Reference: Media Information: NPR Labs New Mapping Tool
This interactive reference resource launched a little over a month ago and is free to access on the NPR Labs site.
Here’s Some Useful Background:
NPR Labs has launched a new interactive web-based mapping system that shows the reception coverage for all public radio and television stations in the United States.
The Mapping And Population System (MAPS) tool replaces the “NOVA” (NPR Online Viewing Application) page at nprlabs.org with new coverage projections for high-power digital radio, new mobile handheld coverage for public TV stations, as well as correlating coverage to detailed demographic information from the newly released 2010 U.S. Census.
The tool is designed to guide station-planning efforts to gauge and improve broadcast reception and develop new services including construction of new FM and television stations and translators. The tool’s terrain-sensitive maps will also provide valuable insight for development of HD Radio and mobile television. The broadcast mapping application also provides basic information on commercial broadcast entities, though it does not show mapping or demographic data for non-public stations.
The broadcast mapping application, which is available for use free of charge at http://secure.nprlabs.org/radioTVmapping/, allows users to input the call letters for any public radio or television station and view the extent of that station’s broadcast coverage. It also provides the ability to see the range of analog and digital signals, and to overlay the two for purposes of comparison. The mapping tool also includes locations for transmitters and translators as well as population coverage predictions.
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The new NPR Labs Public Radio-TV mapping tool was funded by a grant from the Public Telecommunications Facilities Program.
Direct to Mapping And Population System (MAPS) from NPR Labs
Filed under: Data Files, Funding, Maps, News, Patrons and Users, Resources
About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.