[APG Public List] [APG Members] place names

[LBoswell]

Given multiple options to find and locate gps coordinates in 
longitude/latitude why not use the name as it appears in the document, then 
log it under longitude and latitude.

Easy enough to find those coordinates simply from google maps.  Find the 
location of interest, or as close to the area as possible on google maps. 
Click on link (upper right hand corner next to 'print' and 'send'), and copy 
the result into a  text reader or even an email.

Looks like this:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=54.996721,-1.663892&num=1&sll=43.4501,-87.222019&sspn=4.218381,8.195801&ie=UTF8&ll=54.996524,-1.664321&spn=0.00373,0.013036&z=17



The coordinates of interest above are the first ones 54.996721,-1.663892. 
Plugging those into the search line on google maps will take you to the 
location (in this case a street in Manchester, UK.  Those coordinates will 
never change, unlike the constantly evolving names for same location.  Most 
genealogy programs will do the same thing.

When we note a location why aren't we automatically adding the coordinates 
for the benefit of future researchers.  Also allows a client to pull up 
google maps and see exactly where the location is/was.  Or at least the 
closest modern approximation (if the street doesn't exist, you can normally 
locate its modern location on google maps by cross-referencing period 
sources like maps and gazetteers with the modern map).

This has to be the way we go now, it's simply the most exact way to pinpoint 
a location (and it's independent of the past or current name).  More 
importantly it can take you to a jurisdictional level location (where you 
select the central point of that jurisdiction and use those coordinates), or 
narrow down to a specific map location.  More often now you can then overlay 
that modern location on Google earth with a historical map and at the same 
time have the modern location right in front of you.  Future researchers 
will always know what location is being referred to, and it's independent of 
language.

A way of noting locations that a) will never change in the future  b). 
allows a unified way to catalogue a location to its various name changes 
over time, and c). is independent of language preferences. Given the ease of 
finding the coordinates for any location on the planet, it just makes sense

Larry
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