It's a Marauder's Map!

I have often thought a Marauder's Map would be quite useful. Just which mall entrance is closest to the Apple Store? Where is room 1145A in the meeting venue? Where is my family at Disneyland? Apparently, others think so too.

A new startup called micello.com just began mapping the inside of buildings like convention centers, malls, college campuses, theme parks, and more. Described as "Google Maps for the indoors," micello is starting to map locations in Silicon Valley, with plans to include other regions. It will be available as an iPhone app within a few weeks. And,

In addition to navigating the maps, aided by the iPhone's GPS to show you where you are, Micello users can also locate their Facebook, Twitter, and iPhone contacts within the map community.

Just like the Marauder's Map! ReadWriteWeb offers more info.

Now all Hogwarts students with an iPhone can have a Marauder's Map, not just Harry.

MapHappy

Here is an interesting use of a Google map mashup. The University of Minnesota has created a finding aid for its map collections because "Print maps can be difficult to find in the library. MapHappy changes that. Search or Browse all maps held in the multiple library locations across the UMN-Twin Cities campus."(from MapHappy page).

According to the Minitex Reference blog, MapHappy is a Google Maps mashup that provides users with visual information about the location and coverage of print and electronic maps while searching University Libraries collection. A browse feature also allows users to find maps that cover a particular geographic area rather than searching with key terms. All 30,000 maps held in the Twin Cities libraries are discoverable in MapHappy. These resources are still in beta and will be released sometime in January 2009. Note that this is a finding aid for the University's collections; the maps themselves are not online.