Dynamic content, representations and drawings : artefacts for understanding geographies
Cartwright, William
Consumers of cartographic products have, in the past, relied on cartographers to design and produce representations of geography. However, relatively recently, self-generatingg maps have become possible via positioning-enabled consumer electronics and Web 2.0. These have little or no cartographer input and they are generated from data captured and provided by sensors, cellular telephone data and satellite imagery. They provide immediate geographical visualisations, but not representations of geography. We see many instances where visualizations of collectedd data is being used alongside, or replacing cartographer-produced cartographic artefacts. The information provided via these complementaryy cartographic artefacts can present visualizations of geographic information in real-time, or near real-time. They do provide an alternative to cartographer-produced representations that usually cannot be delivered so quickly. This paper considers self-generating maps and visualizations and compares their usefulness as tools for understanding geographies. It begins by providing an overview of the types of self-generating maps that are now available. Then it compares the processes involved in self-generating map provision to the conventionall processes employed by cartographers. This is followed by comments about the loss of individual cartographic design in these geographic information visualizations, when compared to maps that have been completed via extensive design processes. Finally, an evaluation of the usefulness of self-generating maps and visualizations as tools for understanding different geographies is provided.
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