How to Build Maps

Creating a Map

You first creates a map by giving it a title, and an optional description. You specify the area of interest. You can do this by panning and zooming in the map window, or by typing in a location name. Mapufacture uses a combination of the GeoNames database and internal algorithms to provide both a map center and appropriate bounding box. Alternatively, Mapufacture utilizes several geolocation technologies to allow You to specify a map be created at their current location. You can then specify the base map to be used from a variety of popular map providers. Because different map providers have different levels of quality in different regions of the world, providing users the option to choose their base map enables them to use an appropriate base map for their region of interest. Finally, you can optionally add tags to describe the map purpose. These tags are both for your own categorization and recall of the map, as well as for other users to find the map depending on their interest. In addition, Mapufacture uses these tags as a basis for suggesting useful data sources to You to add to the map.

Adding Data Sources

Once you have created your preliminary map, you then can add data sources to the map as layers. Using a basis of the map’s geographic area, the supplied tags and title of the map, as well as measures of data source quality, a set of suggested data sources is shown to You. You can then add any number of these data sources to their map. In addition, you can search for additional data sources using keywords , tags or other attributes, or can add a data source by giving the source’s URL. You can also choose to add layers from any of their bookmarked or favorited data sources.

Viewing a Map

After you has added their desired data layers they can save the map and are presented with the nominal map view. The map shows an up-to-date display of the geographic items from their selected data sources within their area of interest. You can investigate the markers as is typical with most modern online mapping displays, and also selectively hide or show individual layers. In addition, Mapufacture allows you to specify temporal limits to their map view. Using the visual time slider they can limit the most recent, or oldest items in the map. Mapufacture is continuously updating data sources with new information. Your new map can now serve as a continuous view into recent geospatial data.

Using Maps

While the Mapufacture web interface provides common functionality, the goal of the tool is to provide for users to filter and aggregate information to a number of other sources.

APIs for Accessing Maps

Every map in Mapufacture is syndicated in GeoRSS and KML. These formats make it straight-forward for you to add this feed to their feed reader or visualize in a 3D viewer like Google Earth or NASA WorldWind. In addition, Mapufacture supports the OGC WMS interface specification, so more advanced tools can query any map for the available layers and perform geospatial queries on the map. Lastly, Mapufacture provides an OpenSearch-Geo and –Time specification document and a RESTful interface that developers can use to easily incorporate into their sites and applications. This includes sub-querying for geospatial area of interest, keywords, tags, attributes, or spatial timeframe within this subset of data sources.

Using Maps on Devices

Mapufacture provides several mobile device interfaces. uLocate’s WHERE platform is a widgetized mobile system that provides geolocation information to applications. Mapufacture has been a featured widget in WHERE since launch and provides users easy access to their maps and bookmarked data sources, geolocated to their current position, from their mobile phones. Mapufacture also has clients on the Nokia Maemo Platforms (N770, N800, and N810), as well as an iPhone interface. Other OpenSearch-Geo enabled mobile clients can also utilize Mapufacture.

Embedding Maps

Mapufacture Maps can also be embedded directly into a website using the supplied HTML code. This HTML code places an iFrame in webpage that contains You’s map and up-to-date local items. There is also support for a iGoogle widgets and Universal Widget API (UWA) developed by NetVibes.