Goals of Cartography and GI: Representation and Communication - A Primer of GIS: Fundamental Geographic and Cartographic Concepts - page 6

TABLE 1.1. Some Common Things and Their Representations
Geographic Representation
(Basic) Cartographic Representation

Stream Line Color blue

Road Line (usually) Color black or red

Forest Polygon Color green

Industry Polygon Color gray

County or district Polygon Dashed boundary line

Well Point Circle with cross

Land parcel Polygon Thin black boundary line

House Polygon Thick black outline

Lake Polygon Color blue

Park Polygon Color green

Sand dunes Polygon Black dots on sand-colored background

safer. Offset printing, introduced in the late 19th century, made it possible
to produce series of maps by using combinations of different plates; maps
became commonplace in books, magazines, and newspapers. The most sig-
nificant current geographic and cartographic innovations arise from the
computer and the development of information technology for processing
data during the last 40 years. The fields of geography and cartography
entered an unparalleled period of symbiosis with the introduction of infor-
mation technology for processing geographic information. This symbiosis
resulted in a new field called geographic information systems (GIS), which,
since the 1960s work by Roger Tomlinson, Edgar Horwood, William Warntz,
and many others has grown into a major information technology field and a
science.
People from many academic backgrounds correctly point out that the
relationship between geography and cartography has changed and continues
to change as a result of technological change; sometimes they even question
the future of cartography because of GIS. Now, some people assume, com-
puters can do all cartography. However, it is apparent that many of the key
geographic and cartographic concepts established over thousands of years
remain important. In fact, one could claim that these fields are really not
changing conceptually, but only in degrees. As information technology
becomes commonplace, many more people are now able to do things with-
out the years of training that only cartographers and geographers previously
had. Of course, because of all the people now doing work with geography
and cartography on computers, one could also argue that the underlying
concepts and skills of geography and cartography have become more rele-
vant. Both are certainly true; however, without understanding of the con-
cepts and skills, the best intentions can easily go wrong. Obviously, profes-
sionals always need to produce the highest quality maps and always benefit
from better understanding of the concepts and skills—regardless of what and
how much information technology is capable of doing.