Category — Mapping

A nice little overview of the work of the modern cartographer and cartography in the UK’s Independent can be read here.

“You have to create symbols that work with each other. There’s a hierarchy of information for each map and you have to make sure the important things stand out,” he adds. This involves communicating well with clients.

Today’s online edition of the London Times has a couple of articles commenting on the demise of the paper map with the rise of GPS and internet mapping services like Google Maps.

The article, “Heritage wiped off the map as sat-nav puts motorists on road to ignorance“, notes that in a recent presentation given by British Cartographic Society president Mary Spence, with the demise of paper maps and cartography, important cultural, heritage and other features, (like those often included on many paper maps,) get omitted from digital versions so they can fit on small screens, effectively eliminating much of the knowledge that tends to be inherent in paper maps.

Ms. Spence notes:

“I recently went to Worcester,” she said. “The street map was wonderful, but the cathedral was missing.” Motorists following Google Maps through Wiltshire may be told to “exit on to the A303 toward Andover”, but they may have no idea that they are passing Stonehenge.

The Times also has a commentary on the aforementioned article entitled, “Here Be Dragons – Internet maps make travelling a more efficient, but duller, experience.”

In maps, as in life, so much of what is interesting unfolds in the margins. The highlights of a long drive very often result from the impromptu diversions taken in search of petrol or lunch.

But an internet map? To paraphrase Wilde, it knows the route to everywhere and the value of nowhere. It gives you what you need, but not what you want to make the most of a trip.

Update: Read a related London Telegraph article: Map reading skills ‘dying out due to internet and satnavs’. 

[tags]GPS, Mapping, Cartography, GIS, Google Maps, Internet Mapping, British Cartographic Society[/tags]

The California State Automobile Association produced its first road map in 1909, and will produce its last this year, nearly 100 years later, a victim to the shift to digital technology.

The auto club, which serves Northern California, Nevada and Utah, is phasing out its 12-person cartographic unit by year-end, a spokesperson said.

The AAA map has become something of a traveler’s icon over the decades, a no-cost product appreciated for both its utility and its beauty. In the tightly-knit mapmaking world, CSAA’s products are a yardstick by which other roadmaps are measured.

Fast booting paper maps will still be available for free to club members, but will be produced by AAA’s headquarters in Florida.

Read the full story here.

[tags]AAA maps, california automobile association maps, road maps[/tags]

No doubt we have each, in our own way, been touched by the recent disasters in Burma/Myanmar and China. I just finished reading an interesting article that outlines the ever-increasing role of cartographers and GIS specialists in aiding and enabling humanitarian relief efforts in disaster zones.

• Zero hour: Natural disaster strikes without notice, triggering international rapid-mapping responses
• Minutes later: Geographical survey centres, like the US Geological Survey, send alerts to relief agencies. A simple location map is put online, with the epicentre identified. Other agencies add basic population information
• Within hours: Relief workers carrying GIS (geographic information system) technology are deployed to the affected region. They begin to gather updated information from the affected scene
• Once aid workers are on the ground: An On-Site Operations Co-ordination Centre is set up to co-ordinate the relief effort. Mapping information from the field is collated there
• Within 48 hours: The latest field information is combined with accurate 1:5,000,000 “base maps” to form the first complete maps of disaster-zone data
• In following days: A daily routine emerges, with basic maps updated every 24 hours. Bespoke maps requested by relief workers can now be constructed within hours

GIS technology is advancing quickly, enabling non-governmental organizations like Map Action to respond rapidly with new maps, but the technology is still expensive and continues to rely on workers on the ground, as mentioned in a previous post.

[tags]mapping, GIS, cartography, disaster relief, China, Burma, Myanmar[/tags]