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Excel Data Mapping System: ExceltoMap

subtitle Japanese

Problems in recording, sharing and storing location data

There are three main tools for recording, sharing and storing location data.
They are place names, latitude and longitude coordinates, and maps. All of these have their own drawbacks.
  1. Place names are easy to record and handy for sharing the information with others. However, the other party may not be familiar wtih the name. Even if they are, they may not know where it is. Moreover, some place names may not be unique. Even if they are, they cannot pinpoint a location. Place names can change or may be abolished, making them unfunctional in the future and obviously unfit for storage.
  2. Recording locations by coordinates takes some additional effort, but the data offers precise (within its precision limits) and persistent location representation. However, understanding a location solely based on coordinates are difficult, and conversion to a map representation is crucial. Additionally, coordinate data are prone to errors, making it risky to rely entirely on them for data management.
  3. The use of maps circumvents these drawbacks. However, maps are cumbersome to handle. Due to the use of images, the cost of data management is considerably higher than methods 1 and 2. Moreover, the precision of data is constrained by the scale of the map, limiting the precision achievable with certain maps. As a result, it is difficult to represent locations spanning a vast area on a single map with a high degree of precision.

Merits of using ExceltoMap

One of the solutions to the above problems is ExceltoMap. There are more merits to using ths system. On the other hand, there is a drawback to consider, too. However, incidents that occured at a point must be recorded as a point by coordinates to utmost precision.

On the use of Google Earth images

To use the Google Earth images for presentations, the following understanding is necessary.

The aspect ratio and viewpoint of the map screen can be set as you wish, but the whole screen image must be used without cropping it. This ensures that the copyright holder's name of the map images and the Google's logo "Google earth" remain appropriately on the image. For non-profit use, such as for academic purposes, following this rule (proper attribution of rights) seems to qualify as 'Fair Use' under U.S. copyright law, allowing you to use it for free.

For details, refer to this Google site. There is a gray zone. Please use them responsibly and at your own risk.
Note: Google Earth provides an icon (see below) for saving the whole map screen as an image.