Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Hello everyone!
There will not be a formal lecture today: your map critique projects are due, and your final map projects are due by Tuesday, March 14th. I have already started to receive some final map projects and am really impressed with the quality of your work.

I am marking your second tests now and will be getting your grades back to you soon. I should have your final grades posted on banner by Friday, April 17th.

Let me know if you have any questions!
-Cathy

Test 2 Review

Your Test 2 will be written this Thursday, April 2 from 11:30-12:30.

The format will be 2 short essays. You do not need to study the power point lecture notes for this test. The 2 questions will involve the two pdf readings that are on the class p:drive. You should read these before Thursday and be prepared to answer the following questions (no aids are allowed in the test):

1. Using the pdf document of the same name on the p: drive, briefly outline some of the key "milestones in the history of data visualization".

2. Using the cartographic journal article "More mapping, Less Cartography: Tackling the Challenge", describe the "challenge" that is being proposed by Cassettari.

Tuesday, March 31st

Apologies folks, but there won't be class today...I am recovering from a mishap that involved my face and the pavement while I was in Toronto. I will be posting the review content for your test here by mid-day Tuesday. The test will still go ahead this Thursday, April 2.
E-mail me if you have any questions or concerns.
-Cathy

Monday, March 23

The GEOG 2336 GIS Lab Tutorial is CANCELLED today: it has been rescheduled for Monday, March 30.

New and interesting sites and blogts

I just came across this blog tonight: it deals with interesting items related to Google Earth, including interactive maps, which we will be discussing in some detail in a future class.

I also discovered Geocommons, which could come in handy with some of your cartography projects. Watch out, this one is addictive (to a Geography Professor, anyway).

And finally, a blog called Off the Map is really well done and fantastic to browse through.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Class WILL be held today, although I know we are expecting bad weather into the day today and schools are cancelled. I will end class promptly by 12:20, as some of you may want to leave earlier than usual today.

Related to the weather, I follow Accuweather's Canadian weather blogger, who is a well-respected meteorologist: he often posts snow accumulation forecast maps, and his map for this event is rather interesting, showing much less in the way of accumulations for many areas than Environment Canada is saying. Only time will tell, and sometimes it doesn't take much to make a mess.

Snowfall Key:

Red: trace to 2 cm with more rain than wet snow

Gold: 2-8 cm

Green: 8-15 cm

Blue: 15-30 cm

The blue line: to the east will have a mix of snow and rain, with strictly snow to the west

CLASS CANCELLED TODAY

Thursday, January 29, 2009
The 11:30-12:20 Cartography class is cancelled today: please send me an e-mail if you have any questions on anything related to the course: your Map Project Proposals can be submitted to me via e-mail at cconrad@smu.ca

Green Mapping

Although this is not a topic specifically mentioned in the course syllabus, we have the time to review what is meant by so-called "Green Mapping" and it is something that I work on in my own research. If you get a chance, it is worthwhile to take a quick look through the green mapping web site.

A Google Mashup of the Cold

A meteorologist at Environment Canada put a map together with the low temps posted across this region: notice that Google Maps was used for this. Take a look at it here.

Weather Maps

Given that we are getting some bad weather tonight (although I don't think it will be as bad as initially thought, but only tomorrow will tell), I thought I would post a map of the forecast for snowfall accumulation from one of the weather models. Based on this model, the Halifax area would only receive approximately 5 cm, although these models often underestimate the total accumulation. If you were to critique this map, you might find it confusing, ineffective in providing a quick interpretation and poor graphic display. The audience for this map must be kept in mind and that would primarily include meteorologists, who are not looking for the generalized map: these cluttered details will provide them with the tools to assist in a more accurate forecast. So even if the map appearance may be flawed to the cartographer's eye, that alone doesn't necessarily warrant a critique of the product.

21st Century Directions

Is society slowly losing it's spatial orientation capacity? Are we becoming too reliant on computers, GPS units and other technical devices to tell us where to go and how to get there? Do we run the risk of things like this becoming increasingly frequent? Obviously I am being facetious, but one does wonder what is happening to our map reading skills and the role of the cartographer in society is evolving rapidly.

Cartography Class Map

Where are you from?(in red push-pins)
Where would you rather be? (in green push-pins).
View the map here.

Cartography Winter 2009

Welcome to a new year of Cartography: GEOG 2336.2

I will periodically use this blog to post relevant articles and items related to the course content. Sometimes I will draw your attention to this in class and sometimes I won't. You might want to get in the habit of periodically checking this space.

While we begin the first weeks of the course, you might want to start using Google Maps. In order to create your own maps, you will need to create a user name and password.

We will be using Adobe Illustrator in the labs, which begin the week of January 12. Some students prefer to purchase the software (particularly since there isn't a cost for a course textbook). You can access the Adobe web site for educational software discounts here. Before you go ahead and purchase it, you might want to shop around a bit to see if it can be found cheaper elsewhere. If you plan to solely work in the Geography Department computer lab there is no need to purchase the software: it is on all of the lab computers. It is not on any other campus computers, however. You may also prefer to spend more time working on the labs from home or on your personal laptop computer. There are many online tutorials that you might want to make use of: here is one. The first lab will quide you through one such tutorial.