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Revised: 1/20/20

ASSIGNED in class Fri. February 28

DUE Fri. March 6 at 9:38 am

Exercise Worth: 50 pts

Digital Submissions Guide for exercises and exams.

Procedure:

Maps on the WWW are available in many different forms: you can locate or order "real" paper maps, or find digital copies of maps, or make maps "on-demand,"' view "live" maps that are updated constantly, and download and use free mapping software.

TIP on citing web maps with very long urls: Some of the URLs for WWW maps are extremely long, as they contain a bunch of information specifying the map you have requested. A useful way to create a shorter link to such sites entails using a 'link shortening' utility such as those found at TinyURL. Create a shorter link with one of these two sites, and use that URL rather than the long url in your citation of the map.

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WARNING: Many WWW map sites depend on sophisticated WWW technology that can be slow or even break down. Expect delays and sites that are temporarily not working. You may also be using a computer or internet browser that is not compatible with a particular mapping WWW site. Be patient! If a site is not working well, revisit it at a different time or on a different computer. Given such potential problems, you should not attempt to do this exercise at the last minute. Contact the instructor at least a week before the due date if you are having persistent problems. Contact the instructor if you want assistance in completing this exercise!

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1. WWW Map Generators (10 pts):

Map Generators reside on a computer server - a computer that allows you to run programs stored on it via the internet. Through a web browser and web site, you request a custom map (in essence, a map image). Among the earliest and most popular of such mapping and GIS tools are those that can locate an address or plot directions between several locations.

You have all used Google Maps, Bing Maps, etc. Beyond their basic utility, these sites allow anyone to map out additional data on top of the Google or Bing or whatever maps. Such combined map sources are typically called mashups, and we will create one in a future exercise.

For now, lets look at a couple of interesting map mashups with localized data.

1a. Walkability

Go to the Walk Score site and type in your home address: international students, try your real home address and see if it works (if not, use your US address). Also type in the address of Ohio Wesleyan (61 South Sandusky Street, Delaware, OH, 43015) or (if you are using campus as your home address) your instructor's home address (231 Crestview Road, Columbus, OH, 43202).

Grab the map from your home address and campus, and include in the exercise. Look up and write a half-page or so on what they mean by "walkability." Write up another half pages or so discussing and comparing the walkability of both places, and comment on how well the site represents the walkability of your home address.

• What's Due: Type 1 page comparing the two walkability maps. Include the two maps in your document.


1b. Neighborhood Amenities & Crime

Go to the Trulia Local site for information compiled by US Census tracts. Trulia is a real estate site and typically people are interested in neighborhood characteristics of places they may be renting or buying a home.

Use your US address for this part of the exercise. Type in your zip code and find the area around your US home. Look at the various data available (along the top of the page) and save at least one map you can say something about.

• What's Due: Type 1 page Describing and discussing the map you generated. Include the map in your document.

As an example of a typical online GIS, lets take a look at the Delaware County Auditor's online GIS site. Go to the Delaware County Online GIS site and click on Property Search. Lets check on a Delaware County property owner.

• In the Property search pop-up window, type in a name in the Owner Name box. Try OWU faculty and staff you know - or anyone else who owns property in Delaware County. You may have to try a few different names to find an owner you know. From the names that pop up, select your person.

• The site should zoom to the property. Click on Property Report to find out all about the property. Click on Auditor's Website for more information - click on the tabs along the top (General Info, Tax, etc.). Save a screen-shot of some of the property information from both of these different links (so two screen shots).

• Click on Tools near the top of the page and then the Buffer tool (red circles). A window pops up: Select a distance and unit to buffer the current feature. Do that! Type in 500 feet. Your home owner is planning a fun but loud party and wants to invite all the neighbors. Hit Buffer.

• On the bottom of the list of neighbors (within 500 feet) that pops up, click on Labels. Change the type of label as Owner Address and hit OK. A .rtf file should download (desktop or downloads folder). Open this up and save a screen shot of some of the addresses. You don't have to print labels.

• Close any pop up windows. Click on Tools again and select the Measure tool (yellow triangle). Click on the Area tool (blue polygon, to the right in the three options). Click through and create an area on the map - wherever you want. Save a screen shot of the area you create and the pop up Measure window with the distance and area of your polygon.

• What's Due: Type 1 page: Include your four screen shots as requested above. Please cite all this information correctly. Discuss, in 1 page, how you might use this information, why the property information and Buffer feature might be useful.

Non-Delaware County residents in the US: You may want to search the WWW and find out if your home county has a GIS site similar to Delaware's DALIS site. Usually such sites are associated with the county tax assessor - typically the County Auditor. Find your home county's official WWW page (this should not be a commercial site, but the official county web page), and look for a property information link. If you find one, search for information about a property owner (your parents? friends? relatives?).

FINALLY: Read up on the legal issues surrounding public records reviewed by Deb Peoples (below). Please ponder the consequences of making the kind of very specific property data available on the WWW. Discuss potential good and bad consequences of such data being so easily available. Remember, the law requires certain specific information to be made public. Just saying "I don't think it is a good idea" is not enough: explain why is it not a good idea (or why is it a good idea?).

• What's Due: Type 1 page: of your intelligent (eg., non-paranoid, non-hysterical) thoughts about public access to property information on the web.

Keeping records is a duty of federal, state, and county offices.  Many records are Public Records.  In the state of Ohio, as in other states, both the types of records and the access to records that shall be maintained and considered Public are spelled out in law.  In Ohio, the law is contained in the Ohio Revised Code.

The applicable sections of the Ohio Revised Code include:

149.40 Only necessary records to be made

The head of each public office shall cause to be made only such records as are necessary for the adequate and proper documentation of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, and essential transactions of the agency and for the protection of the legal and financial rights of the state and persons directly affected by the agency's activities.

149.43 Availability of public records

"Public record" means any record that is kept by any public office, including, but not limited to, state, county, city, village, township, and school district units.  However, some of these records are excluded from the definition of “public” such as adoption records, DNA records, and certain law enforcement investigatory records.

(B)(1) …All public records shall be promptly prepared and made available for inspection to any person at all reasonable times during regular business hours. Subject to division (B)(4) of this section, upon request, a public office or person responsible for public records shall make copies available at cost, within a reasonable period of time. In order to facilitate broader access to public records, public offices shall maintain public records in a manner that they can be made available for inspection in accordance with this division.

(3) Upon a request … a public office or person responsible for public records shall transmit a copy of a public record to any person by United States mail within a reasonable period of time after receiving the request for the copy. The public office or person responsible for the public record may require the person making the request to pay in advance the cost of postage and other supplies used in the mailing.

Selected Annotations to 149.43

• Materials of all varieties (including but not limited to, correspondence, memorandums, notes, reports, audio and video recordings, motion picture films and photographs) which are received by public officials and employees, or created and maintained by them at public expense, are considered records if they serve to document the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities of the public office.

Materials classified as public records are available for public inspection.

No cause of action exists for one’s inability to decipher a public record since the public records law requires that documents be copied or made available for inspection….A governmental unit is not required to create a new document to explain or facilitate review of public records already produced.

Appraisal cards which are kept by the office of the county auditor and which contain information used in the valuation and assessment of real property for the purposes of taxation are subject to public inspection.

This cover letter, written by the County Auditor as part of the annual Comprehensive Annual Financial Report clearly outlines both the role of the auditor in a rapidly growing county such as Delaware and the use of Geographic Information Systems.

The Role of the County Recorder

The County Recorder keeps records relating to real estate transactions, e.g. deeds, mortgages, liens, etc.  The county recorder must make the public records of that office available for inspection at all reasonable times during regular business hours and must make copies of such records available within a reasonable period of time.

The Role of the County Treasurer

The Treasurer collects all the money collected by the other departments in county government.

What about Privacy and Public Records?

Consider these aspects of employment by government entities:

• Releasing information about a county employee’s name, job classification, rate of salary, and gross salary does not violate the employee's right to privacy.

• A public employee's name, designation, earnings, withholding taxes, vacation and sick leave record, purchase of retirement service credits, medical or hospitalization insurance deductions, and garnishments and court ordered support payments are public records.
   
• The recorded name, address, and telephone number of each employee of a public school district is a public record open to inspection by any person.  The motive of the person is irrelevant.
   
• Police officers home addresses and phone numbers will be disclosed in the absence of evidence that the release of information would endanger those police officers.

Is there a Right to Privacy?

The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

In light of 9/11, Americans rapidly reassessed their position on privacy.  As a result the Patriot Act was passed October 25, 2001 with seemingly far reaching implications for privacy.  View the additional resources on the bottom of this American Library Association page for discussions of the impact of the Patriot Act on our society.
 

Real time maps and images differ from map generators and browsers in that they consist of maps continuously updated with data from diverse sources. These are, in essence, "live maps." If one is off line or not working, just skip it and try another.

Be Critical!: I believe at least one of the maps below is fake - made to promote a service. Maybe more are... If you spot something suspicious, indicate it in your comments. If a site is not working, just try another.

• Real-time maps of world earthquakes are provided by the U.S. Geologic Survey and Seismic Monitor.

• Real time female harassment map

• Real time commercial fishing

• Real time maps of International Alerts - select from the list of map options on the left side of the page (worldwide or regional scale maps).

• Real time ship location maps at MarineTraffic. Zoom in to the map to see actual ship locations.

• Real time Satellite Mapping

• Real time Amtrak

• Real time Flight Tracking.

• Real time Wind Map.

• Real time Wind and other Weather Stuff

• Real time Stuff in Space

• Real time Map of Wikipedia Edits by Unregistered Users.

• Semi-Real Time Global Forest Change / Global Forest Watch

• Real time UFO Sitings.

• Real time Lightning Map

• Real time Tons of NOAA satellite environmental data

• Real time Boston Area Transit.

• Real time US Air Quality Map.

• Real time Global Air Quality Map.

• Real time US Fire Map.

• Real Time Global Health Alerts.

• Real time selected computer network attacks at FireEye.

• Twitter posts at TweetPing or F-Bombs (caution, fbombs!).

• Real time trending Twitter hashtags at TrendsMap.

• Instagram image posts at Mapstagram.

• Find one of your own: Real Time Map search on the Goog.

• What's Due: Type 1 page: Select three of the above sites you find interesting as well as one additional live map you find in the Google search (for Real Time Map), save a screen-shot (best you can do if the map is constantly moving!) and comment on each of the sites and what you think about them.

4. Free Mapping & GIS Software (5 pts):

Because of the functional limitations of web-based mapping and expense of desktop GIS applications such as ArcGIS, several vendors are providing free downloadable GIS software, with links to data on the internet. Google Earth was among the first of these free mapping applications, most of which are considered to be Virtual Globes.

• Google Earth: is installed on computers in the GIS lab for your enjoyment, or you can download it onto your own computer (here). Don't download it on other public OWU computers without asking someone in charge of the lab.

• Type in your home address to zoom to your home.

• Click the pushpin icon ("Add Placemark"): a window will pop up and your located home will flash. Add a descriptive title, including your name, in the name box, such as The childhood home of Felix Bassler. Hit OK to save the placemark.

• Right mouse click on your newly created placemark and select Save as... and save the file (in KMZ or KML format) somewhere where you can find it. If you don't have a right mouse button, from the File menu select Save as... and then Save place as... to save the KMZ or KML file. Email the file to your instructor, who is eagerly awaiting its arrival: jbkrygier@owu.edu. He will import all the placemarks into Google Earth for a fabulous tour of homes in an upcoming lecture. (to import a KMZ/KML file in Google Earth just select Open from the File menu.)

• For general information on Virtual Globes, and other free virtual globes, see the Wikipedia entry on Virtual Globes.

• What's Due: Email me your home KMZ file

5. Purchaseable Mapping and GIS software

• You can purchase GIS software, from low-function upgrades to Google Earth for $20 to ArcGIS, which can cost thousands of dollars for high functioning software.

• One (of many) lists of GIS software can be found at the GIS Software and Resources page.

• What's Due: Nothing for this part: just FYI.

Exercise 4: Sum:

Please format your exercise so that it reflects the different sections above. Include headers (eg., "1. WWW Map Generators") before each set of maps and answers. Turn in the 5 or so pages of typed answers to the questions, and include all requested maps/screen shots at appropriate locations (and appropriate size) in the document.

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