I. Tools we use for mapping collection records

When available, geographic coordinates for collecting sites are taken from publications. Typically, however, the publications provide only place names where collections were made, and we then must use other resources to map those sites out.

We take geographic coordinates from maps and charts, including the following sources. Many of these sources use the same data, but they differ in how queries work on them and in whether their maps can be enlarged for zooming in on specific locales. When all else fails we use the paper Atlas or search on Google to see if the place name has a link providing coordinates. Also increasingly useful is Google Books which has made scans of older literature available (where reprints are scarce), and this can yield not only specific locality information but useful figures and scientific information on taxa and geographic sites.

The main tools

• Alexandria Digital Library Gazetteer
• . . . Alexandria Digital Library
• Geographic Names
• US Board of Geographic Names
• . . . Links to Countries and Sources
• Google Earth

Country-specific

• Australia
• Canada (search)
• Canada (main)
• New Zealand
• Sweden
• US
  • Topozone
  • Terra Server USA
  • Alexandria Digital Library Gazetteer

Other tools

• Polistes Global Mapper
• Columbia Gazetteer of the World (online and paper)
• Paper Atlases, Gazetteers, Charts, and Maps

II. Instructions for using maps

Maps of collecting sites can be reached from the table listing species distributions (shown when the "dist'n" links in species lists is clicked. Both maps of individual sites and of whole species distributions are available:

• Maps of individual sites ("map" in distribution table) are drawn using Polistes Global Mapper.


• Maps of distribution of species (multiple points on a single map) are reached from the "map all distribution points" link at the end (bottom) of a species distribution list. These maps are drawn using Google Maps (maps.google.com with their API registration http://www.google.com/apis/maps/). Ron Kozlowski provided the PHP class that calls the maps from Google. Moving around on the map and using the markers to display more data is done as with any Google maps:

Panning -- any part of the world map can be reached by clicking on the map background and dragging it or by clicking on the arrows ( ) in its upper left corner.

Zooming in or out on a map -- Magnification of the view can be changed with the and buttons or in larger jumps with the scale slider.

Map styles -- Maps can be drawn as plain maps or satellite images or as a hybrid (overlay) of both. The choice is made by clicking on the Map / Satellite / Hybrid boxes in the upper right of a map. Whichever type is selected will be indicated by bolding of the style name.

Refreshing / redrawing -- The original view of a map can be reset with the Refresh button of the browser window. That view should be centered on the center of distribution points and at a magnification (scale) that shows all points (except possibly points in the western Pacific--pan to check).