"On the road again...." with Google Maps. This tool gives a whole new meaning to armchair travel. I was able to visit the State Capital and NLC. Then I was whisked away to Paris and the Eiffle Tower. The street views were amazing! On returning home I planned my next couple of trips to Ord, Ne and Fort Collins, Co. I chose the map function for the Ord trip and requested various routes by including additional stops. For the Colorado trip I used map, satelite and street view. I have the route saved and by using street view I will be able to recognize landmarks and our destination. Maybe I won't get us lost(again!!!) In addition, I found a nearby motel by using links on the page.
I found the NPPL using Google Maps and the location is close but not correct. I found this true when I entered my home address and GM said the address was approximate. I did not make a correction to my home address, some anonymity is still a good thing.
I enjoyed using Google Maps to plan my travels and using street view to revisit some places I have been. I also compared it to Mapquest for the Ord trip. Both gave me accurate directions, but Google Maps was more "fun". Street view is helpful, but scary in its invasion of privacy. Using Zoom, I could almost read the license plate of my brother-in-laws vehicle in front of their house. I have heard of protests in England that have blocked the Google car from entering neighborhoods.
In this lesson we have been able to practice the way Google Maps can help libraries and patrons. I'm sure someone has thought of this before, but street view (eventhough it makes me a little nervous about privacy) could be of value to the genealogist. I don't have a picture of the house my grandmother lived in when I was little or the grade school I attended. I better find those now, before they are gone. Oh dear, another project....
I think Google Maps would be great for genealogist. I think it could be fun to make a My Map for your family. You could mark important spots in your family’s history such as businesses, houses and farmsteads. In addition to that you could even map locations of cemeteries. If you are familiar with the cemetery I bet you could use the satellite view and even add a map marker to show the locations of the important graves.
ReplyDeleteIf didn’t want to put a lot of personal information on the web you could always just label the places on the map using letters or number then create a separate key you could share with family members.