Online Geography & Map Resources

Contents for Geography & Maps

These resources are available to anyone on campus. They are also available off campus to Chemeketa students and employees. Resources that are available to anyone, anywhere, are marked with a "world" symbol. world symbol indicating that this resource is available to anyone, from all locations

 

Reference

Browse in atlases

Browse geographic dictionaries

Other Reference Books on Geography and Area Studies

Search for pictures and maps in Britannica ImageQuest

 


Finding more electronic books

To access these books from off campus you will need your My Chemeketa user name and six-digit password. Type a word or phrase describing the subject in the search space below:

 


Finding Journal Articles

Browse journals in earth science: geography

There are geography-related journals in many databases. A good way to start looking for articles is by using the Gale OneSearch..

 


Useful Geography Sites


Try our customized search, or browse the list of sites below. Note that some of the sources, such as the Geographic Names Information System, have to be searched individually.

Customized Search

 

For topographic maps of the U.S., see the Geographic Names Information System.

 

Browsing List: Geography and Maps

California Geographical Survey - http://geogdata.csun.edu/ world symbol indicating that this resource is available to anyone, from all locations
Despite the name, this site includes panoramic aerial images of all the Pacific coastal states of the U.S. Click on "The Electronic Map Library" to access these atlases as well as other maps.
EROS home page - http://eros.usgs.gov/ world symbol indicating that this resource is available to anyone, from all locations
Site of U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Earth Resources Observation Systems (EROS) Data Center, otherwise known as the EDC.; a Photo Finder site for the National Aerial Photography Program; educational materials; and Earthshots, a "a collection of Landsat images and text, designed to show environmental changes and to introduce remote sensing."
Geographic Names Information System - http://geonames.usgs.gov/ world symbol indicating that this resource is available to anyone, from all locations
A service of the U.S. Geological Survey, the GNIS gives information on United States geographic names of all kinds. Results give coordinates, elevation, and other info, along with links to topographic map servers. The page also includes a link to the GEOnet Names Server for geographic names outside the United States.
Geospatial Intelligence Agency - Raster Roam - http://geoengine.nima.mil/geospatial/SW_TOOLS/NIMAMUSE/webinter/rast_roam.html world symbol indicating that this resource is available to anyone, from all locations
Enter a latitude and longitude to see a map of that location. Zoom, view metadata, and feature information. A product of the U.S. National Geospatial Intelligence Agency.
Harvard Map Collection http://hcl.harvard.edu/libraries/maps/ world symbol indicating that this resource is available to anyone, from all locations
A Harvard University site with geospatial data, images from the University's large map collection, and more.
How Far Is It? - http://www.indo.com/distance/ world symbol indicating that this resource is available to anyone, from all locations
Super-duper distance engine. Enter the names of two places, and the computer will respond with the distance between them in miles, kilometers, & nautical miles, the course and heading, and the latitude and longitude of each place. Linked to the Xerox PARC map server, too.
Map Locator and Downloader (USGS Store)
Helps the user to find and download free U.S. Topographic maps.
Map Machine @ nationalgeographic.com - http://www.nationalgeographic.com/resources/ngo/maps/ world symbol indicating that this resource is available to anyone, from all locations
Includes an atlas with descriptive information on countries; View from Above presents maps from satellite information.
PCL Map Collection - U. Texas - http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ world symbol indicating that this resource is available to anyone, from all locations
University of Texas site with many maps in electronic form, including historical maps. There are links to other map collections
U.S.A.: 50 States and Capitals - http://www.50states.com/ world symbol indicating that this resource is available to anyone, from all locations
Information on every state, including state symbols, flags, and songs.

 


Browsing List: Countries of the World

INCORE internet country guides - http://www.incore.ulst.ac.uk/cds/countries/index.html world symbol indicating that this resource is available to anyone, from all locations
Provides scholarly and news information on ethnic conflicts in Algeria, Angola, Burundi, Côte d'Ivoire, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Northern Ireland, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Serbia-Montenegro, Russia, Chechnya, Israel/Palestine, Iraq, Turkey, Kurdistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, India, Pakistan, Kashmir, Sindh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Indonesia, East Timor, Myanmar (Burma), Colombia. (Others may be added.) Each country's guide includes an annotated list leading to virtual libraries, topical Web sites and reports, news sources, maps, and relevant research articles.
Organization of American States (OAS) - http://www.oas.org/ world symbol indicating that this resource is available to anyone, from all locations
Information about OAS as well as its member states. Topics include: development; democracy; human rights; trade; environment; education; drugs; corruption; poverty; land mines. Accessible in both English and Spanish (con conexión a la página principal de la Organización de los Estados Americanos en Español. Temas incluyen desarrollo integral; democracía; derechos humanos; comercio; medio ambiente; educacíon; drogas; corrupción; pobreza; desminado).
Political database of the Americas - http://pdba.georgetown.edu/ world symbol indicating that this resource is available to anyone, from all locations
A comprehensive resource of current primary source documents and political information about Western Hemisphere politics. Base de Datos Políticos de las Americas, con una conexión a una página principal en Español. Una recopilación de información documental y estadística sobre los 35 países del continente.
United Nations Home Page - http://www.un.org/ world symbol indicating that this resource is available to anyone, from all locations
Contains search engine for UN press releases, General Assembly documents, Security Council Resolutions, etc. Database subjects include treaties, relief, land mines, statistics & indicators, etc. To find agencies of the UN, most with their own search engines, click on "UN Around the World." Con conexión a la página principal de las Naciones Unidas en Español.
 

Finding Additional Resources

See a list of printed reference books (exclusive of atlases).

See a list of printed atlases.

The library subscribes to the following current periodicals in printed form:

  • Geographical Magazine
  • National Geographic

Finding other books and and audiovisual materials 

Use the library catalog to look for additional materials

  • The catalog page includes instructions on using the catalog, as well as links to other library catalogs
  • You can search by key words, by authors, or by subject headings
  • A suggestion on where to find subject headings to use in the catalog is given below

picture of catalog screen

Fig. 1. The library catalog search

The Library of Congress has a arrow showing important tip Web site where you can search for subject headings. When you put in a search term, the results will list terms in a table. Those with a red button marked, "Authorized and references" are terms that the Library of Congress uses in subject catalogs. Clicking the button may show more specific ("narrower") terms.

You may have to do several searches in the library catalog to find books that might be pertinent to your subject. Try different combinations of key words.

If you live in the Chemeketa Cooperative Regional Library Service (CCRLS) district, you may also access the catalog online at your local public library. In addition to the books in the Chemeketa College Library, the catalog also contains the collections of the 17 public libraries located in the regional library district. You can request books through the catalog, and can pass your search through to Summit (see below).

Summit

Chemeketa students registered for credit may use Summit, the Orbis Cascade Alliance catalog, to request items from 37 member libraries in Oregon and Washington. Summit uses a search called WorldCat. Authorized users have access to all of the material in the Chemeketa Community College library, plus about 28 million items in Summit. Chemeketa users may request items using the barcode number from their ID card, and have them sent to Chemeketa, or they may set up a Visiting Patron account at another Alliance library.

To comment or request help, please e-mail Reference or call 503.399.5231.

Address of this page: http://library.chemeketa.edu/information/virtual/geography.php

Updated: 8 May 2013