Text:AAA A

Biology 1110: Community Analysis

Contents

Researching Infrastructure and History of Your Town for Lab Inquiry 3

Librarian: Marge Peters
Office: SRC 3034
Phone: (630) 942-2337
E-mail: petersm@cod.edu

Need to know about water supply, electricity, waste hauling and landfills, hazardous material recycling… for your town? Here are some places to look:

Do Preliminary Research on the Web

  • Check on the web to locate sources of information that may be published by government bodies:

Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning: http://www.cmap.illinois.gov/

Metropulse Chicago: http://metropulsechicago.com Provides various regional indicator such as transportation, greenhouse gas emissions, pverty rate, housing, and land use.

CMAP Publications http://www.cmap.illinois.gov/publications Provides numerous reports on where our region stands today in terms of air quality, sustainability, etc. -- especially look at the 2040 Snapshot Reports and the 2040 Strategy Papers.

GO TO 2040 http://www.cmap.illinois.gov/2040 for the GO TO 2040 comprehensive regional plan developed by CMAP.

DuPage County: http://www.co.dupage.il.us/ "I Want To" leads to many resources. Also check Departments heading for Public Works (unincorporated DuPage water sources)l; Economic Development and Planning; Regional Planning ("2009 Existing Land Use Report") ; Waste, Recycling and Energy. Also links to the websites of individual cities, towns and villages.

DuPage Water Commission (for Lake Michigan Water) http://www.dpwc.org "Reports and Budget Documents" under "About Us" at top has Annual Reports with Customer Historical Usage data for Lake Michigan-supplied communities.

Utilities such as Exelon/COMED for Electricity or NICOR for Natural Gas

Exelon Corporation/COMED Look at right column for several useful documents.

NICOR Gas http://www.nicor.com/en_us/residential/about_gas/index.htm Use site map at bottom to find information about pipelines and underground storage.

Your community’s website. (see links under DuPage County links). Look for headings like Public Works; Public Services; City Services; Refuse; Water; Planning.

EPA’s EnviroMapper: http://www.epa.gov/emefdata/em4ef.home Maps sources of pollution by county, city or zip code. Note links to sources of air, toxics, waste, and water discharge.

www.Scorecard.org. Website that tracks pollution by zipcode.

www.city-data.com. Useful data on a variety of topics related to population, energy usage, transportation, and more.

Map Sources (including Zoning Maps) and History

  • Map of DuPage County, Illinois. 1862. Map Case.
  • Combination Atlas Map of DuPage County, Illinois. Elgin, Ill.: Thompson Bros and Burr, 1874. Republished by DuPage County Historical Society, 1975. Reference G 1408 .D8 T4 1874
    Includes text section with origin and histories of DuPage towns as of 1874
  • Rockford Map Publishers. Land Atlas and Plat Book, DuPage County, Illinois. Rockford, Ill: Rockford Map Publishers, 1994. Reference G 1408 .D8 R58 1994
  • DuPage County Regional Planning Commission. Zoning District Maps for all DuPage Townships. 1995. Map case.
  • There are zoning ordinances that sometimes include maps in the Reference KFX section of the COD Library for Addison, Aurora, Carol Stream, Darien, Downers Grove, Elmhurst, Glen Ellyn, Hinsdale, Lombard, Naperville, Villa Park, arrenville, West Chicago, Wheaton, Willowbrook, and Winfield and, in the map case, zoning maps for the Townships of Addison, Bloomingdale, Downers Grove (North and South), Lisle, Milton, Naperville, Wayne, Winfield, and York.
  • Digital Sanborn Maps, 1867-1970. See Fire Insurance maps for cities in Illinois from different decades in this database. Detail is down to the footprint of individual buildings in the city.
  • See 1874 map above which has text section at front with histories of DuPage Townships.
  • Profile: DuPage County Statistical Handbook has 2011 data, much of it from 2010 census, with projections.
  • COD Library has histories of some DuPage towns in General F 547 and F549.

Books in Reference and General Areas of Library

Check for Newspaper Articles

  • Look for news articles in the Library’s subscription to the Chicago Sun Times (1986 to present), Chicago Tribune (1987 to present) and Daily Herald (1995 to present). Choose Advanced Search to link with “and.” Example: Naperville and recycling, preferably in title or lead paragraph.
  • Look at the Archives section of the local newspaper for your town.

Some links:
www.suburbanchicagonews.com (Primarily Sun newspapers; choose town, be sure to search Archives) www.chicagosuburbannews.com (Reporter, Suburban Life, Press…; choose town and use Google toolbar search; be sure that town's radio button is checked)

  • Look carefully for the Archives or Search News link. It’s not always easy to spot. Most newspapers give free access to the articles for only a short amount of time, then ask for payment by credit card for the entire article. Don’t pay if you don’t have to! Go to your local Library when you know an article title, newspaper name and date. Most Public Libraries have a back file of their local newspapers in print and microfilm form.
Retrieved from "http://codlibrary.org/Biology_1110:_Community_Analysis"
printPrint · e-mailSend