Number 55, Falljournal 2006 of the Northcartographic American Cartographic perspectives Information Society cartographic perspectives Number 55, Fall 2006 in this issue Letter from the Editor OPINION Denis Wood’s article “Map Art” 4 Dear Members of NACIS, Mark Denil It is hard to believe that I am writ- Reaction to Mark Denil 6 ing my last editorial column for Ren Vasiliev Cartographic Perspectives. As you all know, CP is preparing for a SPECIAL FEATURE transition to a new editor, and a A Day With Norman J. W. Thrower 7 new editorial board. Starting with Judith Tyner CP56, the first issue for 2007, John Krygier will begin his three-year FEATURED ARTICLES term as editor of CP. John assumes The Effectiveness of Interactive Maps in Secondary 16 editorship of a journal that is do- Historical Geography Education ing quite well…a journal that has Whitney Taylor and Brandon Plewe grown and prospered over the past 6 years…a journal that has grown A Multi-scale, Multipurpose GIS Data Model to Add 34 both in terms of content and pres- Named Features of the Natural Landscape to Maps tige. Some of the changes over the Aileen Buckley and Charlie Frye past 6 years have involved the look and feel of the journal, the quality CARTOGRAPHIC TECHNIQUES of content, the general accessibil- Views of the Rivers: Representing Streamflow of the 54 ity to published articles, and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem review process of manuscripts. Erik Strandhagen, W. Andrew Marcus, and James E. Meacham Below I’ve highlighted the many changes CP has benefited from: REVIEWS Article rejection rate hovering The Gay and Lesbian Atlas 59 around 65%; Reviewed by Mark Harrower Article submission rates that have more than doubled; The Commerce of Cartography: Making and Marketing 61 Maps in Eighteenth-Century France and England (continued on page 3) Reviewed by Judith A. Tyner (continued on page 3) NACIS WEB SITE www.nacis.org 2 cartographic perspectives Number 55, Fall 2006 Editor Scott M. Freundschuh cartographic perspectives Department of Geography University of Minnesota, Duluth 329 Cina Hall Duluth, MN 55812 journal of the (218) 726-6226 North American Cartographic Information Society fax: (218) 726-6386 ISSN 1048-9085 [email protected] Cartographic Perspectives is published triannually © 2006 North American Cartographic Information Society Assistant Editor Cartographic Techniques Editor Cartographic Collections Editor James R. Anderson, Jr. Charlie Frye Chris Mixon FREAC ESRI Auburn University Libraries Florida State University 380 New York Street 231 Mell Street Tallahassee, FL 32306-2641 Redlands, CA 92373 Auburn University (850) 644-2883 (909) 793-2853 Auburn, AL 36849-5606 fax: (850) 644-7360 [email protected] (334) 844-1738 [email protected] [email protected] Reviews Editor Opinion Column Editor Mark Denil Scott Freundschuh Conservation International Department of Geography 1919 M Street, NW, Suite 600 University of Minnesota, Duluth Washington, DC 20036 329 Cina Hall (202) 912-1433 Duluth, MN 55812 [email protected] (218) 726-6226 [email protected] about the cover Cartographic Perspectives EDITORIAL BOARD Sara Fabrikant Jan Mersey Zurich, Switzerland University of Guelph The cover image was created by Scott Freundschuh. The colors in the CP logo Ken Foote Elisabeth S. Nelson represent the diversity in NACIS. University of Colorado Univ. of N. Carolina - Greensboro Pat Gilmartin Margaret Pearce University of South Carolina Ohio University Mike Hermann Nadine Schuurman University of Maine and Simon Fraser University Purple Lizard Publishing Erik Steiner John B. Krygier University of Oregon Ohio Wesleyan University Ren Vasiliev Michael Leitner State Univ. of New York at Geneseo NACIS holds the copyrights to all items Louisiana State University published in each issue. The opinions ex- Denis Wood pressed are those of the author(s), and not Robert Lloyd Independent Scholar necessarily the opinion of NACIS. University of South Carolina Number 55, Fall 2006 cartographic perspectives (letter from editor continued) Bulletin Board Editor, morphed does on behalf of CP. If there were to Collections Editor 2004-2006 to be a more descriptive name A review process that takes Charlie Frye as Cartographic for his position, I would suggest about 2 to 3 months; Techniques Editor 2001-2006 something like: Indexed in GEOBASE Co-Editing—Designer—Layer- (Elsevier); It has also been my pleasure to outer—Graphicsfixerupper— Full text index with EBSCO; work with the following members Problemsolver—Underappreci- High-quality color in every of the editorial board: ated—Maestro. issue; Gary Allen 2001-2003 That about captures it, though I Official copyright with the Aileen Buckley 2001-2003 had to take liberty with the English library of congress; Jeremy Crampton 2001-2003 language to get there. I suppose Engaging cover art; Sara Fabrikant 2001-2006 I could have just called Jim CP’s Creation of Visual Fields Ken Foote 2001-2006 MVP (most valuable player), but column; Pat Gilmartin 2001-2006 where’s the fun in that? And, published ON TIME. Mike Hermann 2004-2006 It has been an honor to serve John Krygier 2001-2006 as editor of CP for the past six There are a number of people Michael Leitner 2004-2006 years. The personal and profes- that I must thank…people who Robert Lloyd 2001-2006 sional growth, have been immense. have had their hand in the publica- Matthew McGranaghan I have learned much, read even tion of CP. First off, it has been my 2001-2003 more, and tripped up a couple of pleasure to work with the follow- Janet Mersey 2001-2006 times. I have learned the healing ing section editors over the past six Elisabeth Nelson 2001-2006 power of, “my mistake…sorry.” I years: Margaret Pearce 2001-2006 have learned the power of praise Melissa Lamont as Map Library Michael Peterson 2001-2003 and recognition, and to give it Bulletin Board Editor 2001-2003 Nadine Schuurman 2004-2006 openly and freely. I have also Matthew McGranaghan as Erik Steiner 2004-2006 learned to accept praise gracefully. Essay Editor 2001-2003 Ren Vasiliev 2001-2006 I have sharpened my diplomacy Jeremy Crampton as Online Carolyn Weiss 2001-2003 skills, and have learned that a Mapping Editor 2001-2003 Denis Wood 2004-2006 phone call is much more appreci- Ren Vasiliev as Book Review ated than an impersonal email. I Editor 2001-2005 Finally, and most importantly have a deeper understanding of Mark Denil as Book Review really, I want to thank Jim An- the diversity of cartographic re- Editor, morphed to Reviews derson, the assistant editor. Jim’s search, and in peoples’ ideas, opin- Editor 2006 title provides little indication of ions and beliefs. I have learned Chris Mixon as Map Library the significant amount of work he to listen…to be quiet (that was a tough one)…to consensus build… and to understand my limitations. in this issue I have learned that tough decisions are not fun. I have learned that I (continued from page 1) have many intelligent, fascinating, engaging and humorous col- leagues out there who are doing Plotting the Globe: Stories of Meridians, Parallels, and the 63 awesome research. I also know International Date Line who the bozos are. Lastly, I have Reviewed by Fritz Kessler learned that with the right group of people, a journal can accomplish A Railroad Atlas of the United States in 1946, Volume 2, 67 just about anything. New York & New England Thanks for a wonderful 6 years. Reviewed by Gordon Kennedy As always, I welcome your com- ments and suggestions…but send VISUAL FIELDS them to John Krygier from now What is Unique About the Imagery of mapformation? 70 on!! Derek Tonn Warmest Regards, COLOR FIGURES 75 Scott Freundschuh, Editor cartographic perspectives Number 55, Fall 2006 Opinion Column Denis Wood’s article “Map Art” Mark Denil Dear Editor: Chief Cartographer here is much of interest in issue 53 of CP, and some problematic bits as Conservation International well, as befits a broad and engaging subject. My particular interest in [email protected] writing concerns certain issues raised by Denis Wood’s article, “Map Art”. Wood seems at first to be mounting a real and badly needed challenge to the way cartography is generally conceived, but his pitch is queered by some unresolved problems. The problems lie in part with the issues themselves and in part with his manner of approaching them. We are all quite used to problems of this nature being characterized, in the cartographic literature, dichotomously: art and science being the most typical division. Dichotomies seem to be a clear, neat, and distinct means of definition: one or the other, good or bad, with us or with the terrorists, but we know that a dichotomy can be posited without its being appropri- ate. Dichotomies sit at the heart of most belief systems, and their operation has been well studied. We know that in establishing oppositional bina- ries, one term is privileged and the other subordinated: living – dead, us – them. The decide-ability of differentiation is what makes a dichotomous system work, which is to say that one must be able to evaluate a novelty and decide its classification unambiguously. In the course of “Map Art”, Denis Wood sets up an pair of opposed cat- egories: The art-map and the normative map. He constructs his opposition on what he would like to convince us is a clear differentiation between physical works categorizable as one or the other, and he bases his differ- entiation on the normative. Clearly, Mr. Wood would like us to accept this unexamined normative map as an unproblematic yardstick. The norma- tive seems to be defined by Mr. Wood using some combination of map issuer, drawing and lettering style, and map furniture; at least that is how he goes about identifying the 1929 Surrealist map [p.9] as not-normative (and therefore, as art-map).