Jeremiah Trinidad-Christensen
Head, Research Data Services
Columbia University
Nancy Maron
President/BlueSky to BluePrint
BlueSky to BluePrint, LLC
Interactive and thematic maps take us well beyond the time when map making was restricted to the rarefied realm of cartographers. Thanks to easily available mapping software, scripting, and other tools, it is increasingly easy to create, tell stories, and present research through dynamic and interactive web-based digital mapping projects to answer questions and share information. Scholars are doing this across all disciplines, from the geosciences to the humanities and yet, many of the tools and platforms that make this work possible are part of for-profit businesses such as Google or Esri, or are open source and at risk. In 2019, a Mellon-funded workshop explored sustainability challenges specific to web-based digital maps and is now seeking solutions including considering which mapping elements might be best supported by an academy-built/led/managed infrastructure.
