Google Maps in libraries

With the release of a new version of their API, and renewed interest from commentators such as Richard MacManus, mash-ups based in part upon Google Maps are once again topical. Learn more about how to build upon this invaluable resource, see examples of work already done by others, and share your own thoughts in the forum.

Earlier this week, Google released version 2.0 of their Google Maps API, which extends the ways in which third party developers can add their own data on top of a map.

As Richard MacManus points out in a recent post, 'mash-ups' based at least in part upon the Google Maps API remain the most popular, accounting for more than half of all mash-ups registered with one of the sites with which such things are registered by their creators. Here in the UK, Google Maps-based mash-ups also figure highly on sites such as the BBC's backstage.bbc.co.uk. Richard MacManus followed up his earlier post with one exploring some of the (simple) steps involved in creating a mash-up of your own, and it really is worth having a try as it's easier than it might at first appear.

At Talis, we've been experimenting with Google Maps for some time, through prototypes such as last July's LibMap and the later Whisper. Both use Google Maps and early versions of some of our Platform services to place information about libraries on a map and - with the help of the forthcoming Directory - to permit searches deep into the underlying library catalogues. As with much on the Platform, the 'application' and Google don't need to worry about how to send a query to a Talis catalogue or an Endeavor catalogue or whatever, as this needless complexity is disguised by the intelligence of the Directory.

There are various ways in which map-assisted features could enrich production services in and around libraries, and we're working to move beyond our prototypes toward such services on local, regional and larger levels, with each quite possibly offering very different types of functionality.

We'll be sharing more of our thinking in this area, and contributing some of the lessons we've learned so far. How might maps empower your users, though, and what sorts of things are you already doing or beginning to think about in this area?