Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
demands on the processing of different themes and an increasingly more detailed
and higher quality of cartographic production. Society
s impact on the perception of
cartographic products is also closely related to school education, where pupils are
sufficiently or insufficiently encouraged to use maps, their understanding and even
possibly the basics of map creation. There is also a link to the political aspect.
Analysis of the sociological aspect led to the following information: sociological
aspect is related to the conduct of the society, its values and attitudes; within
cartographic research sociological approaches are used mostly for characteristics
of respondents in the user groups.
It is necessary to promote the general cartography and cartographic production,
so that the society was positively inclined to maps. It is needed to create carto-
graphic works that are beneficial and they represent a high quality.
User aspect is determined by the user of cartographic products and it presents
one of the most important influences in the process of map creation (in the user
centered designed maps). The user needs and preferences need to take special
attention and should be the determining factor in creating the concept of carto-
graphic works in general and they have to be taken in account through the whole
process of map creation. There are generally rated aspects of cartographic products
that are related to the needs of the map users (e.g. optical aspects), and these can be
involved in a user testing for further evaluation. There is also a narrow connection
with psychological aspect.
Users are one of the primary determinants of any cartographic work (e.g. van
Elzakker and Wealands
1999
; Morville
2004
). User aspects of map-making are
understood in different concepts, an example is an adaptation of map-making to the
needs of the target user group and user perception of maps.
Analysis of the user aspect led to the following information: user needs may
differ with regard to their intellectual and physical condition; some Czech publish-
ing houses focuses on the specific needs of users, such as people with minor eye
defects, but maps for people with other disabilities (e.g. mental) is missing;
adaptation of cartographic production to the target group of users has a significant
impact on the processing technology; specifics of atlas cartography at the user
aspect is closely related to factors of production.
The view of users and creators to the offer of cartographic production with
respect to user demand varies considerably. Producers believe that the cartographic
creation is adapted to specific user needs, but still there is a need to focus more on
specific user needs (carried out by market research purposes).
Visualization aspect involves creating a complete map, its design, composition
with all additional and superstructure elements and all particular changes in the map
field. Within the visualization aspect belong the selection of the methods of
cartographic representation, using of map symbology, map composition, its design
and appearance. To the visualization factors also include the form of presentation of
the resulting map.
Cartographic visualization is one of the most important processes in the forma-
tion of cartographic works; in real, visualization is the main aim and the means of
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