Maps and Web-based Data - Participatory Mapping: New Data, New Cartography - page 72

effectiveness of the map, but, in this case, its “impact on
mentalities.”
Creating a Web map is subject to several limitations,
which are detailed by the designers in order to anticipate
any criticism questioning the validity of their application. In
addition to that, the issue of data reliability arises when the
application includes Web users' contributions.
4.2.3.2. Stating the contribution moderation rules
Alex Thompson describes as follows the moderation
process for the messages shown on the “LA Bike Map”
(Table 4.1, map no. 4).
We tried to verify individual reports w/the person
who made them if they gave contact info.
Otherwise we used our best judgment to decide if
they were legitimate or not. My tendency is to
assume they're legitimate. People do not have to
make up stories about bad things happening to
cyclists in Los Angeles because plenty of bad
things already happen. Alex Thompson, interview
by email, April 18, 2012
The moderation conditions for this application are not too
limiting as they aim to include a high number of Web users'
contributions.
The subjective dimension associated with mapped
information may be one of the objectives of creating the map
in the first place. The project Newtown Creek Speak
(Table 4.1, map no. 4) appears to collect evidence of pollution
from the inhabitants of the Newtown Creek estuary, as
much in their personal lives as in their homes. The project
organizers used the services of an Oral History Consultant 22 ;
22 www.newtowncreekalliance.org/community-health/creek-speak.