I set out to learn Geographic Information Systems (GIS) so I could develop a community mapping project and found instead that with a minimal understanding of GIS terms and processes I could create my own annotated map project using Google My Maps.

,Sooooo, the next time I opened the map all the photos were gone. I spent a lot of time figuring out how to get a URL that would work and stay working and it was in the Google Maps Help Forum that I got an answer that gave a link to a site that would convert the temporary URL into a stable one.

I’ve used photos I found on Flickr for some of my OLTD assignments and in my Weebly website and I’ve always given credit to the photographer in the form that was noted with the photograph, but I haven’t investigated the attribution feature.

Yeah! This week I figured out how to get the map coordinates from a photo sent from a smart phone, and it began with a Google search of course. This will be important if the map I build doesn’t allow public input and all viewer photo submissions must pass through me or the website manager.

Terry Heick writes about “When Student Writers Learn That They Must Make Their Audience Care”, meaning when the audience cares specifically about the writing not the writer, as might be the student’s prior experience with an audience of attentive parents or teachers.

​I began my third week of learning about GIS mapping by finding that when I forwarded a photo from my phone to me email account I lost the map coordinates noted in the details, so I went back to the internet to find an app that would allow my phone to act as a GPS and I found one called GPS Coordinates by Woozilli available through the Google Play function on my Google Nexus phone.

1. I went back to the ESRI website to see if I could find out how much it would cost to download the Arc GIS program and it looks like I have to ask for a quote, but I found that I could open a free public account where I can create, store and manage maps, apps and data, and share data with others as long it was personal and not for commercial purposes. 

 No this isn’t my product shown above…. yet! I’ve been interested in creating a GIS (Geographic Information System) mapping project for some time and tackling it as my learning project for OLTD 505 will be my second attempt at it. ESRI Arc GIS is considered the industry leader in GIS and mapping and a few years ago I found that they offered a free 60 day training program, which  I thought it was an excellent opportunity to get started learning about GIS.