Academic Uses of Google Earth and Google Maps in a Library Setting

Abstract

Over the last several years, Google Earth and Google Maps have been adopted by many academic institutions as an academic research and mapping tool. The authors were interested in discovering how popular the Google mapping products are in the academic library setting. A survey was conducted to establish the mapping products’ popularity, and type of use in an academic library setting. Results show that over 90% of the respondents use Google Earth and Google Maps either to help answer research questions, to create and access finding aids, for instructional purposes or for promotion and marketing. The authors recommend expanding the mapping product’s user base to include all reference and liaison librarians.