Media Outreach Coordinator Vanessa Schneider led the breakout session “Storytelling with Google Maps.” The Googler said she enjoyed the conference. “Excellence in Journalism is a great opportunity to meet with journalists, see what challenges they have and how they want to use these geo-tools in their work.”
Vanessa Schneider’s job is to help people tell stories through Google mapping tools. Schneider showed some EIJ attendees the way to utilizing these tools, like Google Earth, Maps and Crisis Map during a panel. She may have helped point journalists in the right direction with these tips:
– Google Maps can be used to outline and color code specific land areas
– Excel spreadsheets can be imported into Google Maps
– After importing a spreadsheet, make sure to title and describe the map created
– Rename the map’s layers (up to three layers can be added)
– To share, change setting to “Public on the Web”
– Although Google Maps is free, Maps Engine Pro isn’t (EIJ attendees can receive a free trial of this program by contacting Schneider at the address below)
Maps Engine Lite is free and allows users to create and share maps online
-These maps are essentially photographs
– Street views a la Google Earth can be created with the panoramic app Photo Sphere
– There’s also a paid Google Earth Pro with more advanced features, like saving and exporting high resolution JPEGs
– Historical street views can be found through Google Earth
– Google Crisis Map aims to alert the public about crisis situations through mapping
– Permission may need to be obtained to use any Google brand feature
– Schneider can be reached at mediatools@google.com or can contact media directly with maps and other images through online alerts
Google is processing imagery in a new way to make cities look more real on @googleearth @vanessagene #EIJ14 pic.twitter.com/FAtk9xJvCf
— The EIJ News (@EIJ_News) September 5, 2014
Attendee Bruce McLellan is an Alabama-based journalist working for the Decatur Daily and TimesDaily.com. He says he got a lot out of the workshop.
Tagged under: EIJ14, EIJNews, google, googlemaps