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