• After witnessing the continued decrease of involvement in the SpotterNetwork staff in serving SN members with troubleshooting issues recently, I have unilaterally decided to terminate the relationship between SpotterNetwork's support and Stormtrack. I have witnessed multiple users unable to receive support weeks after initiating help threads on the forum. I find this lack of response from SpotterNetwork officials disappointing and a failure to hold up their end of the agreement that was made years ago, before I took over management of this site. In my opinion, having Stormtrack users sit and wait for so long to receive help on SpotterNetwork issues on the Stormtrack forums reflects poorly not only on SpotterNetwork, but on Stormtrack and (by association) me as well. Since the issue has not been satisfactorily addressed, I no longer wish for the Stormtrack forum to be associated with SpotterNetwork.

    I apologize to those who continue to have issues with the service and continue to see their issues left unaddressed. Please understand that the connection between ST and SN was put in place long before I had any say over it. But now that I am the "captain of this ship," it is within my right (nay, duty) to make adjustments as I see necessary. Ending this relationship is such an adjustment.

    For those who continue to need help, I recommend navigating a web browswer to SpotterNetwork's About page, and seeking the individuals listed on that page for all further inquiries about SpotterNetwork.

    From this moment forward, the SpotterNetwork sub-forum has been hidden/deleted and there will be no assurance that any SpotterNetwork issues brought up in any of Stormtrack's other sub-forums will be addressed. Do not rely on Stormtrack for help with SpotterNetwork issues.

    Sincerely, Jeff D.

Libraries Database

Joined
Dec 8, 2003
Messages
1,417
Location
Southeast CO
More than three years ago, I created a database of hundreds of maps to libraries throughout much of Tornado Alley, for OK, TX, KS, NE, CO, NM, and WY. e.g. there are 136 files for OK alone. IIRC, I found the addresses for libraries for nearly every town with a population >2000, but not cities such as OKC, Dallas, Denver, etc., downloaded a map for each address, and saved it to the database. I have just finished uploading the entire database of maps to Photobucket, which may be accessed here:

http://s237.photobucket.com/albums/ff98/LibrariesDB/

*Some searches yielded the error message "Address not found", in which case I made a text note about approximate location, converted the .txt to .jpg, and posted that.

*I welcome input to correct errors. I can't vouch for the accuracy of any particular map. Libraries do sometimes relocate within their towns, for example. Please PM me if you discover any errors!

*I welcome any additions to this database, such as maps to libraries in other states. It seems to me IA, IL, MN, MO, SD and ND would be particularly nice additions, though I have no immediate plans to create maps for those states attm. If someone would like to hammer out one particular state, for example, here is one source that could be used:

http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/libraries/librarysearch/

*Unfortunately, most all files were .bmp [edit: wrong], apparently converted to .jpg by Photobucket, but file sizes are generally >300k [edit: not any more]. Too much work to go back and convert them all to .jpg [edit: already done].

*Before you point out the obvious: Yes, of course, in order to access the database, you must already have internet access. So, why would anyone want to go to a library if they already have internet access? You can think of some answers to that question yourself, with a minor degree of effort. I don't have illusions that everyone needs this database, but I think some of you will find it handy.

*I'll try to remember to post the link to these again every spring.

I hope some of you do find this useful!

Bob
 
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Nice job with these maps Bob! I know that you went through a LOT of hard work to make these and I thank you for sharing them with us! They will come in very handy to a lot of us.
 
Thanks for saying that, Jason. I did it for myself, but I'm happy to share with everyone. We're all in this together, ya know? I think I may start converting them all to .jpg too. Sucks that the files are so darn big. If I just do a few every now and then, I can get them all converted before next spring.
 
I think I may start converting them all to .jpg too. Sucks that the files are so darn big. If I just do a few every now and then, I can get them all converted before next spring.

Okay, never mind. It's done. I found an easy way to do it, plus it turned out that only (most of) the OK maps were bitmaps, for some reason. I never denied being a dork.
 
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