Alchemy in the Map Room

By Will Simpson Hidden Gem Reporter

Moscow, Idaho — For centuries, alchemists have sought the elusive elixir of life, a mystical potion promising immortality and endless wisdom. Today, a new kind of alchemy unfolds at the University of Idaho Library, where the old Map Room’s chemistry is melding into the Data Hub, creating a digital treasure trove revealing the world’s hidden secrets.

By merging the humble, ancient craft of cartography with cutting-edge Geographic Information Systems (GIS), researchers are extracting new knowledge from vast data landscapes, revealing hidden insights. The smell of the old paper maps, the gentle hum of fluorescent lights, and the sight of countless maps tucked away in towering cabinets – these were the hallmarks of the University of Idaho’s map room.

It’s a tranquil space, off in the northwest corner of the first floor and away from the bustle of the main library. The maps lie in drawers like cadavers in a mausoleum, resting and forgotten. Long glass-topped tables invited visitors to spread out maps, tracing routes with their fingers and immersing themselves in the intricate details on the maps.

Until now…

Physical changes to the space have created a different feeling, one that is more open and conducive to working together. Jeremy Kenyon, the lead research and experimental learning librarian whose brainchild became the Data Hub, said that rearranging the room “gives off a different vibe now when you move everything kind of to one side and open up the middle a little bit.”

The maps are stored in five-foot tall grey filing cabinets, each a stack of 20 drawers, 40 inches square, holding dozens of large flat and stacked maps. These cabinets are pushed against a wall to make room for the Data Hub, a bright, well-lit, and comfortable place for study and group discussions on research. The maps, like books, are going digital, opening up exciting new ways for researchers to explore how data can be overlayed on digital maps.

Ben Hunter, Dean of the University of Idaho Libraries, said that the map room’s space “wasn’t used very efficiently” and that they “shrunk the footprints of the maps” and moved items that didn’t belong there. This created space to “meet the needs of… what people really need now”. Libraries are adapting to the circulation patterns and research needs of their patrons. The earliest libraries stored scrolls and then printed books. And now libraries are swerving toward the digital age.

“The reality is that not a lot of people are checking out maps anymore,” said Jeremy Kenyon.

But like most everything else, maps are now accessed online. The University of Idaho’s Map Room, a place once dedicated to the art and science of traditional cartography, is transforming, and shifting how we think about and use maps. Researchers, writers, and armchair travelers can visit the map room to unfold the maps, but few do. According to Jylisa Kenyon, a University of Idaho Reference Librarian, “In-house use of our maps has never been very high, and in the last few years, in-house use of maps has been pretty low.”

The evolution of the University of Idaho’s map room is a microcosm of the changes all libraries are experiencing. What was once a hands-on space for exploring maps and atlases has become a data-driven hub that emphasizes digital tools and collaboration while repurposing physical resources.

GIS is a way to place location data on top of digital maps in a way that helps map readers grasp ideas that can only be described visually. Since 2017, the jump to online maps and the use of the GIS system through the library has shot up from just 10 unique users a month to over 500.

Having access to detailed maps is a game-changer for understanding ecological shifts, the impact of climate change, conservation initiatives, and sustainable resource management. These maps fuel essential research that tackles pressing global issues head-on.

Walking into the old Map Room, now Data Hub/Map Room, you’ll see the map cabinets crowded up against the wall on the left, all the atlases are gone, dispersed around the library, and modern expansive conference tables and semicircular sofas on the right. Bruce Godfrey, GIS Librarian, says the value of an in-person collaborative environment is a place of idea-sharing and problem-solving that is hard to replicate online. It’s all about sharing and working together.

Have you ever wondered how we track wildlife migration or map disease outbreaks? That’s GIS at work.

The map room is filled with GIS workstations. GIS software lets researchers combine layers of data, like Rocky Mountain elk habitat, beaver population density, or the prevalence of forest snags used for cavity nesters, onto digital maps to uncover hidden patterns and new insights.

Following the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti, GIS was instrumental in disaster response and recovery efforts, allowing the United Nations to map damaged areas and coordinate aid delivery. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Johns Hopkins University developed a GIS-powered dashboard to track cases globally and support public health decision-makers.

GIS opens up a world of insights into social and demographic trends for disaster management, pandemic monitoring, and crop yields.

Kenyon says that “GIS has become a tool… in so many different disciplines.”

More researchers are getting involved because it’s getting easier to do this work. “People don’t need the whole room full of computers… because somebody with a relatively cheap laptop can do the kinds of things that it used to take an enormous amount of computing to do,” said Bruce Godfrey, GIS Librarian.

The Data Hub is a breeding ground for ideas. Its impact extends from Kit Stokes’s Flunkies and Loggerettes: Women in the White Pine Forest story map, creating a narrative about people in Palouse, to Samiha Suhrah Ali’s work on the effects of tillage practices and crop rotation on crop performance in Whitman County.

This shift from paper to pixels is more than just a change in aesthetics; it represents a development in how we access, analyze, and understand the world, says Kenyon. Maps used to be printed on colossal sheets of paper, now they’re all on our phones.

GIS is the heart of this new approach to spatial analysis, allowing researchers to layer diverse datasets, from soil composition and farming tillage impacts to enhanced 911 calling and disease prevalence, onto a digital map. The process of getting insights from overlaying these datasets on digital maps is called GIS.

Layering data onto a map to create an image of an environment sparks a whole new world of possibilities for researchers in all sorts of fields. A conservationist maps the relationship between crop tillage practices, drought, and heat stress. A historian creates a narrative project that locates oral history testimonies from former and current fire lookouts using a GIS interface. It’s like having a magical lens to see the connections in our world.

When you build a house, you want to ensure that it isn’t on top of a garbage dump. You may also consider how a river flows differently now than it did 50 years ago or how bark beetles have changed the tree line. These considerations are impossible without GIS, a map overlayed with information about the land, water, and insect life.

The Map Room is a metaphor for changes at the University of Idaho and society toward digital information and collaborative practices. The changes in the room reflect a shift from static paper maps of space to vibrant, interactive digital platforms. This mirrors how society uses information today. Digital maps have migrated to the phone, and what used to be limited to experts, expensive, requiring a high-powered computer now can be available to just about anyone, through a simple web browser. Now, anyone with a laptop and an internet connection can dive into spatial analysis. It’s easier than ever to uncover patterns in data and solve real-world problems.

Work in the Data Hub is “leading people to that information and helping them use it” and highlighting the library’s role in “taking information and data and resources” and making them “findable” and “discoverable,” says Hunter.

The alchemy of the Map Room is more than a shift in its layout; it’s a fusion of maps and data, giving us insights into how we are connected to the world. It’s about how technology is reshaping our understanding of the world and how we interact with information and each other. It’s no longer just about exploring geography—it’s about using technology to explore everything.

And the thrill of discovery? That’s here to stay.

Media

Photos

[Sidebar] Unique login trends to the U of I ArcGIS Online Teaching and Scholarly Research portal.

October 30, 1996

References

Interviews • Kenyon, Jeremy. (2024, November 20). Personal communication [Personal interview].
• Kenyon, Jylisa. (2024, December 6). Personal communication [Personal interview]. • Godfrey, B. (2024, November 22). Personal communication [Personal interview].
• Hunter, B. (2024, November 25). Personal communication [Personal interview].
• Hudak, A. (2024, November 28). Personal communication [Personal interview].

Secondary Online References