Research > Topics > Maps / GIS
Maps / GIS
- Web mapping services
- Transit maps
- Bike maps
- Walking and hiking maps
- Local governmental resources
- Local historical resources
- Geography education
- Gazetteers
- Map collections
- Nautical charts
- GIS
Databases
| More information about this resource | |
| Remote access is available on this resource | |
| Access limited to some library locations |
| Columbia Gazetteer |
An encyclopedia of geographical places and features, the Gazetteer contains the names, descriptions, and characteristics of over 170,000 places in the world. Use it to gather basic socio-demographic information about cities, towns, regions worldwide; look up geographical information; check the spelling of a place name. |
| Lands and Peoples |
This encyclopedia of countries, cultures and current events is appropriate for middle and high school students. Articles on countries and continents include photographs, maps, flags, facts and figures, and links to periodical articles and web sites. |
| SimplyMap |
A web-based mapping application that lets users quickly create professional-quality thematic maps and reports using powerful demographic, business, and marketing data. |
| Sanborn Maps |
The Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps show details of street patterns, lot lines, and the placement, size, shape, construction materials, and use of buildings in American cities. See also: How to read a Sanborn Map |
Web mapping services
- MapQuest
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http://www.mapquest.com/Search for locations and driving directions worldwide.
- Google Maps
- http://www.google.com/mapsSearch for locations and driving directions worldwide.
- MapClicks
- http://www.mapclicks.com/Interactive maps of cities & neighborhoods in Oregon with premarked businesses and points of interest.
Transit maps
- TriMet Maps & Schedules
- http://www.trimet.org/schedule/index.htmTransit maps, schedules, trip planners and more.
- Google Transit
- http://www.google.com/transitGoogle maps with transit information for just about anywhere, including from TriMet, Eugene-Lane County Transit District, Seattle-King County Metro, and other cities. Compares cost of driving vs. public transportation.
Bike maps
- Portland Region Bicycling Maps
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http://www.portlandonline.com/transportation/index.cfm?c=34809An interactive map of Northwestern Oregon from Portland Online. Clicking on a section will lead to links of maps for bike/walk routes, bike parking, and more
- Free Portland Bike/Walk Maps
- http://www.portlandonline.com/transportation/index.cfm?c=39402Bike/Walk Maps for areas of Portland available in English and Spanish
- Citywide Bike Routes (pdf)
- http://www.portlandonline.com/transportation/index.cfm?c=39402&a=322407Citywide map of Portland bike routes
Walking and Hiking Maps
- 50 Treks
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http://www.oregonmetro.gov/index.cfm/go/by.web/id=27574A collection of local area walking guides from Oregon Metro.
- Portland Hikers Field Guide
- http://www.portlandhikersfieldguide.org/wiki/Main_PageField guide with interactive map of Oregon and Washington hikes including those within Portland.
- Hiking Maps
- http://www.portlandhikersfieldguide.org/maps/load.phpInteractive google map of Oregon with marked hiking areas and points of interest. Each area is marked by a color and the number of points of interest in that area. Zoom in on an area to locate hikes and find more information.
Local governmental resources
- Portland Maps
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http://www.portlandmaps.com/Property info for Portland including maps, tax information, crime data, school and park information and more
- Clackamas County Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
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http://www.co.clackamas.or.us/gis/Official site for Clackamas County, Oregon's GIS office. Includes local information and resources.
- Metro's Data Resource Center
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http://www.oregonmetro.gov/index.cfm/go/by.web/id=24876Metro's Data Resource Center provides information about the region's land, population and economy as well as state-of-the-art mapping and data services to local governments, citizens and businesses. These services and information are based on the Regional Land Information System (RLIS), Metro's Geographic Information System (GIS) and related socio-economic data models.
- Multnomah County Geographic Information System (GIS)
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http://web.multco.us/gis/Official site for Multnomah County, Oregon's GIS office. Includes local information and resources.
- The Oregon Map
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http://www.ormap.org/index.cfm?opt=homeThe Oregon Map (ORMAP) Project is a statewide property tax parcel base map. Includes information about business plans for each county assessor's mapping project, standards, and maps.
- Planning Oregon: Oregon Sustainable Community Digital Library
- http://oscdl.research.pdx.edu/Portland State University, Metro, TriMet, and other organizations are working together to collect planning reports, maps, regional geographical data, digital images, other materials to create a central online repository for key urban planning documents for the Portland Metropolitan region.
- Washington County, Oregon: Maps and Land Records
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http://washims.co.washington.or.us/gis/Washington County's interactive mapping and GIS project allows you to view detailed maps of Washington County.
Local historical resources
- Annexations to the City of Portland (pdf)
- http://www.portlandonline.com/shared/cfm/image.cfm?id=51673Map of the City of Portland, created by Portland Online, showing the history of annexations to the city from pre-1881 to the present. PDF file; must zoom in to 150% to identify major streets.
- Digital General Land Office Maps : University of Oregon Map & Aerial Photography Library
- http://libweb.uoregon.edu/map/GIS/Data/Oregon/GLO"Donation Land Claim maps of Oregon, including maps of the Portland area drawn in the 1850s.
- Early Washington Maps : A Digital Collection from the Archives and Special Collections of the Washington State University Libraries
- http://content.wsulibs.wsu.edu/cdm-maps/Includes some Portland maps and Oregon towns, in addition to maps of historic Indian Lands, reservations, and river charts of the Columbia.
- End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center
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http://www.historicoregoncity.org/end-of-the-oregon-trail-history/maps/57-oregon-trail-mapsMaps of the Oregon Trail.
- Oregon Maps
- http://boundless.uoregon.edu/digcol/ormaps/Road maps, physical geography maps and more from the collections of the Oregon State Library and the University of Oregon Library.
- Pacific Northwest Stream Survey: Photo Collection
- http://osulibrary.oregonstate.edu/digitalcollections/pacificNWstream/A digital archive of over 1000 photographs taken of 390 streams in the Pacific Northwest by the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries between 1934 and 1945.
Geography education
- USGS National Atlas of the United States
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http://nationalatlas.gov/United States Geological Survey partnered with Environmental Systems Research Institute to create this interactive map. Collates spacial information from many governmental agencies on a variety of topics, including biodiversity, agriculture, transportation, population, geology, climate, and more.
- State and County QuickFacts
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http://quickfacts.census.gov/U.S. Census Bureau statistics, with a searchable map
- NationMaster
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http://maps.nationmaster.com/Over 4,000 maps of countries of the world from A to Z. A great resource for geographical information and statistics.
- Map Projections
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http://www.colorado.Edu/geography/gcraft/notes/mapproj/mapproj_f.htmlThis site offering definitions, descriptions and examples of different map projections comes from Peter H. Dana, The Geographer's Craft Project, Department of Geography, The University of Colorado at Boulder
Gazetteers
- USGS: Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)
- http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublicOnline gazetteer of the United States and territories, created by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Search by: Keyword, State, County, City, Feature Class, and Elevation. Information returned includes latitude, longitude, USGS 7.5 minute quadrangle title, and links to online maps through USGS, Google, Topozone, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's "Find the Watershed" service.
- GEOnet Names Server
- http://earth-info.nga.mil/gns/html/An online gazetteer created by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to maintain a list of foreign names approved for usage by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to be used by federal agencies. Can search for undersea and hydrographic features, also. Information retrieved includes region code, designation code, latitude, longitude, area/country, UTM codes, Defense mapping sheet numbers.
Map collections
- Historic Map Index : Broer Map Library
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http://www.broermapsonline.org/members/mapindex/The Broer Online Map Library links to over 100 collections; browse by country, or search by topic.
- Color Landform Atlas of the United States
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http://fermi.jhuapl.edu/states/states.htmlLinks to maps and other information for each state
- David Rumsey Map Collection
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http://www.davidrumsey.com/view.htmlThe David Rumsey Map Collection focuses on historical maps from around the world, with a special emphasis on the Americas of the 18th and 19th centuries.
- The Library of Congress : American Memory Project : Online Map Collection
- http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/gmdhome.htmlMaps cover a wide variety of topics and time periods, including panoramic maps of US cities from the mid-nineteenth century, maps of Revolutionary War and Civil War campaigns, and survey maps of the Pacific Northwest.
- maproom.org
- http://www.maproom.org/index.htmlmaproom.org provides access to historical maps from a variety of sources, copyright free. Includes a small zoomify box above the map to zoom in on a specific region. Left click on the zoomify box, and drag it to the specific area.
- Oddens's Bookmarks: The Fascinating World of Maps and Mapping
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http://oddens.geog.uu.nl/index.htmlRoelof P. Oddens, the curator of the map collection of Utrecht University, provides links to a huge number and variety of maps and map collections worldwide
- Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection
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http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/index.htmlMaps of the world, countries, cities and historical maps
- terraserver.com
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http://www.terraserver.com/terraserver.com provides access to maps from all over the world and from a variety of resources, including USGS and land satellite images; searches available include city and country search as default, county, township, coordinates, and zip code. Images are available in both high and low-resolution. Must subscribe to service in order to retrieve large scale maps.
- United Nations Cartographic Section
- http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/english/htmain.htmUnited Nations peacekeeping, general operations, and world maps.
- USGS Map Locator
- Search for USGS topographical maps to view on screen or download in .pdf format.
- Maps of Africa: 16th through 20th Century
- http://www.library.northwestern.edu/govinfo/collections/mapsofafrica/A project of the Northwestern University Library's Government and Geographic Information and Data Services department. Search and browse maps of Africa, from the beginnings of European colonialism through independence.
- Magnificent Maps
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http://www.bl.uk/magnificentmaps/index.htmlThe British Library's Online Gallery includes this collection titled Magnificent Maps: Power, Propaganda and Art. An eye opening experience in understanding world views from ancient times to the present.
Nautical charts
- Office of Coast Survey: Nautical Charts and Publications.
- http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/staff/chartspubs.htmlThe Office of Coast Survey prepares nautical charts for navigation along waterways and coasts throughout the United States and its territories. This is the key access point for locating publications and corrections to published material.
- Office of Coast Survey : Chart Catalogs
- http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/mcd/ccatalogs.htmIdentify nautical charts by region or state, dates of latest revisions, and contact information for local sales agents for nautical charts and computer files.
- Office of Coast Survey : On-Line Chart Viewer
- http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/mcd/OnLineViewer.htmlAfter you identify the chart number and name in the chart catalog, you can access the up-to-date chart online through this viewer by selecting the region, then the chart number. Use the tools at the bottom of the chart to navigate, zoom in, and zoom out of the chart.
- NOAA Electronic Navigational Charts (NOAA ENCs)
- http://nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/mcd/enc/index.htmLinks to user agreement for downloading navigation charts; search for downloads by graphical browse (regional/state charts), or textual browse, by chart name and number. Need an electronic navigational chart viewer to use as a navigational chart.
- NOAA Electronic Navigational Charts : Resources
- http://nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/mcd/enc/resource.htmLinks to free electronic navigational chart viewers, and popular GIS products that include ENC viewers.
GIS
- Edinburgh Geographic Information Systems
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http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/home/gishome.htmlThe University of Edinburgh Department of Geography provides information on all aspects of Geographical Information Systems (GIS), as well as useful links to other servers worldwide. There is also a dictionary of GIS terminology
- GIS Data Depot
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http://www.gisdatadepot.com/A commercial site offering free GIS downloads and custom CD creation
- USGS Informational GIS Poster
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http://egsc.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/gis_poster/A USGS web page that explains geographic information systems (GIS)
- Geographic Information Systems
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http://www.gis.com/A website maintained by GIS software developer Esri dedicated to providing general information about GIS technology.
- GreenInfo Network
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http://www.greeninfo.org/The goal of GreenInfo Network is to help non-profits make the best use of computer mapping and information technology so that they are more effective. They provide public health, social service and environmental non-profits with GIS tools to more effectively carry out their missions by providing them with services, data, training, and other forms of support.
- Mike's GIS & Geography on the Net
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http://web.ncf.ca/fd978/gis/index.html#gisinfoCanadian geographer's collection of GIS-related links on the Internet

