Using Google My Maps

We could use any spreadsheet, but for illustration, we'll use Google Sheets.

Open Google Drive and make sure you are logged in to your account.

Click on New, then Google Sheets.

Name the spreadsheet and enter the column headers.

Since Google My Maps will require at least one row to contain location data, enter a value for the Latitude and Longitude columns. It's not important what this data is, since once the My Maps map has been created, and you've entered some valid points, you can delete this row.

In the Google Sheets spreadsheet, click on File, then Download as, then Comma-separated values (.csv, current sheet). Google Sheets will download the .csv file to your computer.

Open Google My Maps and sign in if you aren't already.

Click on CREATE A NEW MAP.

Click on Import in the box.

In the "Choose a file to import" box, click on Select a file from your computer.

Navigate to the folder where you exported the .csv file, select it, and click on Choose.

In the "Choose columns to position your placemarks" box, click on Latitude, if it is not already selected.

Click Continue in the box.

Pick a column to use as the title for the markers on the map. In this case we chose Court.

Click on Finish.

Click on Untitled map in order to give it a name and description.

In the pop up box, enter a Map title, and Description.

Click Save.

The map has now been created.

It will be easier to see the locations of items of interest (trees, benches, birdhouses), in this case the Court buildings, if the map is in Satellite mode.

Click on Base map to see all the choices.

Click on Satellite to switch.

Now, it is clear that the latitude and longitude data that we originally entered, do not correspond to a Court building, but rather to my home in Bridlington.

So let's add a placemark for a real Court building and then we can delete this placeholder row.

To add a new placemark:

1. Click on the Add marker icon.
2. Click in the middle of a Court building to add a marker.
3. Add the Court number in the Title field.
4. Click on Save.

Now, we want to get rid of the placemarker or dummy row we used to set up the spreadsheet and the My Map.

1. Click on the three dots
2. In the box that appears, click on 'Open data table'

Now, the data table appears. We can use the data table to delete the first dummy row, and add data in the empty fields for Court 26 if we wanted to.

1. I've selected the first row and then right clicked on it. I have the choice to 'Add row' or 'Delete row'. This is the row we don't need or want (since the Lat and Lon don't belong to a Court building, so I'll delet it.
2. Note that when the first row is selected in the data table, the placemark and it's information is highlighted. I could also have deleted it by clicking on the trash can.

Using the same method as above, we can add markers for all the Court buildings. This is easy to do with the satellite view to show where the buildings are. You will need to know which Courts are which in order to label them, of course.

For example, let's say I want to put a placemark for the small evergreen which is close to the light post and not far from the walk.

This is a screenshot of the My Maps display on my iPhone. The blue dot shows my GPS location while I am standing in front of the small tree. At the instant I made the screenshot, it was accurate, but before and after it wandered around and was occasionally off by as much as 50 feet.

The point is that smartphone GPS is probably not accurate enough to reliably mark a point, but it gets you in the neighborhood and allows you to manually locate the marker using what you can see in the Google Satellite view. (See next page).

Adding a placemark in My Maps on a smartphone is similar to doing it on a computer, however you tap with your finger instead of clicking. This is tricky since because your finger is in the way, you can't see exactly where you are placing the marker.

Try to get it as close as possible but don't worry because as we'll see you can correct it when you get back to your computer.

If you want to edit any of the data fields, you can tap on the pencil icon to do so. I have entered the name of the tree in the Comments field.

When you are done, don't forget to tap on the blue 'Save' button

It is possible to add a photo to the My Map placemark. Note that if you later export the data to a spreadsheet for record keeping it is not impossible but difficult to recover and save the photo.

In the placemark popup box, tap on the Camera icon. Then tap on 'Select a file from your device'. In the next box, tap on 'Take Photo or Video.'

The file from you smartdevice will upload to Google.

Note that this implies that you have a connection to the Internet (which you would also need to get the satellite imagery).

Here's the final result.

Note that because of the small size of the smartphone, it is tricky although not impossible to enter data in the field. It is easier with an iPad, but unless your iPad has cellular data or you are close enough to WiFi, you will not have an Internet connection.

It will be easier to fine tune you placemarks on a laptop or desk computer.

Here we are looking at the same placemark, but now on a computer.

Notice that I've clicked on the paintbucket icon to change the icon for the placemark, as well as clicking on the pencil to add a link to another photo of the tree.

This view shows the data table with the row for Court 26 selected.

Data can be entered either in the data table or in the pop up for the placemark.