Gary Price's Resource Shelf indirectly pointed us to a new resource that can provide journalists with a quick and not-so-dirty GIS tool for their community or any other in the U.S. GeoLib is the Public Library Geographic Database (PLGDB) Mapping site. But its mapping engine delivers far more than just push-pining public libraries. The GIS server can display a variety of physical, demographic and political boundaries and data that can be turned on and off in traditional GIS layers. The resulting maps could be easily copied with a tool like Snag-It and dropped into a document or web page.
"Florida State University's GeoLib Program ( www.geolib.org ) is developing the National Public Library Geographic Database. The database includes the locations of 16,000 public libraries, data sets from the US Census, and library use statistics from the National Center for Educational Statistics. The goal of this database is to provide consolidated information on public libraries nationwide, easily accessible over the Internet. The project is sponsored by the Institute of Museum and Library Services ( www.imls.gov )
A key ingredient to the long term success of the PLGDB is the ongoing incorporation of other relevant data. We need your feedback as to what data you would like to have in the future. We hope the database will offer public librarians access to data that can shape local, regional and national library policies. For more information about GeoLib and its programs and to find out about the latest status and data releases of the National Public Library Geographic Database check back on this website regularly."
