Geoscience Reference
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Figure 5.7 Representative fraction: 1:288,895. QR code access to TIGERweb (beta), US
census.gov/tigerweb/
end of the chapter. Now, imagine displaying the entire national map in
Figure 5.5
a
t the level of detail of Figure 5.7. Would the resulting map be
large? Would it be easy to fold? Its large size would surely be impossible to
fold. Can you think of reasons, now, why mapmakers have hard decisions
to make in terms of deciding how much detail should enter the picture?
As you can visualize, making decisions about the content of any map is
complex. While GIS technology makes it easier to add and delete content,
the decision as to what content to include is no less difficult today than in
the past. One might argue that it is even more difficult because we have so
many more types of data at our fingertips to map. What are the implications
for accuracy and precision in measurement on maps at different scales? The
implications for accuracy and precision in measurement are also just as
important now as in the days of paper mapping. In fact, the danger of mis-
interpretation is enhanced by the modern ability to zoom in to very large
scales, even with data that were created at smaller scales. The features at
that detailed, large scale appear to be located accurately, but they may have
been plotted at a much smaller scale, and thus may be better symbolized
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