Google Maps: You Are Here

The most common use of maps on library web sites is what I call a “Here We Are” map. This pinpoints the location of a library and offers directions to it. Another common use of My Maps is to add an icon for each branch location. The Hennepin Public Library, MN, lists the hours and adds an image of each branch location. The same technique is used by the Skokie Public Library, IL, to advise patrons of bookmobile stops and schedules.

However, there's a great deal more to be done with My Maps. The Franklin Park Public Library (FPPL), IL, saw an opportunity to give its patrons meaningful content by employing My Maps capabilities, so we produced three interactive maps of Franklin Park: Places of Note, Historical Map, and Road Construction.

The Franklin Park Places of Note map helps new residents and visitors easily find important landmarks in Franklin Park. The reference desk staff of FPPL are often asked for the location of the City Hall, Post Office, Park District, and other locally significant places. Now we can use the Places of Note Map to answer these directional questions. Moreover, we can answer the same questions for patrons browsing at home and even for those who would never imagine asking a librarian in person.

Each site on the map is represented by an icon, like a question mark in a circle for the library, a train for the train station, flames for fire stations, and so on. You can also design your own icons. Clicking on an icon brings up the name of the place, a hyperlink to the web site of the organization, and an image of the location, when possible. We decided to add images in order to help users visualize these places. Images must already be online to be embedded, as My Maps does not offer an uploading function. If the images you want to use are not already on the web, try one of the many image storage sites such as Flickr (free up to 200 images) or Photobucket (free up to one gigabyte).

The Historical Map of Franklin Park has proven to be the most popular and has been viewed over 8700 times since it was first published in late May 2008. It was originally conceived as a simple visual guide to the history of FPPL. However, once I discovered how easy it is to build a custom My Map, I filled out the content to include more on the entire city's history. Working with the approval and under the supervision of the Local History Museum of Franklin Park (which, happily, is housed in the FPPL building), we organized and developed the Historical Map of Franklin Park.

The icons on the Historical Map are separated into five groups, each a different color: yellow for library history, blue for early European settlers, red for historically significant places of worship, green for schools, and purple for businesses. When an icon is clicked, an image of a historical building, person, or family and the accompanying story pops up. For example:

There's still room for the Historical Map to grow. FPPL patrons are encouraged to submit images and descriptions of historical locations. Each map allows for comments on the library web page in which it is embedded, including suggestions to help make the map more comprehensive. Each My Map has a unique RSS feed so interested individuals can be alerted when changes take place.

After reading an article in the local newspaper about the FPPL maps, a patron came up with an excellent suggestion to set up a Franklin Park Road Construction Map. As is often said, Chicago has two seasons: winter and construction. The patron hoped FPPL could put together a simple interface for Franklin Park residents to keep up-to-date on current and near-future road construction projects.

The Road Construction Map is highlighted with red and pink lines: red lines represent streets already undergoing roadwork, while pink lines are those that have construction planned. Each new construction project the library learns of is added to the map and then removed when completed. This map particularly lends itself to subscription by RSS feed updates.

The Road Construction Map relies a great deal on both patron and staff input. A blog entry introducing this map on the FPPL web site asked for patrons to contribute their expertise. Our patrons, after all, are the experts on their own streets and neighborhoods and will know of any roadwork we may have missed. The Road Construction Map was viewed over 2900 times in its first three weeks of existence.

The Franklin Park Public Library is considering making maps of public parks, biking and/or jogging paths, monuments and public art pieces (with images), and a walking tour of the downtown area, which would combine images, text, and videos explaining the significance and history of these locations. FPPL is actively soliciting patron suggestions for new maps, on the same order as the Road Construction Map, and at the same time promoting current maps through library blog entries and web pages, the library's quarterly newsletter, an article in the local newspaper, and the all-important word-of-mouth campaign from the reference and circulation desks.

Before beginning your My Map, be aware of some slight bugs and deficiencies. Maps created with the My Maps tool are not returned by search engines, even within Google Maps. This increases the importance of embedding a map in a web page. A bug I came across recently in Firefox 3 causes a JavaScript error when attempting to view a YouTube or Google video (the only video services supported) in an embedded map. Until this is corrected, I recommend avoiding embedded videos. Occasionally, when attempting to edit an icon's content, My Maps will delete the contents of an entire entry. I suggest that you compose and save all content in an external editor and then copy and paste it into the My Maps placemark editor.

My Maps may be relatively simple, but it has the potential to extend both the reach and relevance of libraries. Designing a map takes little technological ability and provides a significant enhancement to any library's web presence. Patrons and staff at Franklin Park PL alike have responded positively. Who knew there was such an audience for local maps? The next step will be to encourage patrons to learn how to create a My Map themselves, to be inspired to design their own, and to ask us to publish them on our web site.