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Geography 59 A Brief History of Cartography and Present-Day Identity Problems June 14, 2007
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Very Early Maps 2 nd century AD Early beginnings of understanding the Earth's place in the universe (Western hemisphere understanding)
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Slightly Later
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Common Theme
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Common Theme?
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'Colonial' Cartography Many of the 'traditions' followed today in map layout began during the 'colonial' conquest of the world, beginning in the 1500's (Spain), continuing until the 1900's (England, France)
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Transition #1: World Wars ● World Wars..US becomes more involved ● 1938 – Single Cartography Text by E. Raisz ● Considered to be a multidisciplinary field ● However, tended to be limited to drafting and drawing of landforms and features (WM Davis and geomorpohology, land use maps) ● Why might there have been a transition??
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Driving forces for development ● Radar ● Aircraft Advances/Aerial imagery ● Grid systems (gun precision) ● May others...
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Cartography – 1940's to 1950's ● Universities paved the way for new programs in cartography (alongside geography), journals began to publish cartographic ideas ● Many qualified GI's entering university ● Jobs in municipalities, public utilities, planning ● Advent of thematic mapping ● Development in other countries/data management (World Bank, 1945)
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Cartography – 1960's to 1970's ● 'Cartographer' is a real job title ● Remains a technical art form (pens, pencils, advanced knowledge of printing) ● Major university programs to the doctoral level – University of Kansas, Lawrence ** – University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI – Clark University, Worcester, MA
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Cartography – 1970's to present ● What was the really big development? ● How might this have affected 'cartographers' ? ● Are we still seeing the effects today?
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Computing and Cartography ● The improvement of database technology and graphics led the way for UI-based GIS (GIS did go through a command-line phase) ● More imagery via air and satellite meant more multiple-source imagery ● How might this have affected cartography?
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Big Trends ● Google Earth – KML standard – KML is a file format used to display 'geographic data' in 'Earth Browsers' – A profit-driven company – Leading the way in their own 'standard' ● Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) – Standards for geospatial location-based services – A consortium of 339 organizations working together to provide specifications for various geospatial products including web applications (map servers)
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?? Identity Crisis?? What is cartography now ?? ● Art – neatness, layout, color, aesthetics ● Science – environment, other phenomena ● Technology – the Web, laptops, GPS' ● Dynamic – the Web, databases, mobile devices ● Interactive – user population highly varied ●.....Maybe all these things... ● A new term: 'geovisualization'
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Important new aspects ● Usability – A field of specialization on its own – Merging of language, communication and cognition ● Technology – Rapidly changing technologies – No longer limited to geographic specialists, but includes many experts: technologists, usability experts, programmers, and graphic artists
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Back to Earth ● Exciting new aspects, yes, but you still may need to develop a map in the workplace, perhaps after a long GIS project... ● Where does it fit?
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Group Discussion ● Handout – scenario in the workplace ● Where does cartography fit in? ● Open-ended questions, not meant for right or wrong, but to generate some thought about possible situations ● Spend 15 minutes discussing, then share ideas
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Group Discussion ● Where does cartography fit
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