Citizen-mapped agency data
A quick guide to citizen-mapped agency data sites
- By Joab Jackson
- Apr 14, 2007
LOCAL FLAVOR: The Bart Station Maps site gives users a bird's-eye view of the San Francisco Bay area.
The Web is awash in citizen-run sites that map government-generated data. These sites use free services such as Google Maps and Microsoft Virtual Earth and public records from agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Geological Survey. With these sites, Web surfers can enter their addresses and see government data in their area, or to browse a certain region to find items of interest.
Here are a few examples of your hard work reused on the Web:
BART Station Maps (San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit): http://bart.barelyconnected.net
CityRanks US Populations (Census): http://www.kenfehling.com/cityranks
Congressional Travel Maps (Congressional junkets; Congress record offices): http://www.opensecrets.org/travel
Earthquakes in the last week (U.S. Geological Survey): http://earthquakes.tafoni.net
EPA Superfund Site Locator (Environmental Protection Agency): http://www.terraims.com/webservices/superfund.php
U.S. Mining Database (Bureau of Land Management): http://www.ewg.org/sites/mining_google/US
Hurricane Storm Reports (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration): http://hurricane.stormreportmap.com
Libraries411 (local government data): http://www.libraries411.com/
Seattle911 (Seattle Fire Department): http://www.seattle911.com/
WeatherMole (NOAA): http://weathermole.com/ WeatherMole/index.html
Zip Code Boundaries (Postal Service): http://zip-code-boundaries.com/index.html
Zoomatron Nautical Maps (NOAA): http://www.zoomatron.com/Default.aspx
Source: John Musser's Programmable Web (http://www.programmableweb.com)
About the Author
Joab Jackson is the senior technology editor for Government Computer News.