream or a glacier). 1) Introduction: Google My Maps Google Maps ( = The passive side of Google Maps Allows you to view the basic Google Map content. Search for addresses, businesses, places of interest, etc. Base maps: Traffic layer, Map layer, Satellite Layer, Terrain Layer, Earth Layer. Activate Street View by clicking on the orange person and dragging it around the map. Google My Maps ( and click on: My Maps) = The interactive side of Google Maps Create your own content (= your own personal maps), complete with imbedded photographs and YouTube videos. Browse and use the interactive content created by others. Perform some basic quantitative analysis. Share your maps and content with others. Please note: Google My Maps requires a free Google Account. 2) Useful Resources Google Maps Support Center: Great Tutorials: Google Street View: YouTube Playlist for Google Maps (a great resource!) ) Using Content Created By Others In Google My Maps Google My Maps contains 1,000s of tools and custom maps that you can add to your own Google My Maps. Most of these are commercial (e.g. The Weather Channel), funny, silly, or weird. But, there are definitely very useful tools available as well. Here is a step-by-step sequence of how to add this custom content to your Google My Maps: 1) Go to Google Maps: 2) Sign-in to your Google Account (upper right-hand corner of your screen) 3) Click on My Maps. 4) Click on Browse the directory to see 1,000s of free tools and custom maps. Select Add it to Maps to add the content to Google My Maps. Position Finder Area and Distance Calculator Click on Back to Google Maps and click on My Maps. Note that the two tools are added at the bottom of the Table of Content pane to the left of the map window.  Spend some time exploring additional tools and custom maps that you find interesting and useful! Other useful and interesting tools include: Long Distance Measure, Altitude Resolving Tool, Sea Level Rise, Earth at Night, World Population Density, World Energy Consumption, The Weather Channel Interactive 4) Position Finder Tool Click anywhere on the map to display the latitude and longitude of the location. You can also do the inverse: enter a latitude and longitude and find the location on the planet. Finding Latitude and Longitude using Google My Maps Home Plate, Fenway Park Statue of Liberty Finding the latitude and longitude for any location in the world is quite useful. You could walk there with a GPS receiver, but is much easier! For comparison, find the latitude and longitude for a nearby location (nearby road intersection mountain summit). Use Google My Maps, a GPS receiver, and a traditional topographic map to find the latitude and longitude and compare your results. 5) Area and Distance Calculator Tool: Distances You can measure the length of a path by digitizing the geographic feature. Measuring Distances using Google My Maps Shortest Home Run, Fenway Park Length of the Connecticut River (between VT and CT) This tool allows you to quickly determine length and distances – for example the length of a building parcel or the perimeter of a wetland The first example is easy, since the distance is a straight line. The Connecticut River (and every natural feature for that matter) is more complex. You could spend hours drawing = digitizing every minor twist and turn of the natural feature, but would be unreasonable and unproductive. You need to find an appropriate balance between accuracy and efficiency. For comparison, use the Area and Distance Calculator Tool to measure the length of known feature, for example the length of football field. How does the Google My Maps measurement compare with the actual length of the football field (100 yards, assuming it is marked correctly?). 6) Area and Distance Calculator Tool: Areas You can determine the area of a polygon by digitizing around the geographic feature. Area of the Reflecting Pool, Lincoln Memorial, D.C. Glacier centered at °S; °E (= Furtwangler Glacier, Kilimanjaro) This tool allows you to quickly determine the areal extent of a geographic feature – for example the area of a wetland or glacier. The first example is easy, since the geometry is simple. The Furtwangler Glacier (and every natural feature for that matter) is more complex. You need to find an appropriate balance between accuracy and efficiency.