Cartographic Representation - A Primer of GIS: Fundamental Geographic and Cartographic Concepts - page 209

but additional effort is usually required to assure that the cartographic repre-
sentation supports the communication goals. This usually involves the use of
different symbology for different output media and formats.
DISTORTIONS
Different output media and formats have different levels of distortion. This
can be very important if the maps or visualizations are being used for techni-
cal or legal purposes, but the distortions resulting from generalization may
be far greater.
Most of all, the process of cartographic representation can produce
changes in the position of objects. Road geometry is moved to clearly show
the connectivity and to remove conflicts with other feature symbols. These
changes may not be indicated and if the altered GI is transferred to others
without an indication of the changes, its use for other purposes may lead to
erroneous results. It is also possible that attribute changes, usually as a result
of generalizing GI, can later lead to grave errors.
Types of Presentations
Creativity knows no bounds and cartographic presentations evidence this
creativity in an endless gamut. This section of this chapter presents merely a
selection with a pragmatic emphasis on the most common types. Many of
these types are combined into hybrids. These types offer a structure to orien-
tate with. Depending on experiences, training, disciplines, and institutions,
other organizations will be more sensible.
TOPOGRAPHIC
The “universal” map was developed for military and civilian use in the 16th
century by European countries, but in the 19th century it took on a form
that made it the most significant kind of mapping for governance, the mili-
tary, and colonization. The military often commissioned or heavily inf lu-
enced topographic maps. Significant details and secret information would
be edited out of civilian versions of maps. In some countries, distortions
were introduced to assure that even generic information could never be used
to locate other things or events. Ideally at a scale of 1:25,000, or even
1:10,000 for very detailed maps, the high costs of mapping often led to topo-
graphic maps being produced at scales of 1:50,000 or 1:100,000.
CADASTRAL
Cadastral maps show land ownership, rights to land access and use, and obli-
gations. In most countries they are best known for their use in taxation, but
this only becomes a significant revenue source in a few countries of the
world, especially the United States. The cadastral map's significance comes
mainly from its role in governance and in land development and speculation.