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Advanced Poetry Workshop: Poetic Investigations: ENG 3103

Research help for the course, Poetic Investigations

What's So Great About Maps & Images?

Maps and images are great sources of inspiration for creative writers because they can:

show changes in a neighborhood over time
identify specific buildings, companies, homes, individuals, etc.
reveal old geographic landmarks, old street names, etc.
show details regarding what neighborhoods, buildings, and individuals looked like during specific periods of time

Find Maps

Google Maps
Contains detailed, contemporary street and terrain maps, locator tools to find addresses/businesses/places, and a route planner.

Digital Sanborn Maps, 1867-1970
Digital Sanborn Maps, 1867-1970 provides digital access to large-scale maps of American towns and cities. Sanborn maps contain data that can be used to estimate the potential risk for urban structures. This includes information such as the outline of each building, the size, shape and construction materials, heights, and function of structures, location of windows and doors.

Old Maps Online
Contains digitized images of historical maps in libraries from around the world.
The Greater Philadelphia GeoHistory Project
Contains thousands of old maps, property atlases, city directories, industrial site surveys, and other items documenting the history and development of the city from the 1600s through today.

Find Images

ARTstor
Note: ArtStor is now part of JSTOR. ArtStor users can still use their existing account on the JSTOR platform.
ARTstor contains images of art, architecture and archeology from a range of cultures and time periods, in European, American and Asian cultures.

Google Arts + Culture
Contains high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts from partner cultural organizations throughout the world. Explore by time, color, and theme.
Openverse
Search for Creative Commons licensed and public domain content from a variety of sites, including Flickr, Wikimedia Commons, and museums around the world.

Last Updated: Mar 7, 2025 8:06 AM
URL: https://guides.temple.edu/english3103
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Subjects: English

Tags: course guide, English, philadelphia, poetry