Webinar "CUNY Mapping Services: GIS Experiences to Share" and the Census Hard to Count by Steve Romalewski

Cartography - Maps

Last Updated on Sunday, 28 March 2010 11:18 Written by Rosemarie McKeon

On Wednesday, March 31st, from 2 -3p Eastern Time (US & Canada - 1-2p CST, 12-1p MST, 11-12p PST) Indigenous Mapping Network is delighted to have Steven Romalewski, director of the CUNY Mapping Services at the Center for Urban Research, sponsor a webinar for us entitled "CUNY Mapping Services: GIS Experiences to Share" In particular, he will be covering the creation of and review the tribal components within the Census Hard to Count Maps project. Participation is limited.

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Steven will be talking about:

1. His background in mapping
2. Introduction to the Mapping Service at the Center for Urban Research at the City University of New York
3. Development of The Census Hard to Count Map: http://www.CensusHardToCountMaps.org
4. The process of creating the maps using various geospatial tools: ESRI, Google Maps
5. Lessons learned: a few of the visualization and mapping issues with how they were solved
6. What and how to navigate around the map, how to query tribal information, what is and how to use the information provided
7. Will field questions about nuts and bolts behind managing such a dynamic mapping project



Overview of the mapping site that can be downloaded at http://www.censushardtocountmaps.org/images/faq/CensusHTC2010_overview.pdf

The National Congress of the American Indian (NCAI) has an Indian Country Counts campaign to help ensure all tribal citizens are counted during the US Census 2010. Census 2010 started with mailed forms this month that are to be completed and returned by April 1st. Census takers will visit those households that didn't mail in the completed form through July. Please review the beautiful website by clicking on the image or go directly to http://www.indiancountrycounts.org . The site includes a U.S. map showing Census regions, and identifies who are the direct tribal contacts for that particular area, additional news and forthcoming events. Some regions have embedded videos created by different tribes.



NCAI's Census campaign includes several webinars. One such webinar was hosted by NCAI on Friday, March 19th. It featured Steven talking about "Mapping Hard to Count Communities". The talk, according to the site, was aimed at "tribal leaders and community members training on how to use a helpful tool" of which his office has helped create, the Census Hard to Count Map, "to map the 'hard to count' population for states, metropolitan areas, counties, and neighborhoods (census tracts). The maps can help tribal governments, census advocates, and grassroots organizations target outreach efforts for the 2010 Census and customize messages to communities at risk of being under-counted."

The Google Map was developed by the CUNY Mapping Service at the Center for Urban Research, supported by a grant from the Hagedorn Foundation and coordinated by the Funders Census Initiative. During the webinar, Steven informed the listeners that the map will be updated on a daily basis during the census, to reflect completed census forms in Indian Country and elsewhere. "An accurate count of Native people is critical to the next decade of policy-making and resources for Indian Country." NCAI's Indian Country Counts campaign is providing two more webinars to help ensure all tribal citizens are counted. RSVP to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you would like to participate in any of the additional webinars presented on their website. Please visit www.IndianCountryCounts.org for more information or email Amber Ebarb at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  Archived webinars are available on their site including a recording of Steven Romalewski's talk.