Lab #4 Instructions

• Select one country of the world and bring its international boundary into ArcGIS;
• Select one to three paragraphs of text about the country that you chose from Wikipedia;
• Create FIVE different maps that use the country and text that you chose and explore and illustrate the design principles discussed in class this week.

Lab #3 Photosynth

Click here to view the synth in a new window.

With the growing availability of the Internet, volunteered geographic information is on the rise. Photosynth is an example of how technology and images come together to create a new kind of mapping. No longer are official agencies the only ones creating maps because now so many people, professionals and amateurs alike, have the ability to create and share maps. This synth is a personal map of a corner of my kitchen that I can share with the public. With a few shots from my digital camera and Internet access, I was able to make this map relatively quickly and easily.

Access for everyone however can have some pitfalls as well. Since maps are readily available on the Internet, official agencies have cut back in making professional and accurate maps. The US Geological Survey for example does not regularly update its maps as much and world mapping has been on a decline. The problem with volunteered geographic information is that those who volunteer affect the quality of the maps. Often times it is hard to get proper documentation or citation for the maps created and this can cause errors because sharing distorted maps just adds to the mess. Being able to discern accurate and trustworthy maps now becomes even more important because there is no regulations on biases transferred in VGI.

Even with these problems, there is a lot of potential for this new field of mapping. There is an increase in the availability of shared information. There are so many free map data online to use that sometimes it seems as if there's a map for everything and anything. Everyone who has Internet access can become involved with creating maps on Google Earth or Photosynth and what used to take a lot of time and attention to details is now only a few clicks away with a mouse.

Moreover, the role of official mapping agencies is being redefined and non professionals are able to share maps of their lives with others around the world. Maps of personal space that used to be hidden to the public can now be shared. Especially with Photosynth, people can get a glimpse of what it is like to be somewhere that they have never been. It can change the way news or information is presented because parts of the world that we never hear about can be displayed. In the near future, the quality of these maps will increase and the division between two dimensional maps and three dimensional reality will blend together.

Lab #3 Instructions

• Read the pdf of "Citizens as sensors", by Michael Goodchild that is posted under Week 3;
  
• Explore the website, http://www.photosynth.com and learn how Photosynth is used;
• Create a map of something/anything using Photosynth;
• Integrate a description about your particular Photosynth map into a broader discussion about images, maps, mapping and 'citizens as sensors'. In particular, what are the potential pitfalls, promise and potential surrounding images, mapping, technology and volunteered geographic information? Limit your essay to about four paragraphs.
• Embed your photosynth on your blog above your write-up.

Lab #2 Election 2008

The Election 2008 map is visually appealing with the colors of the American flag. However, there are still some ways that this map can be improved. The labeling of the states in this map is very confusing because some states are abbreviated and some are not labeled at all. Instead of labeling California as "Calif.", the label should either read "California" or "CA". Since there are many smaller states on the East Coast, it would be a good idea to label all the states using the two-letter United States Postal Service state abbreviations.

Also, the placement of Alaska and Hawaii on the map are not visually accurate. Although it may be obvious to most people that Alaska and Hawaii are not located under California and Texas, it is not clear that these are inset maps because there are no borders. It would be good to add a border around these two states. Washington D.C. is another problem because it appears to be floating in the Atlantic Ocean. It would also be beneficial to have a scale because the inset states are not proportional to the continental United States. In this way, the size of the map can be more accurately depicted.

In the replicated map, it is useless to have some of the items in the map key because they are not necessary. In the interactive map found on the New York Times website however, it makes sense to include them. This map may also be misleading because the percentage of win is not the same in every state. It might be useful to add the number of electoral votes that each candidate received from each state as well.

Overall, this map is useful, especially the information bar on top because it shows who won the presidential election in 2008. Also, the colors of the map are easy to read and understand for the most part because it uses colors that are associated with both the Republican and Democratic parties.

Lab #2 Instructions

• Replicate EXACTLY the New York Times map of the state results from the 2008 US Presidential election. This map can be viewed at: http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/results/president/map.html
• Critique the above map and offer three ways in which it can be improved.
• Post the original NY Times map, your replication map and your discussion as to how you can improve the map on your blog. Your replication map will be graded on how closely it resembles the original map. This assignment, as all others, is due at the beginning of next week’s meeting.

Lab #1 Census 2000

Lab #1 Good Map vs. Bad Map

This map of Brazil is not a perfect map, but it can be considered a "good" map because it provides enough information to make it informative. Brazil's location can be roughly determined by where it is relative to the Equator, Tropic of Capricorn, Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean. The scale bar also puts into perspective the actual size of Brazil in terms of kilometers and miles. Although there are a lot of labels, this map points out important locations throughout Brazil. In addition to the boundaries and rivers surrounding Brazil, this map also shows elevation as low, hills, or mountains. This map portrays information effectively and is pretty easy to read and understand without overwhelming the mind.



This map on the other hand is not as informative although it shows a fairly accurate shape of Brazil. There are several reasons why this map can be considered a "bad" map. For one thing, there's no label of what country this is and no sense of geographic location in terms of other land masses and oceans. All this map really includes are labels to certain regions in Brazil but no other information such as scale. Although most maps are oriented with North as up, it doesn't hurt to add a North arrow but even then, this map fails to do so. There's not even so much as a legend and there's not much information to convey in this map.

Lab #1 Instructions

• Create a blog where you will post all of your work for this course. Be sure to include your first and last name on your blog. Note that you also need to include your name on all of the works that you post on your blog for evaluation.
• Submit your blog’s URL/web address in the “Blog URL” dialogue under Week 1.
• Find one example of what you consider to be a “good” map and one example of a “bad” map online. Copy and paste your examples to your blog and write two paragraphs explaining why each is good or bad.
• Work your way through the Census 2000 exercise (‘memba me?) and post your three maps to your blog.