Creating a Giant County Map Utilizing a Variety of GIS and Community Resources
General/Overview Vision of the Giant County Maps:
 Imagine a map of your county that measures, approximately, 10’x10’, is printed on vinyl, can move easily from
place to place, is used to teach and to learn about your community, and creates a foundation upon which
further understanding of your community, and its future, can grow.
 The map will be crisp enough to print on an approximate 10’x10’ vinyl sheet. As some counties are more vertical
(north/south) or horizontal (east/west), accommodations will be made by the printer to allow for a better
product. For example, Lake County Indiana will print on an 8’ wide by 12’ long vinyl sheet, or Howard County
Indiana will print on a 12’ wide by 8’ long vinyl sheet.
 Maps can print to the edge of the vinyl sheet, but we opt to allow for a small safe area (about 1”). The top
margin should be 3”, which allows for a roll over and grommets – in order to hang the map if needed.
 Maps will include:
o from the IndianaMap GIS - cities/towns and labels, hydrology and labels, green spaces and labels,
latitude and longitude in lightly colored lines, shaded relief in background
o from the Open Street Map GIS – roadways and labels (if road is 6” or more on the map software; based
on 18,000 foot perspective)
o title, latitude and longitude (subtle), scale in fraction and bar, North arrow, Planning Partners logos, and
Sponsor logos
o a state county index map with the specific county indicated >> show “where” the county is located in
the state
o brief description about the county name
o large-scale grid system: 1,2,3… A,B,C… linked to the latitude and longitude
Educators, Librarians, Students, and Giant County Map and Timeline Creators:
1) Remember, you are not alone in this process and effort!!! If you need to talk through the process and concerns,
please, communicate with the GENI office at 317.274.8879/ geni@iupui.edu or with Katie Springer at the IN
State Library at KSpringer@library.in.gov.
2) Create a County Map & Timeline Team to help provide ideas and resource suggestions: county historian, County
Bicentennial Commission, librarians, museum/history specialists, economic development members, chamber of
commerce members, surveyors, assessors, mayors… Many counties have (or are creating as part of bicentennial
efforts) a county history/timeline.
3) For the giant map, ss a starting point, you will receive a base-map with the items mentioned in the “Maps will
include:” segment above. Preview the county base-map, which will be delivered in a PDF format, to imagine the
use of a giant county map and the additional mapped data possibilities.
4) Think of ways in which the Giant County Map could be utilized and discuss the possibilities with others in your
community or on your Team. Investigate county history for items that should be included on the county
timeline and/or on the county map: economic impacts, civics and leadership, human and physical geography,
historic sites, key community figures, literature connections...
5) A County Timeline has a place to start utilizing the Harrison County Timeline. You can either edit the Harrison
County Timeline directly OR create a version of the timeline specific to the needs for your community.
6) HELP is available to determine “who” to communicate with on this project  Contact the GENI office at
317.27.8879/geni@iupui.edu or the IN State Library, KSpringer@library.in.gov for assistance.
7) Begin to search for potential local Sponsor Partners to print the County Map and Timeline and associated
resources: $500.00. HELP is available! You do not have to do this alone  GENI can help with this outreach. A
sample letter is available for you to tailor for specific requests, if needed.
8) Research the data that you would like to add to the County Map: location of historic sites, photographs if
unavailable… Share with GIS Professional.
9) Share the County Timeline information with the GENI office.
10) Create a Curriculum Guide – if needed, which can be quick suggestions for “how” to use the County Map &
Timeline, suggested resources, and a few literature links. Share with the GENI office. Again, this can proceed as
use of the map and timeline are implemented and ideas evolve.
11) Edit the County Map, Timeline, and Curriculum Guide.
12) Once the County Map and Timeline have been received, GENI will send press release to local media outlets,
community leaders (business, elected, surveryor/assessor, school boards, chambers of commerce…).
13) ENJOY your hard work and energy dedicated to making your community a better place!!!
General/Overview Process to create the Giant County Maps for GIS Specialists:
1) Indiana Geological Survey using ArcGIS 10.3; other GIS professionals using various versions of a GIS; need to
create a way to marry the data in compatible formats.
2) Initially, Matt and Kevin will create county maps prototypes and convert to a PDF, which will be uploaded to an
IUBox account for preview by the educators.
3) Once completed, the Giant County Maps will be available for use as a local resource in a GIS, AND they will be
converted to a PDF. Both versions will uploaded into an ArcGIS on-line folder for everyone to utilize.
Detailed Process to create the Giant County Maps:
1) Matt and Kevin developed a method to utilize Open Street Map data and combine it with IndianaMap data to
create the Giant County Map base-map. From the Open Street Map data: roadways and labels that are 6” or
longer from an 18,000 foot perspective in ArcGIS 10.0. From IndianaMap data: cities and towns and labels,
water bodies and labels, green spaces and labels, lightly shaded relief in gray, and lightly colored
latitude/longitude lines in ArcGIS 10.3. The GIS information from IndianaMap and from Open Street Map will
merge; fonts will be uniform among layer groups; colors will be pleasing to the eye  and consistent.
2) Educators will collaborate with local GIS professionals to create additional county map layers that are thought to
be of educational value: historic places, protected flora and fauna, agriculture, unique physical features, or
other easily mapped information. The map should be “timeless”: containing information that does not limit the
map use in the near future: voting districts, religious regions, areas of literacy… More “fixed” information that
provides a foundation would be the best to place on the map: upon which more changeable information could
be taught.
3) The mapped information should be reviewed for accuracy by the local GIS specialist and the educator prior to
being combined with the base-map.
4) On the local map, include appropriate local sponsor logos in a vector file format (.eps or .pdf) and/or printed
titles – as dictated by the local sponsor.
5) The local map data will be combined with the base-map either by the local GIS specialist or by Matt and Kevin at
IGS.
6) The final Giant County Map will be reviewed by all appropriate persons prior to print: local GIS professional,
educator(s), IGS, Katie, Mike and others as needed.
7) Once reviewed, the final Giant County Map will be uploaded to a shared ArcGIS On-Line folder.
8) The final Giant County Map will be converted to a PDF and sent to Signs of the Times, the New Albany, IN printer
with whom the Project is working.
9) The final Giant County Map (and timeline) will be printed by Signs of the Times and will be mailed to the local
county educator(s) or representative hosting the new legacy resource.
10) A county aerial photograph will be captured for print.
11) A Legend will be created in conjunction with the educator(s) utilizing the accurate symbols.
12) Larry Biehl and IndianaView will create a collection of satellite imagery for each county as the maps and
timelines are created.
Additional Giant County Map Resources:
 The printer will, also, provide (and mail along with the map and timeline)
a. ten (10) legends (8.5”x11”) in color and laminated, (includes a title with county name)
b. five (5) aerial photographs (8.5” x 11”) in color and laminated, (includes a title with county name) and
c. five (5) satellite imagery collections (8.5”x11”) in color and laminated (these may take a bit longer to
receive as this is a very time-consuming activity with few people knowing how to undertake the
process; includes a title with county name).