The Geospatial Data Project is managed by the librarians and GIS specialists from 13 research institutions in the Big Ten Academic Alliance. It pulls together GIS resources, historical maps and imagery in one place for researchers. Today, the Portal holds these materials: GIS data produced in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Ohio, & Wisconsin plus world wide scanned historical maps. These collections are constantly growing.
For anyone who is not familiar with this type of data and how to use it, there are several helpful tutorials.
Advance searching is possible with additional limits like date, resource type (aerial views, cadastral, atlases, etc.) and resource class (data sets, maps, etc). Searching can be limited to institution as well.
It is also possible to search three areas (Datasets, Maps, Imagery) as well as by place or type. Place and Type show how many items are available. Under Datasets, choices include searching by raster, polygon and vector.
Lastly, be sure to check out their blog which along with interesting interviews, will also alert the reader to new datasets.
As Columbo says “Just one more thing…” The 2nd BTAA GIS Conference will be held virtually Friday, November 12, 2021. Consider attending!