I’m a big fan of Google Maps. The interface is simple and easy to use; the graphics are clean and sophisticated. But I’ve always wanted to create my own markers and maps. Now I can.
Above is a detail from my first Google My Maps project. The map is titled Tennessee Crowbar Krewe. I created the map for the Spring Break 2006 volunteer trip I organized to New Orleans and blogged about here. The map shows all the houses we gutted, along with the ACORN offices and my favorite Frech Quarter bar. Although FEMA closed camp Algiers a year ago, it is still shown in Google’s satellite photography. Click on the text link above to see my map, then click on the Camp Algiers marker, zoom all the way in using the slider, and click on the Hyrbrid button in the upper right. There’s Camp Algiers: the white tents, porta-potties, and temporary bathrooms we used in the summer of 2006. As with all Google maps, users can zoom in, pan around, and enter their address for driving directions.
The detail shown above in the blog graphic shows Katrina flood damage in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward. Yes, those are houses still in the road months after Katrina.
Here’s all you have to do to create a Google map: 1) Sign up for a free account. 2) Search for an address. 3) Click on the thumbnail map in the search results. 4) If no “voice bubble” shows up, click on a colored point marker. 5) In the voice bubble, click on the new Save to My Maps link. 6) Create and save a map name. 7) After saving the point to your map, edit the name and description of the point. It’s all pretty simple.
There are lots of creative uses for the My Maps feature. How about an interactive map of your favorite places from a vacation? Or routes that you trace yourself without using the automatic driving directions feature? But My Maps can show more than just where things are and how to get to them. You could create a “Where I grew up” map showing hangouts that may have changed or disappeared over the years, or show a specific spot for a picnic in the middle of a park. I’m planning to have my college students create a My Map showing Civil War sites from a novel they will be reading in the fall. There are lots of creative possibilities, especiallly since there are tools for creating place markers, lines and shapes without having an address, and since the descriptions are completely editable.
