Disaster Planning at Woodstock – 50 Years in Review

Article updated on the event’s 50th Anniversary with images from Woodstock then and in 2011 when this piece was first published. August 30, 2011 This past weekend, while Irene was threatening the East Coast, my husband and I were in the Catskills for visiting day at our daughters’ summer camp. We decided to extend our … Read more

Pervasive Information Architecture in Emergency Management

The floor plan of the NYC Emergency Operations Center is a great example of pervasive information architecture, where the structure of the physical space mimics the structure/hierarchy of the people and systems in the space. It shows what each watch commander monitors, how reporting agencies and government community services like Department of Homeless Services and … Read more

Exploring a 9/11 Geographic Archive

Oral history as a primary source is being revived through initiatives like Story Corps and World Pulse and through improved storage capacity to archive and exhibit personal stories, making it less expensive for even the smallest and least funded groups. We are moving toward an environment where alternative narratives can be both manipulative (alternative facts, … Read more

Dreams, Resilience and Making a Difference

Noreen Whysel’s address to the 2017 Initiate Class of the Beta Phi Mu Theta honor society at Pratt Institute School of Information given on May 17, 2017. Slides are available at Google Slides. Thanks to Dean Tula Giannini, Vinette Thomas, Beta Phi Mu initiates, graduates and guests. And especially to Karen Erani for inviting me … Read more

Semiotics in Mapping and Emergency Response

On November 1, 2014 I participated in a Semiotics Web and Information Architecture meetup at New York Public Library. Mypresentation, “Semiotics in Mapping and Emergency Response,” discusses symbology in mapping as an aspect of semiotics and presents an example of emergency response map symbology and a discussion of applications for first responders and broader uses. … Read more

Information Architecture of Emergency Response (for Designers)

My IxDA July 12 presentation on Information Architecture of Emergency Response (for Designers) is now available at: http://www.slideshare.net/nwhysel/information-architecture-of-emergency-response-for-designers. Thanks to IxDA and Pivotal Labs for hosting, Peter March for MCing and Jennifer Kilian at Hot Studio for bringing the pizza. Information Architecture of Emergency Response (for Designers) from Noreen Whysel

The Information Architecture of Emergency Response

Now that I have been accepted into the Pratt Institute Masters of Library and Information Science program, I have started a journey to document the convergence between two of my favorite disciplines, Geographic Information Systems and Information Architecture. In the past few months, I’ve noticed an explosion of conferences and meetups addressing the geolocational aspects … Read more

Towards a 9/11 GeoArchive

Imagine if the most graphic and expressive artifacts from one of the most historic events in New York City lay rolled in tubes in a dusty corner. What if millions of bytes of geographic data, produced through an unprecedented, community collaboration, were dispersed, disconnected and hidden from public view? If you had the opportunity to … Read more

9/11 Geosymposium at Technology in Government 2011, New York

The NYC GeoSymposium: 2001-2011-2021 held on November 16, 2011 marked the tenth anniversary of the September 11th attacks by examining the response of the NYC GIS community regarding mobilization of geospatial resources after the event, evolution of procedures, data and technologies since the event, and exploring unmet needs for improved emergency planning and response, as … Read more