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1. Plan Your Trip with Google Maps It has become increasingly popular to plan a trip or find a location with a special kind of planning application known as a road trip planner or route planner. In addition to in-car navigation systems (like the well known TomTom and Garmin systems), there are many trip planners and map services available on the Internet. The advantage of these online applications is the ability to display additional information. With so much information available from the Internet along with satellite imagery, it is more easier than ever to plan a trip across town or look up a friend’s address on the other side of the world. Google Maps is an excellent example of a free Internet application that lets you view maps and satellite imagery. Google is the company that offers the well known search engine application. Trip planners are not only useful for preparing a long trip; you can use Google Maps to find places of interest right in your own neighbourhood. In this chapter you will learn how to use the most important features of Google Maps. In this chapter you learn how to: find a location; zoom in and out on the map; move the map; set a default location; view satellite imagery of a location; find businesses and organizations; plan a trip; view detailed maps; print directions; change a route.

© 2008 Visual Steps™ - This is a sample chapter of the Visual Steps book Interesting Online Applications for SENIORS – ISBN 978 90 5905 285 7

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Interesting Online Applications for Seniors

1.1 Finding a Location You do not need to install anything on your computer to be able to use Google Maps. The maps can be accessed from the Google Maps website. Open Internet Explorer

1

You see the home page that is set on your computer. Click in the Address bar The web address in the Address bar is now selected. Type: maps.google.com

Press

Please note: You do not need to type www in front of the web address maps.google.com You see the Google Maps window:

© 2008 Visual Steps™ - This is a sample chapter of the Visual Steps book Interesting Online Applications for SENIORS – ISBN 978 90 5905 285 7

Chapter 1 Plan Your Trip with Google Maps

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You can start using this application right away. The first step is to find a location. For example when planning a trip, you could enter a city that you plan to visit. Or simply look up any address that you would like to see on the map. The cursor is already in the box where you can type an address: Type: 1600 pennsylvania ave nw 20500

Press

Tip It is not necessary to use caps when you type an address. The address is indicated on the map:

You see that information is added even if you have not typed the full address:

In this example you typed a street name, a house number and a ZIP code to determine the exact location of an address. If you just type a street name and a city, the general area of the street you typed is indicated on the map.

© 2008 Visual Steps™ - This is a sample chapter of the Visual Steps book Interesting Online Applications for SENIORS – ISBN 978 90 5905 285 7

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Interesting Online Applications for Seniors

You can close the information window with the address details to get a better look at the map: Click

The information window is hidden now. To display the information window again: Click

© 2008 Visual Steps™ - This is a sample chapter of the Visual Steps book Interesting Online Applications for SENIORS – ISBN 978 90 5905 285 7

Chapter 1 Plan Your Trip with Google Maps

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1.2 Zooming In and Out You see the White House and its surroundings. You can zoom out to see more of the local area: Click

three times

The address itself is hardly visible now, but you get a better view of the famous Washington neighbourhood: Click

four times

Every time you click, you zoom in further on the address.

You can also show a small map that shows the location of the current map view within the context of a larger geographical area: Click

© 2008 Visual Steps™ - This is a sample chapter of the Visual Steps book Interesting Online Applications for SENIORS – ISBN 978 90 5905 285 7

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Interesting Online Applications for Seniors

Tip Zooming in and out by dragging You can also zoom in and out by dragging the slider

in the zoom bar:

To zoom in: Drag the slider

up

To zoom out: Drag the slider

down

Tip Zooming in and out by double-clicking When you double-click a spot on the map, you zoom in on that location. When you double-click using your right mouse button, you zoom out again. You can work even faster when your mouse has a scroll wheel: when you roll the wheel forward (away from you), you zoom in and everything is enlarged; when you turn the wheel backward (toward you), you zoom out and everything becomes smaller.

© 2008 Visual Steps™ - This is a sample chapter of the Visual Steps book Interesting Online Applications for SENIORS – ISBN 978 90 5905 285 7

Chapter 1 Plan Your Trip with Google Maps

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1.3 Moving the Map When you zoom in, you see the location you searched for and part of the surrounding area. If you want to see another part of the adjacent area you can move the map: Place the mouse pointer on the map The mouse pointer changes into : Click the map and hold the mouse button down The mouse pointer changes into . Now you can drag: Drag the mouse pointer a little bit upward

The map moves upward and you see a larger area below the location: You can also use a different method to move the map: Click

three times

The map moves to the left.

Using the buttons

,

,

and

, you move the map in the direction of the arrow.

Tip You can also move the map using your keyboard. Use the buttons Page Up (up), Page Down (down), Home (left) and End (right).

© 2008 Visual Steps™ - This is a sample chapter of the Visual Steps book Interesting Online Applications for SENIORS – ISBN 978 90 5905 285 7

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Interesting Online Applications for Seniors

You can quickly return to your original view of the map like this: Click

© 2008 Visual Steps™ - This is a sample chapter of the Visual Steps book Interesting Online Applications for SENIORS – ISBN 978 90 5905 285 7