Introduction > Usage Directions > Refine Your Location

MDAH Google Earth Map - Introduction

Synopsis

The MDAH Google Earth (GE) map displays the approximate location of the homes of most MDAH members on a background of satellite and aerial imagery. Each location is depicted by an icon that is color coded for the members' assigned playgroup region and can 'popup' a limited subset of directory information for the member.

The organization of the map and the navigation controls built into the Google Earth application allow a user to easily zoom the map in to any particular member or zoom back out to display all members. Additional map themes included in GE allow the display of roads, borders, restaurants, parks, schools, pharmacies and more. Separately from the member map described here, MDAH has developed other Google Earth maps that display playgroup meeting sites and other locations of interest to MDAH members.

Participation / Eligibility

The location of an MDAH member will appear on the map if they are active and agreed to be included in the member directory and to participate in the map.

An MDAH member is eligible to use the MDAH map as an online network link in Google Earth, or to download the map (.kmz) file for use on their own computer if they are active and established MDAH members, if they agreed to be included in the member directory and to participate in the MDAH GE map, and if they provided a mappable street address for their own location.

If you think you are eligible to receive the MDAH Google Earth map, but have not received an email with the URL to the map file and user name and password to access the file, then please send email to ge_map@mdah.org requesting information on your eligibility status. Please include your full name in that email. Login information will only be sent to your registered MDAH email address.

Map Limitations

The map includes most (approximately 90%) of the active MDAH members. Those who do not appear have chosen not to be a participant in the map.

The member information the map displays are primarily contact information found in the directory. It does not display the full information contained in the directory, e.g. it excludes professional/education, hobbies, skills, and children information.

The indicated positions for members were determined by geocoding are hence are approximate locations. No systematic process to improve these locations so icons fall right on members' houses is anticipated. However if an individual member wants their position indicated acurately on the map, it can readily be accomplished.

System Requirements

Using the Google Earth MDAH map requires that you have the Google Earth (http://earth.google.com/) application (a free download) installed on your computer. For good performance a high-speed Internet connection (e.g. cable modem or DSL) is recommended.

Rationale for Map

Members that are new to MDAH and/or Minnesota will be interested to know where other MDAH dads and playgroups are located. A map provides an effective way to present this information in a way that is intuitive to understand. Similar data is contained in the MDAH directory by way of tabulated member street addresses, but this does not help anyone get an idea of the spatial distribution of members (e.g. are they clustered, are there a lot outside the Twin Cities metro area?) In a way, the map may help members connect and to better relate to MDAH email because regional playgroups such as 'St. Croix Valley' will no longer be such an abstraction - you can see exactly where this group is geographically and how dispersed it is. In addition to member locations, the map also plots the main playgroup meeting spots so members that want to visit other playgroups can readily see how far away those other meeting spots are.

Privacy

A measure of privacy for this map is obtained via three main factors: limited distribution, restricting data to contact information, and slightly ambiguous locations.

• The map will only be available to members already eligible to receive the directory: those who are active, established, and agreed to be included in the directory themselves.
• The information available on the map is only a subset of the information that already appears in the directory and it is primarily only member contact information. No marital, child, or professional information will be included.
• The geocoding process is an approximation and as a result, the icon placed on the map for a member is likely to only be *near* the actual location of their home according to the imagery. Three MDAH members who tried it out found the following displacements between icon and actual home: 1) across the street and two houses down, 2) across the street, and 3) across the street and four houses down. The positional errors for the depiction of other MDAH member's homes are likely to be similarly variable and displaced. So the idea that one MDAH member is going to discover with certainty from this map alone what another member has in their backyard is quite a stretch. [This positional inaccuracy was actually somewhat disappointing initially, but in this case where privacy is something of a concern, the inaccuracy provides some benefit.]

Background / Technical Details of the Map

Please see the April 2006 MDAH Newsletter article entitled 'Mapping MDAH.'

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