Museum Visit

On Saturday April 12, a few of the mapping classes took a field trip to the Walter's Museum in Baltimore to see a map exhibit. Besides enjoying the map exhibit, the other collections at the museum we excellent also. AND, there was a small gathering of geo-spatial employers in the lobby discussing what they do.
The map exhibit began with several ancient maps from the old days and progressively illustrated the different techniques and styles that developed throughout the history of cartography. I noticed that the majority of the maps were made with a specialized audience. The older maps were designed to be beneficial to the peoples of the country in which they lived. One map that definetly caught my eye was a giant mosiac map of the world, approx 15' tall.
There just wasn't maps in the exhibit. Of course the gift shop had to capitialize of the exhibit and they offered many different varieties of maps and globes to choose from.
Overall, the experience was well worth the trip. After studying cartography for two semesters, I now have great admiration for the cartographers of many, many years ago.

Interactive Map of Catoctin National Park

The following link will get you to an interactive map of the Catoctin National Park outside Emittsburg. This lab was given to us so we can learn to pan and zoom over a map using Flash.
You can enjoy this one also.
http://www.swfup.com/uploads/swf-183550.swf

ACHTUNG!! WE ARE INVADING!!

Whew, what a lab! I have really been exposed to Flash. Check out this map of Operation Barbarossa - The German Invasion of Russia, 1941. Enjoy the game!
http://www.swfup.com/uploads/swf-183559.swf

Developing a New Visitor Map of Glacier Bay, Alaska

The article "Developing a New Visitor Map of Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska" was written by Tom Patterson of the US National Park Service. The article describes the process that the HFC Publications Program in Harpers Ferry, WVa went through when they revised the present map of Glacier Bay NP. Visiting the part was an approach the cartographers took in order to understand the vastness of the area.
Just a few of the issues discussed:
1) contemplation on whether to use an entirely new map focusing only on Glacier Bay proper and ignoring the vast hinterland of the part where cruise ships do not go
2) making the map with larger type and more vivid colors because many of the passengers on the ships are elderly
3) including a map of the entire part at a small scale plus a large-scale inset of only the bay
4) deleting a whatle story from the old map because it was deemed passe'
5) replacing the cover photo because the present one was thought to be inappropriate
Challenges faced fell into three catagories:
1) incomplete data, poor quality data, and mapping an ever-changing natural environment
Shaded relief was derived from digital elevation models obtained from the USGS Seamless Data Server and elevation data from Space Shuttle Radar Topography (SRTM). Landcover problems that emerged presented several problems:
1) finding suitable landcover data because the only available data stopped abruptly at the park boundary
2) the USGS landcover was at 80m resolution, too coarse for presenting on a map
3) the complex landcover interfered with the shaded relief
Other items discussed were the Glaciers and how they required showing recent and accurate info
Bathymetry was an idea that attempted to display the terrestrial and undersea topography as extensions of one another. A few rivers appeared on the map and by showing these continually changing rivers, the map revelas major characteristics of glacial landscapes.
The final map attempted to show much more. Along with a small reference map of the entire park and an enlarged inset of the bay, it contains thematic maps and text intended to explain to visitors the glacial process that formed the bay. The primary goal of the map was to broaden and deepen the experience of visiting this remote wilderness.
In my opinion, the goals of the Park Service were accomplished producing a wonderful product. I had no idea how much effort went into seeking to better meet the needs of visitors. It is also impressive that the map can be used with other media such as an interactive web map and fly-through animation. And to think that in coming years, the process will be evaluated and filled with periodic updates.
For more information on National Park Service Maps, visit the following link:

http://www.nps.gov/carto

Graphical Excellence

Another article review:
This was more of a chapter taken from a collection called Graphical Practice. The chapter was titled "Graphical Excellence" and concentrated on graphical displays and what they should include. Covered topics included:
1) show the data
2) induce the viewer to think about the substance rather than about methodology, graphic design, the technology of grahic production, or something else
3) avoid distorting what the data have to say
4) present many numbers in a small space
5) make large data sets coherent
6) encourage the eye to compare different pieces of data
7) reveal the data at several levels of detail, from a broad overview to the fine structure
8) serve a reasonable clear purpose: description, exploration, tabulation, or decoration
9) be closely integrated with the statistical and verbal descriptions of a data set
The chapter gives examples of all these points and illustrates how these items have been expressed thru history.

Democratic State Victories for Past 8 Elections

This is the result of Lab 5 where I mapped the state victories for the Democratic party for the past 8 presidential elections. The only problem came when I tested the movie (of course nothing happened). Only to discover the ONCE I found how to edit the instance for each map, everything would work wonderfully.
It was quite interesting to see how the Democrats have taken such a beating in past elections. Mondale only winning 2 states? Now that's what I call a "landslide".
Clicking on the following link will give you the map of the Democratic victories for the past eight presidential elections: http://www.swfup.com/uploads/swf-147912.swf

New England Patriots' Road to the Super Bowl '08

Here's a map of the NFL season for the New England Patriots during the 2007-8 season. Their only loss was at the hands of the New York Giants on Super Bowl Sunday. Simply click on the link to find the interactive map: http://www.swfup.com/uploads/swf-141788.swf
I hope you have as much fun playing with it as I did creating it.

Interactive Map Example

Here's an example of an interactive map I found on the web while researching some travel advice for a trip to Europe this summer. The web-site I found it on is:
www.experiencecafe.com/Map.htm. Clicking on the different sites gives you detail information about the area along with some excellent pictures.

Super Duper Tuesday Elections, 2008

Here's my map that I produced showing the states holding caucus and primary elections on Super Tuesday of the 2008 U.S. Presidential primary cycle. This was created with Adobe Flash and is the product of Lab 2 for Map Design at George Mason University.

I found these two maps while search for other types of electoral maps and found it quite interesting how the designer decided to portray the political power of Fairfax County.

The regular map of Virginia displays the territorial boundaries of the 40 cities and 95 counties that make up the Commonwealth of Virginia. Each of these cities and counties has been expanded or contracted to show the real proportion of the statewide electorate in the political map of Virginia. Thus, the giant county of Fairfax, Virginia's largest jurisdiction with a population of nearly one million people, is the most prominent feature.

The big political losers are of course Virginia's rural areas, which take up far less space on the political map of Virginia than they do on the territorial map.