TODALSIGS How to read a map

Title What are you looking at? Past or Present? Yesterday or Today? United States or the UK?

Orientation Which way is north? North is not automatically at the top of the desk Get your bearings Where are you?

Date When was the map created? Is the map out of date? New York City Houston Sugar Land

Author Who created the map? This helps to determine why the map was created Is the author to be trusted and reputable

Legend Information on how to read your map Symbols are often used to represent various items – what do these symbols mean? * usually means a capital but don’t assume

Scale How big is this place? Does 1 inch = 10 miles, 100 miles, or 1,000 miles? Scale is different on almost every map produced What is reality?

Index A list of items and where they can be found on your map A road map listing the streets of a city is a perfect example of an index.

Grid The method used to divide maps into sections. Normally this is Alphabetical down the side and Numerical across the top or bottom. Reference tool used to locate information on the map – Houston is in B-3.

Source Where did the information come from? Is it trustworthy? Is it reputable? Is it recent or ancient?