Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
appended, amended and embellished to serve multiple needs and, in being
so manipulated they became repositories of different views of that space.
Hand-drawn and copied maps portrayed information in particular ways,
and this led to users interpreting these 'geographical codes' into particular
mental images - mental maps.
As the technologies of discoveries and innovation were applied to commu-
nication in general and cartography particularly, artifacts, including maps,
were produced automatically, but perhaps in ways that were biased or lim-
ited by the technology used to construct, draw or reproduce it. For maps
this could lead to information being depicted in ways that were dictated to
by other professions or trades - perhaps like surveying or printing in his-
torical map production and dissemenation, and, later computer science,
electronic communications and social software site providers. Bias is in-
cluded in both maps and maps with dynamic content and self-generated
maps. However, with maps the professional cartographer/designer strives
to minimise this bias through the application of good design concepts and
the use of known rules, like the best choice of map projection, symbology,
colour schema, etc.
Cartographers do design and re-design their products, for the sake of
greater clarity or more efficient information delivery. At the very founda-
tion of what cartographers do is to produce faithful representations of the
Earth. What needs to be developed are guidelines and design principles
that ensure that visualisations and maps with dynamic content and self-
generated maps, which are powerful tools for generating almost real-time
information graphics, are designed so that they also represent Place as well
as Space.
8- Conclusion
Relatively recently things have changed, maps can be produced not only
by non-experts, but by machines as well. As well, maps can be self-
generating, changing dramatically how geographical information is
depicted. This chapter has presented examples of maps that are excellent
depicters of Place, as well as visualisations and maps with dynamic con-
tent and self-generated maps that efficiently present information relating to
Space. It was argued that how reality is 'seen' through a geographical arti-
fact is different when maps or visualisations and maps with dynamic con-
tent and self-generated maps are viewed. Maps with dynamic content and
