All Guides: Geography: Topic Overviews

Reference Collections

Geography Encyclopedias and Dictionaries at Mac
Electronic and print resources for Geography available from the Macalester library.

Atlases

David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
Extensive digitized gallery of maps, globes, atlases, charts and other material in cartographic formats.
The National Map
Public access to high-quality, geospatial data, information, and maps provided through the United States Geological Survey.
The National Map: Small-Scale Collection
From the website: "The National Map is now offering a collection of small-scale datasets that can be downloaded for free. Although the 1997-2014 Edition of the National Atlas of the United States was retired in September 2014, The National Map recognizes the importance of continuing to make a collection of the small-scale datasets, originally developed for the National Atlas, available to users."

Rand Mcnally Goode's World Atlas by Veregin
Call Number: MAC Reference G1021 .G6 22nd ed. 2010
Maps provide information on world politics, climate, population, industry, and agriculture.

Minnesota Historial Aerial Photographs Online
A Google map mashup that provides access to 70,000 historic air photos for the state of Minnesota.

Encyclopedias & Dictionaries

The Dictionary of Human Geography by R. J. Johnston (Editor); Derek Gregory (Editor); Geraldine Pratt (Editor); David Smith (Editor); Michael Watts (Editor)
Call Number: MAC Reference GF4 .D52 2000
ISBN: 9780631205609
Publication Date: 2000-01-18
Ebook Available. Includes short definitional entries and longer, interpretative essays on human geography and its major sub-fields (such as geopolitics, development, and spatiality), thereby providing readers with a contextual background to the terms.
Encyclopedia of Population
Ebook Available. Provides coverage of demographic topics both in the core field and in neighboring disciplines. Encompasses the large-scale changes in emphasis and research directions in population studies during the last 20 years.
Encyclopedia of Urban America: The Cities and Suburbs
Digital Edition Available. This unique work analyzes urban America in a series of 547 signed articles. Biographical articles include Jane Addams, Marion Barry, Al Capone, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Lewis Mumford, and Lincoln Steffens, while topical entries cover mass transit, social welfare, residential construction, mill towns, and boom towns. Others deal with religious, racial and ethnic topics such as Shaker villages, Native Americans, African-American towns, and African Americans in cities. A bibliography follows each article, and the book concludes with an extensive 9-page selected bibliography on urban America. This work provides a comprehensive view of the colorful past of American cities and discusses current problems faced by modern cities and suburbs.
Geo-Data: The World Geographical Encyclopedia
Ebook Available.
Provides entries on the physical geography of every country in the world plus other selected locations. Each entry features a relief map depicting the geography of the location plus detailed text that describes its features, climate and vegetation. Entries are formatted with standardized rubrics to facilitate comparison.