U.Va. maps out Cartographic images on printed page and Web

By Matt Kelly

There’s a new way to find out where you need to go.

The University map, updated from its 1990s incarnation with a fold-out paper copy and a more in-depth version on the Web, is now available.

The map, a product of the development office, the Web communications office and Facilities Management, has been updated to show new buildings, as well as the buildings-in-progress and proposed buildings. Other locations, such as Fontaine Research Park and Birdwood Golf Course, have been added, too.

“Because the landscape and Grounds change so fast, we worked with Facilities Management to create a digital-base-map version. That way it will be easier to update next time,” said Emma C. Edmunds, senior writer and project manager in the development communications office, who coordinated the design and layout of the fold-out map. Christopher C. Cullinan, who also works in development communications, designed the fold-out map.

The current map is based on the original one drawn in 1975 by John Ruseau, then architecture faculty member and now professional artist.

The Web version has two iterations— one with a continuous view of the Grounds, with zoom and moving capabilities, and a version divided into 12 precincts. Viewers can select a precinct and click on the image of a building for a photograph of the structure. For buildings still under development, there is an artist’s rendering and a description of the property. The Web map also has an A-to-Z index of buildings, as well as indices for the Health System, parking garages and residential buildings.

Both the electronic and paper versions of the new map emphasize the “visitor’s experience,” Edmunds said. Building histories appear on the Web version, and a walking tour of Central Grounds on the printed copy.

The map will be useful for new and prospective students, parents, visitors, current staff and faculty.

The web map will also help patients find Medical Center buildings, said Nancy A. Tramontin, director of University Web communications.

Nicholas Bartley, a graphic-information-systems-mapping technician with Facilities Management, created the digital-base map working from aerial photographs of the Grounds. Bartley took pictures of buildings so he could add realistic, three-dimensional effects to the map, such as brick walls and yellow-colored roofs.

“There were some things that could not be done on the paper map that we could do on the Web map,” Tramontin said. “Many buildings on the Web map are cross-referenced. The University Press, on the paper map, is under Bemiss House, because they decided to go with building names, and I could have it under Bemiss House as well as under University Press [on the Web version]. In addition, we put a dozen virtual reality tours on the online map, so the viewer can get a 180-degree view of the Lawn or the Medical Center or the School of Law.”