Mashup Roundup

As a former geography and current library and information science student, I have a special interest in maps and their use for displaying and generating information. I am particularly interested in how programmers and end users combine Google Maps with other programs or data sets into mashups; a mashup is a hybrid of data from more than one source or program into a new application. Google Map mashups are interactive, or customizable, thematic maps that tend to answer very specific questions (Can I really dig a hole to China? Answer at: http://map.talleye.com/bighole.php) or contain frequently updated, user-submitted content (What are random people around the world doing right now? Answer at: http://twittervision.com/) to produce a real-time map.

One of my current favorite mashups, www.mapthecandidates.com lets you track the campaign stops of all Democrat and GOP candidates, starting in July 2007, with links to related articles or videos. What I find most impressive about this site is how easy it is to use the interactivity tools to create a map that is the most interesting and relevant to the user. You can use this site to track specific candidates, to look at a particular state or region, and to look at a specific day or time-span. For example, I found that Republican candidate Mitt Romney spent my wedding anniversary campaigning at a number of events in New Hampshire, including at a house party in Salem.