Using Open Source Software to Develop a Web Mapping Application

for the Bailey Matthews Shell Museum

June 23, 2009Carrie L. Burkholder

GIS AnalystAdvisor: Ian Turton, PhD

Outline• Background & Scope• Project Goals• Data Sources & Web Mapping Software• Methodology• Challenges• Using GIS Software• Next Steps• Questions

Background & Scope

• The Bailey Matthews Shell Museum• Personal History with the Museum• The Current Collections website

Bailey Matthews Shell Museum• Location: Sanibel Island, Florida• Opened in 1995• Non-profit Museum housing 30 exhibits of

mollusks from around the world• Focuses on Southwest Shells

Personal History

• Visiting the Island for about 18 years• Background in Biology and studied

Mollusks independently• Was invited to volunteer for a day helping

to identify species• Used and interacted with the current

database

Museum Collections

• The Museum encompasses about 150,000 lots of shells from around the world

• Volunteers identify and catalogue the shells

• Online Searchable Collections Database

• What does this data mean?

• Where was this specimen found?

• Unusable in current format to general public?

Project Goals

• Build a Web Mapping Application or Applications that will do the following:

1. Create a searchable online web mapping application

2. Give the user the ability to search the database and click a “Map It” button

Searchable Web Mapping Application

• Give the User the ability to type in a location and have the application zoom to that area

• Show how many and which species were found in that area

• Have the data linked to the Collections database

• Create links to the database so the user can see expanded specimen data

Map It!

Creation of a “Map It” Button

Data Sources & Web Mapping Software

• Bailey Matthews Shell Museum Database• Open Source Software

– Geoserver– OpenLayers– Udig

• Open Source Clients

Methodology

• Standardize the database- site locations- spelling- countries, states, regions

• Assign Latitude/Longitude using a series of Geocode Address Locators

• Hand Match remaining records

Database

Geocode Address Locators• Used ESRI data as base for both US Cities and States, as well as

International Cities, and Countries

• 7,490 records of 18,179 matched for

the Cities/Countries

• 4,234 records of 9,665 matched for the Cities/States

How to match remaining records?

• Various World Atlas Websites • Online and print maps• Tourism and Chamber of Commerce Contacts

Challenges

• “Site Unknown”• Data Clusters• Unknown Locations• Account for same named places

Next Steps

• Build the Web Mapping Application– Use Udig to get styles, colors, etc.– OpenSource and Geoserver

• Link data to the Bailey Matthews Shell Museum collections website

• Creating a “Map It” Button• Turn Data over to the Bailey Matthews

Shell Museum

Questions?

Carrie Burkholder– clw@psu.edu– burky34@verizon.net

Special thanks to:– Dr. Jose Leal – Director, Bailey Matthews

Shell Museum– Dr. Ian Turton – Academic Advisor