Maps and Web-based Data - Participatory Mapping: New Data, New Cartography - page 50

- they are produced by amateurs, i.e. non-geographers and
non-cartographers;
- they are available online: this excludes offline maps that
require specific software to be consulted such as GIS;
- they are thematic: the base map is used to show data in
a space, excluding purely topographic maps;
- they are created for the Web: as opposed to digital maps
which are imported on the Web.
Since the creation of this list of maps 2 , one of the mapping
applications it refers to is no longer online 3 , and others are
encountering problems in accessing data. In the first case, the
map in question was removed from the list, which made the
number of maps drop to 19. Regarding the second set of maps
(5, 9 and 12), as this liability is one of the major properties of
mapping mashups, they were retained within the corpus.
4.1. Categories and data structure
The analysis of data collection and reprogramming
methods prior to mapping relates to the circulation of text
online [JEA 08]. The text is changed not only once the maps
are finished but also during the mapping process. The
circulation and modification of online text shows that maps
are not ex nihilo products but rely on the reprogramming of
online data.
The changes made to the data prior to their mapping are
mainly of three types:
1) Manually extracting online text written specifically for
the map or coming from public or “raw” data.
2) Integrating Web users' contributions.
2 The selection was compiled between April and June 2011.
3 The application was known as “NYC hospitals - Healthcare that works”
and was created by Michael Connery for the association Opportunity Agenda ;
it used to be available at: www.healthcarethatworks.org/maps/nyc.