Linking to Map Services
This is a very simple project that could easily benefit people visiting your library web site. Provide them with a link to a map from which they can locate your institution. An added benefit would be if they could get driving directions from that map. A lot of you are probably thinking, duh, did that a long time ago. Sometimes though nifty details like maps can get lost in the mad rush to put up content. Mapping sites like MapQuest have been available for years. Over the last year or so more mapping services have become available, Google Maps and Yahoo Maps are two of these services. Another service I checked out was Multimap, I don't know how long this has been around but it is an interesting service. How I built the links In some of the services you can search for businesses/organizations/institutions. I chose to use the exact street address as this seemed to provide the most accurate results. It's also the simplest way to search. In Mapquest there are instructions on how to build the URL to link to the address you require. These are somewhat complicated but the instructions are easy to follow. In Google you can formulate your search like this: "2300 McPhillips Ave" Winnipeg,MB . In the upper right hand corner of the page you see a link for "Link to this page". Click on the link and the URL you should use appears in the address window of your browser. Test this URL out, as what you see after the completion of your search may not necessarily be what displays from the link. This happened in the example shown below. In Yahoo you can use the easy search interface to search for your address. Near the upper right hand corner of the map is the link "Link to this map". Click on that link to determine what HTML code is necessary for you to copy into your web page. Multimap allows you to search for a particular address. The URL linking information is displayed at the bottom of the map and should be recognizable. Copy this URL into your link. Comments on services When I reviewed these sites I was looking for a service with a minimal amount of advertising and which I thought gave the best map of the surrounding area. I also wanted a service which provided the clearest way for a patron to get driving directions to the address. I also asked a few colleagues to evaluate the services based on a functioning link to a specific address (2300 McPhillips Ave., Winnipeg,MB). This link and my thoughts follow: MapQuest [map link] I liked that the location of the address is marked clearly on the map with a red star. The cross streets and nearby landmarks are clearly marked. I also liked that above the map is a collection of links which allow you to print the map, e-mail it, or download it to your PDA. The links from which you get driving directions are clearly marked above the map. Google [map link] I liked that the address was indicated in the search window. I didn't like that it wasn't clear where the address was located. You had to know that you were looking for Seven Oaks General Hospital to locate the correct red tab. I liked the physical size of the map but the scale is too large to be a practical direction device for patrons. That being said the Satellite image link is pretty cool. Google Maps is still in beta and perhaps my concerns will be addressed over time. Yahoo [map link] I liked Yahoo for reasons similar to MapQuest. Nice red star, indicates the location of the address. There are more landmarks indicated on the map than MapQuest but fewer cross streets. Again there are links to a printable version of the map and the option to e-mail it. Driving directions are clearly labeled. My only concern with Yahoo is the requirements for linking to this map. Yahoo requests that you include the Yahoo logo along with your link to the map. I understand why they request this but none of the other mapping services do. I find the logo intrusive. Multimap [map link] Multimap allows you to zoom in quite closely to your target address. You can also adjust the scale in the URL which I was afraid to attempt with the other services URLs. You can print the map but I couldn't see a way to e-mail it or obtain driving directions. I found the advertising to be intrusive. However, the geek in me really likes the addition of the latitude and longitude information below the map. Overall My colleagues are leaning towards either the well established MapQuest or Yahoo as their mapping service of choice. Personally, I am leaning towards using MapQuest. However, I'd like to hear about any mapping services I have missed! Note: Please remember that the opinions expressed in this posting are my own and do not reflect those of my colleagues or my institution.
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In Defense of Google Maps
A few words in the hardly-needed defense of Google Maps, which is my beloved paramour of the month (farewell mapquest, I love another!)
The absolutely smashing key to Google maps is the ability to scroll the map anywhere without having to reload the image, simply by clicking on the map and dragging the image, the way you would move a physical page. This means you can scroll directly from one point to another, following the road, without losing yourself, and you can move the image every so slightly so you get exactly the map you want (try doing that in multimap or mapquest). I loved the precision so much, I made a screencapture of the area around my library (you can't save or copy the map image) so I could pass it out to patrons who need directions to other libraries amd services in the area.
The other super-fantastic key to Google Maps is the "directions to/from here" tab, which pops up automatically when you do a specific address search. If I search for 333 St. Mary's ave winnipeg (it needs a city as well as a street address), I get the pinpoint location of my library; if I click "directions from here" and enter the address of the NJMHS Library (727 McDermot Ave winnipeg) I get a handy-dandy map with a blue line to follow and text directions on the side. I'm sure the other map sites offer these services, but I've never used them, because they never read my mind and put them right in my face the way Google did.
Google maps works best if you have an exact street address--it doesn't respond well to queries other than number/street/city, bringing back too many irrelevant results, as Carol found. And it especially doesn't like text queries in the "directions to" search--to get the keen little map with the blue line, I had to find out the address of NJMHSL in another window, a beta kink if I've ever seen one. But for providing patrons with a way to find the way from their home (a known street address) to the library (if already plugged in to the search box and displayed on your site), I say fabulous. It doesn't matter how far out they are--zooming doesn't affect the search, and you can scroll the image all the way all the way from home to the destination without reloading the map. This map even knows that you can't turn left onto Donald from Portage. Smart. I usually forget.
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