The Map Room: A Weblog About Maps

Peter Batty weighs in on the quality of Google’s new, homegrown map data: As anyone in the geo world knows, all maps have errors, and it’s hard to do a really rigorous analysis on Google’s current dataset versus others. But ...

At the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, north of Toronto, until January 17, 2010, an exhibition of Cape Dorset art: Nunannguaq: In the Likeness of the Earth: In Inuktitut, the word Nunannguaq translates into “in the likeness of the earth,” which refers to a complex system used (li...

Since 2004, the International Maritime Organization has required all vessels of 300 or more gross tons to carry an AIS transponder, which transponder transmits position, speed and course and other information about the ship. MarineTraffic.com takes that data and plots it on a map...

The National Post takes a look at Katharine Harmon’s new book, The Map as Art: Contemporary Artists Explore Cartography, which I briefly mentioned back in August. ...

Here’s a map of the Moon generated by laser altimeter data from the Japanese lunar probe Kaguya, which has just been released. In this image, brighter/yellow is higher elevation, darker/red is lower elevation. ...

While browsing in, of all places, a science fiction bookstore, I stumbled across a new book by Mark Ovenden that looked quite interesting in the brief time I had to look at it: Paris Underground: The Maps, Stations, and Design of the Metro...

Steven Citron-Pousty wonders whether Google dropped Tele Atlas before their own data was ready. “Google’s routing data sucks right now and there are no two ways about it.” Via Peter. Previously: Google Stops Using Tele Atlas in the U.S.. Too Soon? firs...

The New York Times’s election results page has maps for the New York City mayoral and council races, plus the New Jersey governorship. Via Map Hawk. New York Times Maps the 2009 Elections first appeared on The Map Room: A Weblog About Maps on November 4, 2009. ...

The Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps Online Checklist is the Library of Congress’s online, continuously updated version of its 1981 publication, Fire Insurance Maps in the Library of Congress. ...

Mapping Manchester: Cartographic Stories of the City opened last June and runs until January 17, 2010, at Manchester’s John Rylands Library. ...

Gadling reminds us that handheld GPS units do have their limitations when you hike with them in the wilderness: they don’t have turn-by-turn directions, they may not get a signal in rough terrain (e.g., in a canyon), and they’re dependent on batteries. Th...

Etsy seller studiokmo produces interesting map cuts — maps of cities where the city blocks are cut out, leaving a transparent lattice of streets. So far, she’s produced maps of New York and Paris; London is next, and she will do custom orders. Th...

Astrum 2009: Astronomy and Instruments, an exhibition of astronomical equipment, celestial globes and manuscripts taking place at the Vatican Museums until January 16, 2010, includes equipment like astrolabes and planetariums, and 16th- and 17th-century celestial globes by Coronelli and Vanosino...

Two more map blogs have come to my attention recently: the new ArcGIS Data Blog and El mundo de los mapas, a Spanish-language blog that has been around somewhat longer. Two More Blogs first appeared on The Map Room: A Weblog About Maps on November 1, 2009. Copyright © 2009 Jonathan Crowe....