Geography – WCC Library Research Guides

From externality to inputs and interference: framing environmental research in geography — © Royal Geographical Society.

The academic discipline of Geography is split into two main sub-areas: Physical Geography, and Human Geography.

From a spatial perspective Physical Geography looks at the natural world through a scientific lens and Human Geography looks at humans and human culture through a social sciences lens.

Atlas of the Pacific Northwest (2019 OSU Libraries & Press)
Fully-interactive online regional map.

Reference Sources

Search these resources for background information

Credo Topics: Geography. Academic background information for your research.

FilmsOnDemand: Geography

Scholarly Journals

Available Top Academic Journals

Antipode
Essays on geographical issues such as place, space, landscape, scale, human- environment relations, uneven development, boundaries, borders and connections.

Economic Geography
Internationally focused, publishes research that makes theoretical advances to the discipline.

The Professional Geographer
The focus of this journal is on short articles in academic or applied geography, emphasizing empirical studies and methodologies. A journal of the American Association of Geographers.

Progress in Human Geography
Topic areas around human geography research – philosophical, theoretical, thematic, methodological or empirical.

Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers
An international journal of geographical research.

Global Environmental Change
Advances knowledge about the human and policy dimensions of global environmental change. The journal interprets global environmental change to mean the outcome of processes that are manifest in localities, but with consequences at multiple spatial, temporal and socio-political scales.

Political Geography
Promoting international and interdisciplinary communication. Examples include, but are not limited to: critical, feminist, electoral, identity, environmental and economic geopolitics.

Cartography

The study of and creation of maps, informed by the study of graphic design and human perception and cognition (a thorough History of Cartography is available from the University of Chicago Press).

Finding Online Maps

Quicklinks

Interactive Maps – U.S. Census Bureau
Work with interactive mapping tools from across the Census Bureau.

The National Map – U.S. Geological Survey
Topography

Library of Congress General Map Collections
Digitized maps from the Library of Congress.

Map History
Everything about the history of maps including old maps, early maps and non-current maps in general. Maintained by Tony Campbell.

WorldWind – NASA
WorldWind is a free, open source API for a virtual globe. WorldWind allows developers to quickly and easily create interactive visualizations of 3D globe, map and geographical information.

Finding Maps @ the Library

The library houses a collection of maps you can check out such as:

Flat Maps: Located by the Circulation Desk
Rolled Maps: Mainly for classroom use but are available upon request. Please ask for assistance.
Folded Maps: Shelved in the Stacks.

GIS – Geographic Information Systems

In recent years GIS have been added to the geographer’s repertoire. GIS uses computers as a tool for analyzing spatial data. GIS data can also be used in cartography.

Try! QGIS – A free and open source Geographic Information System.

“Spatial Thinking in Planning Practice: An Introduction to GIS” from Portland State University Library.

GIS Data Sources

Local

City of Bellingham: (Includes CityIQ Online Map Viewer to create custom maps)
Whatcom County

State

Federal

The National Map
Federal Geographic Data Committee
Mineral Resources On-line Spatial Data US Geological Survey
National Elevation Dataset (NED) US Geological Survey
National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA
National Geospatial Digital Archive
National Historical Geographic Information System funded by National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health
Earth Resources Observation and Science Center (EROS) US Geological Survey
Seamless Data Warehouse S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS). Free downloads of National Atlas base layers and other geospatial data layers.

International

Open Geospatial Consortium–global forum for the collaboration of developers and users of spatial data products and services
Google Earth: A 3D Interface to the Planet: This keyword searchable tool allows you to create images and tilt and rotate the view to see 3D terrain and buildings.

Keeping Up With … Geography

TED Talks | Geography

University of Oxford: School of Geography and the Environment Podcasts

These online audio resources consist of lectures, seminars and interviews from the School of Geography and the Environment at the University of Oxford.

A VerySpatial Podcast (Geography… in Stereo): “your weekly source for information on Geography and geospatial technologies. Geography touches most things we do everyday and geospatial technologies are taking over the world. This podcast seeks to point out how geo is filtering into our digital lives and daily lives.”

The Geo Quiz: from PRI’s The World challenges your knowledge of people and places, geography and culture. Created by journalists in the newsroom, each Geo Quiz question comes with its own answer, a fascinating report or interview that reveals a mystery location. Subscribe to the podcast.