Number 60, Spring 2008 cartographicCartographic perspectives Perspectives 1 Journal of the North American Cartographic Information Society Number 60, Spring 2008 From the Editor In this Issue As I look out over the synclinal OPINION valley unfolding below Big Sav- Manifestos 5 age Mountain I can already see Mark Denil spots of crimson, amber, and brown dotting the forested land- Just to Make Clear “Where the Roots Come From”: A Response to 14 scape. Autumn comes early to the Mark Denil’s “Manifestos” mountains in Western Maryland Steven R. Holloway and winter is not too far behind. There is a saying by those who FEATURED ARTICLES live in Garrett County Maryland, Automation and the Map Label Placement Problem: A Comparsion 22 which is located immediately west of Two GIS Implementations of Label Placement of Frostburg State University and Jill Phelps Kern and Cynthia A. Brewer is on the Appalachian Plateau, that “there are only two seasons here: Addressing Map Interface Usability: Learning from the Lakeshore 46 July and winter.” Of course, as Nature Preserve Interactive Map autumn approaches, this change in Robert E. Roth and Mark Harrower seasons has different meanings to people. For the NACIS community, REVIEWS this means the next annual NACIS Bomb after Bomb: A Violent Cartography 67 conference isn’t too far distant. I Reviewed by Daniel G. Cole hope you are making plans to at- tend this year’s conference held in Bomb After Bomb: A Violent Cartography 68 Missoula, Montana. Reviewed by Mark Denil In this issue of CP you will find a mix of cartographic writ- London: A Life in Maps 71 ings which I hope you will find Reviewed by Julia Siemer interesting. For those of you in attendance at last year’s NACIS Maps: Finding Our Place in the World 72 meeting in St. Louis may recall of Reviewed by Tom Koch a broadside called Right MAP Mak- ing by Steven Holloway. Steven’s CARTOGRAPHIC COLLECTIONS broadside presents five precepts Building A Web Site at the University of Chicago Map Collection 77 that “articulate the fundamental Christopher Winters principles of ethical conduct in mapping & maps and to stimulate MAPPING: METHODS & TIPS ‘right action’” (Holloway 2007, Choropleth Google Maps 80 http://www.tomake.com/future/ Michael Peterson fivewaystomakemaps.html). The broadside was printed on heavy- VISUAL FIELDS weight paper and distributed at 2007 CaGIS Map Design Competition 84 no cost to those interested at the Alex Tait, Scott Edmonds, Mike Means, and Judy Nielson St. Louis conference. I was one COLOR FIGURES 86 (continued on page 3) CP60_frontpages.indd 1 9/19/2008 9:12:21 AM Number 60, Spring 2008 2 cartographic perspectives Fritz Kessler, Cartographic Perspectives Editor Journal of the Department of Geography Frostburg State University North American Cartographic 230 Gunter Hall Information Society 101 Braddock Blvd Frostburg, MD 21532 ©2008 NACIS ISSN 1048-9085 (301) 687-4266 www.nacis.org fax: (301) 687-4495 [email protected] Editorial Board Section Editors Sarah Battersby Assistant Editor Mapping: Methods & Tips University of South Carolina Jim Anderson Bill Buckingham Florida State University University of Wisconsin Matthew Edney [email protected] [email protected] University of Southern Maine University of Wisconsin Copy Editor Reviews Mary Spalding Mark Denil Amy Griffin Potomac State College of Cartographer at Large University of West Virginia Univerisity mark_denil_maps@hotmail. New South Wales – ADFA com Cartographic Collections Mark Harrower Angie Cope Visual Fields University of Wisconsin AGS Library Mike Hermann [email protected] University of Maine Hugh Howard Mike_Hermann@umit. Los Rios: American River Robert Kibbee maine.edu College Cornell University [email protected] Patrick Kennelly Long Island University CW Post Campus Mike Leitner Louisiana State University Amy Lobben University of Oregon Margaret Pearce Ohio University Keith Rice University of Wisconsin at NACIS holds the copyrights to all Stevens Point items published in each issue. The opinions expressed are those of the author(s), and not necessarily the Julia Seimer opinion of NACIS. University of Regina CP60_frontpages.indd 2 9/19/2008 9:12:21 AM Number 60, Spring 2008 cartographic perspectives 3 (letter from the editor continued) The Cover of the many who took a copy of the broadside home. I distributed Title: The Wound the broadside to students in my advanced cartography class which Steven R. Holloway resulted in discussion and com- Artist & Mapmaker ments. If you haven’t seen the toMake Studio & Press broadside and read its contents I www.tomake.com encourage you to do so by visit- ing the URL listed above as this Description of matrix and printing forms the basis of two opinion Three-colour stone lithograph in an edition of eleven on Kawara with pieces in CP. The first two pieces chine coleé on Someret Velvet White. 15” by 22”. Editioned in the in this issue are opinions expressed “Mapping the World” series of maps by toMake Press; edition #88. in a point – counterpoint of sorts. Printed at Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, California by the artist 2007. Mark Denil took time to consider The edition is limited to eleven prints signed as: E.V. 1/11 to E.V. the meaning and implications of 11/11 and to 3 trial prints signed as T.P. 1/3 to T.P. 3/3. Right MAP Making and wrote a re- sponse. I offered Steven Holloway 1. Stone lithograph drawn with asphaltum and shop black dripped the opportunity to give a reply to over two stones one on top of the other with a lithotine wash done Mark’s comments. Steven’s reply is in response to the east bay creeks flowing beneath the asphalt included in this issue as well. street structure. Editioned in Crayon Black and Green toner in Following these opinion pieces March 2007. are the featured articles. The first 2. Stone lithograph drawn with asphaltum in Shop Black mix and article entitled Addressing Map alchohol on K-16. Editioned in Ma!e Black in October-November Interface Usability: Learning from the 2007. Lakeshore Nature Preserve Interactive 3. Stone lithograph placed below the first stone drawn at the same Map is written by Robert Roth and with the asphaltum and shop black drip. Editioned in Fire Red and Mark Harrower. This article fo- Crayon Black in November 2007. cuses on the ever present usability 4. Monoprinted. Kawara lithograph trimmed back to a full bleed of issue that is central to many online 11” by 16.25.” The top edge is hand dipped through Sun Red and mapping products. The second Litho Varnish #3 in November 2007. article entitled Automation and the Map Label Placement Problem: A Source material and Client Comparison of Two GIS Implementa- Source: direct observation of the east bay system of streets and creeks tions of Label Placement is penned from walking and biking by the artist. Client: independent artist. by Jill Kerns and Cynthia Brewer. Anyone who has spent time plac- Inspiration ing text via a computer will be The experience of stopping to observe the place. interested in reading this article. As we read in their paper, automa- Location and Discussion tion has certainly brought about East Bay, San Francisco Bay, the creeks (otherwise the EBMUD: East many time saving shortcuts in text Bay Municipal Utility District). Formally free creeks flowing down placement and seems to perform from the Oakland Hills into San Francisco Bay part of the oak and reasonably. Next in this issue are redwood lined valleys and marshes but now confined and su”ocating the individual sections. Inside the beneath the asphalt of street networks, vehicles and storm drains. The Cartographic Collections section Wound” refers to the bleeding of life from this once complex, dynamic there is an article by Christopher and interwoven flow of water asking, begging, to be daylighted and Winters. His article, entitled Build- restored. ing a Web Site at the University of Chicago Map Collection, discusses Website the trials and tribulations involved www.tomake.com in the development of the Univer- (continued on page 4) CP60_frontpages.indd 3 9/19/2008 9:12:21 AM 4 cartographic perspectives Number 60, Spring 2008 (letter from the editor continued) as this project continues. Second, article submissions to CP have picked up considerably since the sity of Chicago Map Collection’s last issue was put in the mail. I can Web site. The Mapping Methods say that content for the next two and Tips section includes an inter- issues looks pretty good. However, esting piece from Michael Peterson we should not become complacent entitled Choropleth Google Maps. In in this fact as the journal’s future its most rudimentary form, Google is always tenuous. The health of Maps is a very common online CP is solely based on continued mapping application that assists submissions from the cartographic people where a specific address, community and beyond. I encour- for example, is located. However, age each of you to consider CP there is considerable potential in as the publication outlet for your the variety of cartographic applica- peer-reviewed papers, opinion tions to which Google Maps can pieces, information on map librar- be put. This article describes one ies, mapping methods and tech- such application: choroplath maps. niques, and visual fields. I know In this article, a map mashup is there is much that is happening in discussed that can be implemented the mapping world out there. CP to create choropleth maps using and its readership would like to Google Maps. While simple in con- hear about it. cept, the implementation of this choropleth map mashup process I offer this issue to you for your is not necessarily trivial. However, contemplation and reading plea- Michael Peterson presents us with sure.