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MapTube

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What is it and who is it for?

MapTube is a website for sharing maps.  The main principle of MapTube is that shared maps can be overlayed to compare data visually. For example, to see a map of the London Underground overlayed on top of a map of population, go to the search page and enter the keywords "tube" and "population". Then click on the two relevant maps to add them. They will be displayed when you click on "View".

Maps can be viewed by everybody without logging in, but to share a map requires an account and a username. This ensures that only the owner of a map can edit its details.

The maps themselves are not stored on the server, but only a link to another site on the Internet where the map is already published. When maps are shared, information about what the map is and what it shows is entered by the owner and this is stored on the server along with the link to where the map is published. The raw data is never stored on the Internet as the maps comprise the pre-rendered tiles made by the Google Map Creator, so this is a safe way of sharing a map without giving away the raw data used to create it.

Credits: MapTube was developed by GeoVUE, based at University College London, which was the part of NCeSS which researched Geographic Simulation.  GeoVUE has now evolved into GENeSIS node, which is researching generative eSocial Science.