Maplines Summer 2011

Contact the Editors2

BCS Design GroupMaps in the media 4-5

Transit mapping6-7

Summer 2011 – £3.00

ICC in Paris for50th anniversary

See pages 16 – 17

2 • Summer 2011 / Maplines Visit the BCS website at www.cartography.org.uk

From the Editors

It is not often that our ultra talented, decisive and intelligent Editorial team here at Maplines is stumped,but in this issue one word put us in a spin. Kate

Chanba’s excellent article on transport maps (pages 6and 7) served up a bit of a linguistic googly regarding theword transit. With a bit of research we were quickly ableto discover the exact meaning of the word as usedacross the Pond, but as a team we had to decide whetherthe word was suitable for our British magazine.

In truth our opinions were split, but it prompted an interesting debate. As Maplines continues to grow andreach further corners of our mapped planet, should we asEditors look to edit and standardise our articles orencourage variation, no matter how the locals use theirlanguage? We are quite pleased with the outcome on thisparticular article but we would be interested to hear whatyou have to say on the matter.

And should you have something to say then do get intouch using the details below. And for the first time youcan now scan our email QR code to get an instant link toour hotline here at Maplines HQ. So for the technicallysavvy amongst us, why not give it a try?

Adam On behalf of Lynda, Martin, Adam and Mark

Maplines Editors

Editorial Contact details:

Senior Editor: Lynda Bailey

Senior Editor, Design & Production: Martin Lubikowski

Editor: Adam King

Editor, Design & Production: Mark Sansom

[email protected]

Deadline for copy for the Winter 2011 edition is 14 October

The views expressed in Maplines are those of the Editors andContributors and not necessarily those of the BCS.

If you would like to sponsor the Maplines Quiz please contact the Editors.

© The British Cartographic Society 2011

Illustrations in this issueFront Cover: Mark Sansomp6-7: Main photo-©International RoadFederation, Underground maps © Tflfrom the London Transport Museumcollection, Chicago 1946 map,Graham Garfield Collection, courtesyof Chicago-L.org

p16-17: Alex Kent.p21: Cadcorpp24: Alex Kent, Adam King, Lynda Bailey, Martin LubikowskiAll other photography copyright: Lynda Bailey, MartinLubikowski, Mark Sansom, Adam King or the BCS

Quiz solution: C4 Scan the QR codebelow to send a message to theEditors’ email

The Magazine of the British Cartographic Society

Volume 17, 2nd Issue, Summer 2011

Registered Charity No. 240034

It’s always difficult to find a suitable venue for our AnnualSymposium. Our major concern

this year was that Shrigley Hall wasa bit off the beaten track but ourfears were unfounded; attendancewas better than in the previous year.Moreover, because of the location,more people stayed in the hotelwhich made for more networking andsocialising opportunities. The otherissue that we have to wrestle with isthe cost. There was a time when wewould go to a university campus butthese are no longer any cheaperthan going to somewhere likeShrigley Hall. I appreciate that this israther expensive for the individual ifnot paid for by an employer but wehave tried to break down the costsso that members can choose whenand for how long they attend. Thereis another important point. The BCSis a professional organisation for professionals and we need to maintain high standards and therebyenhance our reputation.Nevertheless, we must do our bestto ensure that the Symposiumremains within the means of members so that, at the very least,they can afford to attend the GalaDinner and stay overnight if they so wish.

An alternative way of keeping intouch with other members is toattend the event in London inNovember which now usuallyinvolves the GIS SIG meeting andthe AGM. I hope too that my email

reports and the BCS website help tokeep members in touch with theSociety’s activities.

We continue to make steadyprogress implementing the recommendations of the StrategicReview. One of the major objectiveswas to broaden the appeal ofMaplines; I hope you agree thatMaplines is looking great now! Theother issue which I mentioned in myJune email report is the cost associated with our membership ofthe ICA and involvement in the ICACommissions and Workshops.Providing the quality of the ICAConferences remains high then I see no issue with our continued membership but as the universitiesand the Royal Society have withdrawn their support for theCommissions and Workshops BCScannot be expected to bridge thefinancial gap.

On a more positive note there aresome really exciting developments.The Better Mapping series I and II,which we do in association with theAGI, continue to attract about 400delegates a year which not onlybrings in some income but results insome new BCS members. The GISSIG is developing and bringing in ayounger group, and again, new members. But the most exciting programme involves schools. At our2010 Symposium two schools tookpart in our exercise based on theearthquake in Haiti and using maps,

satellite images and the internet hadto work out how best to bring in aid.This year, 11 schools came toShrigley Hall to take part in a similar exercise based on the recentdisaster in Japan. The responsefrom the students and the teacherswas amazing. One school has askedthat the exercise be done for alltheir Year 10 students and anotherfrom the London area has volunteered to host other schools sothat pupils in their area can benefittoo. We now need to work out howto best develop this project becauseit is, for sure, the best way we’vecome across so far to promote cartography and the BCS to theyounger generation.

Peter JollyBCS President

Visit the BCS website at www.cartography.org.uk Maplines / Summer 2011 • 3

Notes from our President

AGM NoticeThe BCS AGM and Council Electionswill be held at the RAF Club onTuesday 1st November.

There will be a curry lunch at 12:30in the President’s Room followed bya GIS Special Interest GroupSeminar at 14:00. The BCS AGMwill commence at 17:00. Full detailswill be posted on the BCS website.

Symposium group photo available as a super print:

A4 – £10 and A3 – £15plus £2.50 postage & packing

Allow 28 days for delivery

To order please contact Martin Lubikowski on theMaplines email address, see page 2.

Symposium Print

The winner of our Spring quiz isLouise Wilson from Edinburgh.Congratulations Louise, yourMountain High Maps disks are

on their way. For the solution seepage 2 opposite.

Visit the BCS website at www.cartography.org.uk4 • Summer 2011 / Maplines

‘Dad’s Army!’ was the immediateand enthusiastic response to MarkGeorgiou’s question ‘What does thismap remind you of?’ Mark, a seniorBBC Foreign News producer, openedthe Symposium’s Design Group session ‘News Media Mapping: thegood, the bad and the ugly’ withsome superb archive examples ofBBC Television news maps. The audience’s naming of the iconic BBCcomedy was in response to a blackand white map which used dynamicarrows to indicate troop movementsduring the Vietnam War. Mark provided an excellent potted history of television news maps, focusing on theincreasingly sophisticatedanimation and multi-mediapresentationsas technologieshave developed. Healso show-cased some of his own recent multi-media work incorporating maps on the BBC’swebsite, for example, his excellentcollaboration with BBC ScienceCorrespondent David Shukman onDarwin and the Galapagos Islandsnews.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7882134.stm.Mark provided an excellent ‘warmup’ to the main workshop event,reminding the participants of the journalistic constraints on map production for the news, but also ofthe potential released by innovationsin information technologies.

The main workshop, designed toengage practising cartographers andspecialists in the mapping industryin a critical discussion of the role ofmaps in the news media, evaluatedspecific examples of news maps interms of their fitness for purposeand design quality, and to learn fromgood practice in news map designwhere possible. Peter Vujakovic, co-convenor of the Design Group,provided a short introduction usingspecific news stories to show howbias may be introduced maps, intentionally or otherwise. His

introduction focused on the denotative and connotative elementsin map design, especially how mapswhich have denoted facts correctly can still add bias by their use of connotation. A good example, is theuse of red to connote ‘danger’, asused in a map to show global population change (The Independent9.2.1999, p.7) inwhich highrates ofchange were representedin red, as a‘rising

tide’, while low rates were represented in green, with connotations of calm and stability.

The workshop split into small teams of cartographic practitioners evaluating sets of thematic newsmaps, usually from a specific periodand related to one or more relatedinternational stories, e.g. the SriLankan government’s suppression of the Tamil Tigers in 2009, or widerglobal themes concerning the environment or society, e.g. theswine flu pandemic in 2009. Theteams provided critical evaluation of both specific cartographic issues,such as appropriate use of projections, and more general design issues, including use ofcolour and symbolisation.

Maps of the swine flu pandemic inmid-2009 were criticised for their simplicity, with the suggestion that

many of the maps were probably generated bydefault settings, with little or ‘no considerationof the classification ofstats (sic), impact

of information or clarity’. The team stated that it ‘look[s]like most of the maps have beencreated by graphic designersrather than cartographers’, notingfor example the confusion causedby figure-ground reversal in onemap, which was otherwise regarded as reasonably well

designed. Others included redundantfeatures that did not add further tothe information content, but createdvisual clutter and confusion, a feature of popular maps and graphics which Edward Tufte has eloquently designated ‘chart-junk’.One specific case (The Times,12.6.2009, p.18-19) represented aclassic case study of ‘what not todo’. The graphic involved a very poorly designed choropleth mapshowing (inappropriately) absolutenumbers of cases using a red colourramp, connoting danger, rather thana ratio showing cases per thousand population. Insult was added toinjury by turning the simple worldprojection into an extreme obliqueview and adding redundancy byshowing values, already representedby tones of red, by a linear height

‘A Foreign Affair’...map design and international news

scale, by which each country isshown by a stepped value dependingon number of cases of swine flu.The scale is a simple linear scale(height) but the product, based onraising the area of the country is avisualised volume and totally misleading. The map projection used is not equal-area, further over-emphasising several of the keycountries involved, for exampleCanada and Australia. This andother examples indicate that ‘trigger-happy’ designers are all tooready to use computer software functions simply because they areavailable, rather than because theymake good information-graphics.

In the case of the Sri Lankan government’s assault on the TamilTiger’s final stronghold, in the northof the island in early 2009, manymaps presented a complex set ofissues relating to troop movements,territory gained and lost, and thetragedy of the refugees. The teamreviewing this theme commented onthe complexity of the issues involved and commented favourablyon both the high quality of someaspects of map design, but alsonoted the ways in which a readercould be misled.

For example, several maps usedvisually well designed graduatedshading to show the Tiger’s loss of territory, but this, according to the team, created a mistaken connotation of the direction of the government’s engagement withthe Tigers.

Other themes investigated includedthe 2009 Pacific tsunami, geopolitics of the Arcticregion, and missile defence.The latter raised the issueof poor use of appropriatemap projections. Simple ‘circular’ missile rangescannot be shown on moststandard world projections;it requires the use of a‘polar-style’ equidistanceprojection based on thepoint of launch. Poor use of projection can entirely undermine the message of the mapand the related editorial content(this issue is addressed in detail by

Peter Vujakovic and John Hills in‘The new Flat-Earthers’, Maplines,Winter 2009).

In conclusion, the workshop acknowledged examples of good practise and eye-catching design injournalistic cartography, but therewas a general agreement that errorsin basic cartography were an underlying systemic problem.

This conclusion provides the rationale for the reinvigorated DesignSpecial Interest Group, which aimsto provide opportunities to evaluateand improve map design and toengage with practitioners, whethertrained cartographers or other graphic designers, beyond the confines of the BCS. This DesignGroup workshop was the first to beorganised by the new convenors.

Peter Vujakovic and Alexander Kent Conveners, BCS Design Group

[email protected]@canterbury.ac.uk

Maps in the media

Alex and Peter are keen to promote further events andare looking to develop a

steering group and regionalnetwork of Design Groupmembers to facilitate this.

Please contact them if you are interested in contributing.

Maplines / Summer 2011 • 5Visit the BCS website at www.cartography.org.uk

Visit the BCS website at www.cartography.org.uk6 • Summer 2011 / Maplines

After working in France for a year I was able to return home to our smallmapping company armed with my experiences of European public transit. For the whole year I relied solely and rather effectively on transport in cities with populationsranging from only 24,000 to millions ofpeople. Whilst my experience was a successful one it is now difficult forme to imagine a car-less life in anAmerican city like Minneapolis,Minnesota; a characteristicallysprawled urban area where catching a bus might mean three transfers and being late for work.

Granted, one should be wary of Frenchtrain strikes and the Tube getting stuckon Bank Holidays, but in general Ifound that transit in Europe is, andmust be, reliable, a virtue we in the UShaven’t particularly been enjoying. If wewant to get out of our cars, as we cer-tainly have to, there is a lot of catchingup for us Americans to do.

Thankfully, the need for transportationchange finally has had its voice heardvia legislation. Though the pendingtransport bill is at a standstill, severalstimulus packages around the country

are being used to renovate even smaller-city systems, such as that ofAsheville, North Carolina, a progressivemountain city towards the southeasterncoast. This is good news for us cartographers as many re-design projects are starting at square one: the transit map.

Schematic mapsEssential for transit planning, a map

takes us through every touch-point of asystem-building process, starting withcomprehending a city’s geography, todeciding on its transit modes androutes, and finally to communicating itsidentity. Though the task of retainingthe city’s recognisable, geographicalshape using artfully coded distortion is difficult, the map is the key to making asystem run smoothly. Take for examplethe historic London Tube Map, whichfailed in usability before Harry’s Beck’s1933 modern re-design.

Any transit map carries enormouspower in defining and changing an individual’s perception of getting aroundin a city. Like many narrative maps,they invoke a certain trust in their userto the point where they affect planningdecisions more than the traveler’s ownexperience (Zhan Guo, ‘Mind theMap!’). In a study of the London TubeMap done by the Rudin Center forTransportation Policy and Management,it was found that travelers trust theTube Map for their travel planning twiceas much than their own experiences.Users allow the map’s route coding toaffect whether they perceive transfersto be difficult.

The map’s power reaches beyondmerely travel planning, for a transitmap can define a city’s boundaries andcan help rubberstamp areas as beingdangerous, rich, or trendy. For examplesome say Beck’s London Undergrounddesign was accepted into use primarilyfor real estate development (Guo, ‘Mindthe map!’).

1 tran·sit nouna: an act, process, or instance of passing through or overb: change, transitionc: (1): conveyance of persons or things from one place to another(2): usu. local transportation especially of people by public conveyance;

also: vehicles or a system engaged in such transportationMerriam-Webster online dictionary (USA)

A world in transit...

Definition via the iconic mapIt’s an exciting time for us new cartographers in the United States asmany cities are still waiting to bedefined through transit and schematicmaps. And while digital technologiesand Google enter the playing field ascompetitors, they cannot replace cartography the same way books cannot be replaced by an iPad. On thecontrary, new cartographers shouldtake the opportunity to sharpen theirsoftware skills and adapt age-old standards to new technologies.

But, where should we hone our skillsexactly? What is needed in transit? Andcan we apply the same standards torail, bus, and bike maps alike?

Marketing Director at Urban Trans,Laura McGonigal says, ‘new railway systems aren’t being developed’ and‘the trend is in bus rapid transit.’ Shefollows the lead of revolutionary urbanplanner and politician, Jaime Lerner,who implemented the BRT system asmayor of Curitiba.

Buses are extremely effective in theeyes of planners but penalised by

travelers because of their generallycomplex and confusing maps. Guomentions, ‘It is difficult to determinethe alignment of a bus route and the

locations of stops and terminals,’ and that ‘it is hard to go through all the printouts to identify the best bus route.’

Bus maps are also a challengebecause routes are subject to frequent change and need to display a lot of information. At Carticulate, we found designing bus maps was a great exercise in usability and anopportunity to improve transit.

The Chicago 1938 Rapid Transit Lines Map is a great place to look for inspiration on bus maps forAmerican cities. The Chicago TransitAuthority makes a habit of consultingcustomers before making changes tothe maps, thereby shaping their targetaudience when deciding how to integrate a map’s competing elements.An example we like to follow as goodpractice in marketing and usability testing.

Colour and communicationStudies show that users absorb little ofthe available information, so we ensurethat clear communication of the necessary information is our ultimategoal. For a recent project my businesspartner and I debated whether or not toinclude street detail on a bus map.Guo mentions in his article that addingcolor to transit lines with high streetdetail ‘led to greater trip planning accuracy, less perceived difficulty, lessfrustration, and higher confidence,’ andblack and white maps had the oppositeaffect. In trying to avoid clutter, wedecided to go with the San Franciscobus map model.

Peet, O’Malley and Miser, in the article ‘Who Drained the Thames’,

stress the need to aid a traveler atevery point in their journey, before, during and after the trip. ‘Identifying thecustomer wants and needs lets youknow how to design the map… (usingpublic transit) should be as seamlessas operating an iPod.’ They emphasisethat a map is in effect the ‘instructionmanual’ and you should not need aseparate manual to operate it.

McGonigal, who specialises in behaviour change marketing, notes thatcustomer trust is a huge barrier to transit. ‘People need to be sure they’llget where they want to, they’re lookingfor mobility.’ The map can provide thissecurity by giving that guaranteethrough actual geography.

Although we have been focusing onbus maps, other forms of transit suchas bike, car-share, tram and light railare emerging that delve into manyother issues. It’s interesting for us towatch the movement of the petition inimplementing the new London CycleMap and I am looking forward to seeing the end results.

It’s refreshing for us newly-graduatedand entering the field to see the impactcartography has on transit. To escapethe business aspect, and see how wecan help people love their cities andget out of their cars is excellent motivation. As young cartographers, our experiences of traveling on andusing inexpensive transit systems aregreater than most and as a result weare passionate about using and improving it through whatever meanswe have.

Kate ChanbaCarticulate

www.carticulatemaps.com

Maplines / Summer 2011 • 7Visit the BCS website at www.cartography.org.uk

Travel mapping

Shrigley Hall Hotel and CountryClub in the beautiful Cheshirecountryside was the setting for

this year’s Annual Symposium. Withfees held for the third consecutive year,delegate numbers were up once again.We also welcomed a lot of new facesto what proved to be a packedSymposium, which as usual included ahost of activities. In addition to the conference programme, which wascomplemented by the biennial Helen Wallis Lecture, there was theExhibition, Schools Workshop, GIS SIGworkshop, and the inaugural golf championship. The conference theme‘The Power of the Image’ concentratedon the way in which good cartographycan get its message across in a varietyof media, this as one delegate commented ‘was well represented in may varied talks throughout theweek’ PSNI.

For the organisers and the hardy few,the event began on Tuesday eveningwith setting up of the exhibition space, the Awards display and final preparations for the Schools’ ‘RestlessEarth Workshop’.

Wednesday saw a very successfulreprise of our Schools event and continued that afternoon with the GISSpecial Interest Group see page 11.

The Exhibition was officially opened bythe Vice President on Wednesdayevening and was followed by theMystery Quiz. The Exhibition has grownconsiderably over the last few years. Asone exhibitor commented ‘this is anideal event for both networking andlearning about new developments’STAR-APIC. The Quiz was even moredevious than last year and in anattempt to defeat the smart phone generation it was mostly based on topics that you just couldn’t Google.These included making and flying paperaeroplanes and trying to identify fruittea bag flavours. Despite getting all tenflavours correct the ‘Map Chaps’ lostout to the ‘Uncivil Servants’ by lessthan a point when all the rounds hadbeen completed.

The conference programme opened onThursday morning with the SpecialityMapping session which included somefascinating presentations on aspects of mapping that we don’t necessarilyalways think of. The use of sound

to provide clues for those who are visually impaired and design decisionsat the OS for those who have problemsdistinguishing colour, proved to be afascinating insight into how we takethings for granted.

Last year, the introduction of the icebreaker proved a popular addition to the programme. As delegatesresponded so positively, we ran it againthis year, although in a dramatically different format. Who would havethought that you could construct atower almost a metre high just out ofjelly babies and cocktail sticks? Somevery creative designs were produced,although one or two proved to be a bit too flimsy and didn’t meet the free-standing criterion.

Our workshop session included a visitto Macclesfield Silk Museum, includinga chance to view the Escape & Evasioncharts printed on silk for aircrew inWorld War II. For those who stayed atShrigley the choices were very variedfrom Mary Spence’s ever-popular cartographic surgery, to statistics onmaps, 3D modelling and details on theEuropean INSPIRE initiative.

The afternoon talks examined the current state of cartography in the UK,especially in light of the internet making cartographers of all of us. Wewere exposed to the huge range ofdata that is now readily available andwhat we could use it for and finishedwith a summary of some of theresearch that is currently taking placeunder the auspices of the InternationalCartographic Association (ICA).

Day one closed with the biennial HelenWallis Memorial Lecture. This year thelecture was delivered by Peter Barber,Head of Cartographic and TopographicMaterials at the British Library and thelead presenter of the BBC’s ‘Beauty of Maps’ series. His excellent presentation on how maps have beenused to symbolise so many ideas andbeliefs over the years was very fittingfor the occasion and the theme.

Thursday evening saw us move to ourGala Dinner and Awards Ceremony. TheBCS recognises excellence in cartography through its Annual Awards.Our congratulations go to all this yearsaward winners.

The Friday morning session openedwith talks on Cartographic Design, thefirst of which was a very well receivedpaper on one of our most iconicimages, the London Underground Map.We were also asked to think about howwe orientate maps and information,especially in schematic maps and theuse of language and portrayal to convey meaning clearly to the users.The workshop session covered a wide variety of topics, including 3D visualisation, field survey integrationand maps in the media as well asreprising the popular human geography session from last year.Something to suit everyone’s tasteincluding a practical field exercise runby Leica.

The final session on Friday afternoonlooked at Symbolisation and Portrayal,with the 3D element again very muchto the fore. Presentations from the Met Police and the Cabinet Office highlighted some of the issues surrounding the integration of data andthe importance of common portrayal,especially when working with multipleemergency responders.

The hardy few who survived untilSaturday morning had a leisurely breakfast and then the even hardiergolfers headed off to play on Shrigley’sGolf Course. Described in the flyer asthe chance to ’enjoy a relaxing game’,the author obviously hadn’t walked thecourse to realise just how hilly it is.

Judged by the feedback from delegates, this was another successful Symposium:

‘well run event with excellent informative speakers and workshops.Very enjoyable couple of days with goodnetworking opportunities’ Environment Systems.

‘Very thought provoking and informative, I thoroughly enjoyed theSymposium’ Defence Geographic Centre.

Finally I would like to thank all our corporate sponsors whose generositycontributes to the Symposium, thisyear our platinum sponsors whereAutodesk, Bentley Systems UK,Cadcorp, Esri UK, Europa Technologies,Ordnance Survey and Victoria Litho.

Continued on page 10...


BCS Symposium 2011


The Pow

er of the Image

When it wasmentioned ata Council

Meeting in 2010 that Shrigley Hallwas to be the venue for the 2011BCS Symposium someone suggested that as Shrigley had arather good golf course that perhapsa golf competition might be held.Our President, a keen golfer, hadfound on his golfing travels inAmerica a golden golf ball on acourse somewhere and after further discussion the ‘President’sGolf Ball Trophy’ Golf Competitionwas initiated.

So on a fairly sunny, but windySaturday in June, four intrepidgolfers, Andy Wilson, Mark Fairbairn,Peter Jones and myself –unfortunately our President could notbe with us – went out to vie for thisprestigious trophy. On the first fewholes the points were equally sharedbut it was quite obvious that ‘LadyLuck’ was riding in Andy Wilson’sbuggy. At the end of the first nineholes Andy was in the lead followedby Mark, myself and Peter. The backnine of the course was unfamiliarterritory to me, and as Andy and

Mark were nowplaying thecourse for the

third time in three days Peter and Ifollowed them. Andy’s skill and luckcame into play on these final holes,making pars and even a birdie, Markand Peter doggedly tried to keep upwith him whilst my game fadedsomewhat. At the end of the day ourworthy winner with 39 points wasAndy Wilson, followed by MarkFairbairn, myself and Peter Jones.

An extremely good day was had byall, some good and some bad golfwas played but I believe all four ofus thoroughly enjoyed it and we areall looking forward to next year withperhaps of few more competitors.

My only claim to fame (shame) wasthat during a practice nine holes onthe Friday, pure laziness on my partcaused me to shank a shot and I hit the buggy I wasusing and put a small chip in the windscreen much to the amusement of Messrs Wilson andFairbairn.

Roger HoreBCS Administrator


The President’s Golden Ball

...continued from page 8Gold sponsors included GISProfessional, Imray and STAR-APIC.Silver sponsors were GlobalMapping, Newgrove and Steer DaviesGleave.

We are starting work now onSymposium 2012; we haven’t yetfinalised a venue, so keep an eye out on the BCS website. We look forward to welcoming even more ofyou next year.

Pete JonesChair, Programme Committee

Following the success of the‘Restless Earth Workshop’ forschools last year, we ran the

event again this year on theWednesday morning. So successfulhad it been last year in fact thatdemand far outstripped the availableplaces, with the maximum of sixschools signed up for each of thetwo sessions.

The scenario was basically the same

as last year, simply relocated halfwayaround the World from Haiti toJapan. Basing the disaster responseexercise in and around Sendai, thefirst challenge for the schools wasthat most of the hardcopy mappingwas in Japanese. They all rose tothe task very well, however, and afteran initial period of mild panic theroom was soon buzzing as theteams worked out how to get theirmap completed.

Very positive feedback from staffand pupils alike would suggest thatwe have hit upon a winning formula.We will be looking to develop theexercise between Symposia by taking it out to schools in order toopen it up to far more students.

Pete JonesChair, Programme Committee

The aim of the GIS SIG at theSymposium was to discuss thechallenges of 3D visualisation

and how cartographic thinking has arole to play in this increasinglyimportant area.

Questions of how best to resolveconflicting features such as ‘billboard’ text and how to depictfeatures that are being obscuredwere raised, if not fully answered.Representatives from the BritishGeological Survey, Google, Luciadand Esri Inc showcased their workand the tools that they utilise to create 3D scenes. Geology, airspaceand university campus mapping provide differing challenges for the

data modeller, the cartographer andthe end user.

The technical presentations werecomplemented by an open discussion on the challenges ofmodelling 3D data, lead by SeppeCassettari of the GeoInformationGroup. Increasingly organisationsusing 3D data want to perform accurate analyses such as ‘line ofsight’. How can we capture accuratedata in an economical manner?Seppe provided good food forthought for all those interested inworking in this area.

The workshop showcased a selection of the leading edge

applications for 3D visualisationtechniques available to the GIS community. Quality of data, usabilityand cartographic visualisation provided the theme for all presenters. I’m sure we will seethese technologies evolve rapidlyover the coming years.

3D cartography is an area thatshould not be ignored as it willinevitably provide members of thesociety with some unique challengeswhich will only be resolved throughinnovative thinking and design.

Rob Sharpe Convener, GIS SIG


BCS Symposium 2011

GIS Special Interest Group

‘The Restless Earth’ Schools Event


The BCS Awards

• The prestigious BCSAward and the StanfordsAward for PrintedMapping Products wasgiven to Global Mappingfor their product ‘TheEnvironmental World’.

• The John C. BartholomewAward for Small ScaleMapping presented to Dr Kenneth Field for ‘TheBeautiful Game: A World of Football’

• The Henry Johns Award,presented to the author ofthe best article publishedin The CartographicJournal during the year,was given to Helen Jenny,Bernhard Jenny andLorenz Hurni for their article ‘Interactive 3DMaps with ProgressiveProjection’.

Entry forms for the 2012BCS Awards will be available on the BCS website from 1 September 2011

• The Avenza Award forElectronic Mapping Productsgiven to the Ordnance Surveyfor their product ‘OSVectorMap™ District (BETA)’


Q: Steve, you’re our new AwardsOfficer. How did you get the role?A: About two years ago Cliff Nicklintelephoned me one Sunday afternoon to suggest that I give itand the Membership Committee a go. So I did.

Q: How has your first full year asAwards Officer been?A: I’ve been told ’You’ve crackedit…!’ It’s been a busy year for meso I wasn’t sure that I’d be able tomeet the commitment but the BCShas been incredibly supportive andsomeone has always been there tohelp called either Ken, Roger, Claireor Fiona. So I’ve learnt from themwhat I needed to. I can’t thank them enough.

Q: What was the main thing you learnt?A: Buy quality blu-tack…

Q: What started your interest in geographical information?A: In cartography I’d have to sayClose Encounters of the Third Kind.Why? Well until I saw that film as ayoungster I’d never thought someoneactually made maps, they were justthere, sheets of lines that helpedyou get lost on holiday. Watch it andyou’ll see what I mean.

Q: How long have you worked withgeographical information?A: I’ve worked in local authority fornearly 25 years; most of that timehas been spent in Planning, Propertyor Highways & Countryside; surveying and researching datawhich I’d later map. So all the wayfrom pen and ink to GIS.

Q: Which do you prefer?A: As a hobby, I paint in watercolours and oils, so without wantingto sound like a Luddite, pen, ink anda good drawing board can’t be beaten...mmm, the smell of ink inthe morning! But GIS has its placeand is the future; it’s only a tool. Ifeel the term GIS is overused andhas lead to a lot of people thinking

that because they use GIS they canmap things well.

We just have to be mindful andremember good cartographic practices and principles and seethat they are not forgotten, that’swhy the BCS is so important.

Q: What is your day job?A: I’m the Mapping Manager inEnvironmental Services atWorcestershire County Council, tooverview and coordinate the mapping functions of the directorate,and where possible to bring aboutthe integration of systems. TheDirector of Environmental Services,John Hobbs who understands the importance of good mapping and therole GIS has to play in the directorate’s business has put gasunder the idea and driven it forward.

At the moment I’m heavily involvedwith the mapping element of theFlood & Water Management Act2010, so I’ll be busy for sometimeto come, it’s a constantly evolvingarea of work, and one that has

allowed me to bring good cartography to good use.

Q: SatNav or paper maps?A: I recently borrowed a SatNav thattold me to turn the wrong way on toa new one-way system in Reading;thankfully I realised in time. I blamethe machines, they make you lazy.Paper maps make you consider yourroute and are reliable; you can’t beata good map.

Q: Favourite Map?A: One that hangs high on a wall inmy accountant’s office. It’s handdrawn and is more a work of art, anoriginal. I’ve never figured out whereit portrays, and I’ve never asked, themystery of it makes it special.

Q: Can you tell us about next year’sAwards?A: I’m currently working on a number of proposals for the BCSCouncil to consider. There arechanges to how we do things, suggestions for everyone to work onand consider as a team, the mainone being bringing the opening dateof the Awards forward, so from 1st

September this year, we’ll be accepting entries right up until theclosing date at the end of March2012. I’m already speaking with theSponsors to see how we can worktogether to promote the Awards andraise awareness. I also want to seemore international entries.

Q: And the future? How might theAwards develop?A: From my point of view the Awardsceremony is going to get a revamp. I want the audience to see the

winning maps projected up on a bigscreen. I’d also like to have videosof the winners’ entries talking abouttheir map, the purpose of it and theprocess that went into making it;also projected up on a big screen,just before they accept their award. I think it would modernise and addinterest to an already fun occasion.

I also want to see the sponsorsmore involved with the presentationof their awards. And possibly the addition of a new award but that isstill in the early stages.

Q: Any thoughts about the role of theAwards in the BCS’s 50th Anniversaryin 2013?A: Yes, too many to go through herebut its going to be a very specialoccasion. I’d like to see the 50thAnniversary marked with a newaward to celebrate the occasion,something to mark a significant contribution to cartography award,but as I say, it’s still early days.

Once I have firm ideas, then I’ll leteveryone know, so keep readingMaplines and visit the BCS website.

Five mins with our new Awards Officer

Steve Lambe recently became theBCS Awards Officer, presiding overhis first Awards ceremony at thisyear’s Symposium, which is wherewe caught up with him.

24 March, 2011 and the BritishCartographic Society (BCS) finallymade it across the pond toNorthern Ireland to host anotherseminar in the successful BetterMapping Series. For this inauguralseminar for the region, a total of 29eager delegates punctually arrived atColby House, Land & PropertyServices (LPS), the HQ of OrdnanceSurvey of Northern Ireland Mappingand were warmly welcomed by ourProgramme Committee Chairperson,Peter Jones MBE and the ActingDirector of Data, Information andSystems, Trevor Steenson.

The idea of these seminars is toimpart the message that maps can often be improved to make a better product, but also to help communicate to anyone who works with maps some tips and suggestions that they can take intotheir basic design. To help achievethis, a full programme had beenarranged, mixing Home and AwayTeams of expert presenters who introduced a wide range of topics andmethods to the forum. The HomeTeam being a selection of local presenters from NI discussing examples of their work and experience. The Away Team consisted of expert BCS presentersexplaining and demonstrating the principles of good cartographic

The Away TeamMary Spence MBE,

Global MappingGiles Darkes,

Cartographic ConsultantClare Seldon,

Steer Davies GleavePeter Jones MBE,

Defence Geographic Centre

The Home TeamTrevor Steenson,

LPS (OSNI)Claire McGinn,

Geological Survey NI (GSNI)Davie Cairns,

Police Service of Northern IrelandValerie Miskimmon MBE,

LPS (OSNI)

practice in both digital and hard copy mapping.

Short, well constructed, 20 minute presentations throughout the day keptthe audience fresh, interested and wellinformed. This also ensured that therewas little slippage on the timetable.The first session kicked off with MarySpence introducing some examples ofgood and bad mapping and discussingwhat makes these good or bad. GilesDarkes took over with a look at the history of it all, explaining Projectionsand Datums (which in 20 minutes isno mean feat!). Clare Seldon was next,explaining how to source good datawith a few examples and useful links.The final presentation of the sessionwas from Claire McGinn, who ablydemonstrated how GSNI and BGShave been working to improve theimaging of Geochemical Data.

After coffee and scones, the secondsession was again started and this time finished by Mary who introduced the principles of good mapdesign and then progressed thistheme after Trevor Steenson had spoken. Trevor discussed the continued need for paper mapping ina digital society and the lessons wedraw from this need. He gave a veryrelevant point of where nearly everyone who goes to a strange town picksup a ‘freebee’ map to see where theyare (and this is still better than thedigital alternatives). At last lunch!

During the buffet lunch, delegates hadthe opportunity to visit the GSNI 3DImmersive Suite in Colby House andbe shown examples of terrain modelling under water, subsurface andon the surface of Northern Ireland byClaire McGinn. A fascinating 3D viewof the spectacular offshore seabedaround Rathlin Island in Co. Antrimwas shown and there was also a demonstration of a LIDAR scan of theunderground Marble Arch cave network in Co. Fermanagh. The purpose of the 3D demos was to illustrate how mapping had advancedfrom paper to digital. Claire illustrated how the GSNI hasadvanced their mapping by movingfrom 2D cross sections to 3D

models showing the cross sectionsand their volumes. It was also demonstrated how field surveyors canuse the software to carry out desktopanalyses to be more efficient in thefield and reduce costs and time.

After lunch Clare Seldon looked at themain principles in designing for theweb and multiple products. She discussed the age old problem ofTime versus Quality versus Moneywhen designing new products. My turnon the lectern next, to present howand why PSNI survey and map scenesof serious crime. By demonstrating cartography and imaging from a recentMurder Case I was able to show howcourts have benefited from betterinteraction with digital evidence. Maryclosed this session with the last ofher guides to the principles of goodmap design. ‘It is now fair to say that we all understand the term Figure-ground after this!’

The final session of presentationsstarted with a table top critique onsample maps, good and bad. Steeredby Giles, this progressed to a groupdiscussion using each sample map asan example of what works well and ofcourse what just doesn’t work cartographically. Giles went on to discuss with the group how best topresent data using mapping to ensurethat accurate figures are all that theyseem. Mary summarised the day witha quick run through of the basic principles of cartographic design andgood mapping. To sum up in Mary’swords;

• Poor mapping = poor communication

• Poor communication = poor decision making

• And poor decision making leads togoodness knows what

As Peter Jones concluded and passedon his thanks to the speakers and inparticular Valerie Miskimmon who hadfacilitated the Seminar on behalf ofLPS (OSNI), the delegates completedan evaluation sheet for the BCS. Weasked attendees to rate us on nineseparate topics and achieved 95% orbetter, rating us Good or above (V Good

Better Mapping...


and Excellent) on all nine categories. In fact we scored 100% on Topics,Speakers, Organisation and Value forMoney. Of a total of 246 individualmarks only 5 were ‘Fair’ and none were ‘Poor’.

The seminar delegates came from:Department of Enterprise, Trade andDevelopment, DOE Planning Service,Waterways Ireland, Mapping Service –Forest Service, Land & PropertyServices, Analytical Services Unit –Department for Social Development,NISRA, Northern Ireland EnvironmentAgency and last but by no meansleast Mapping Section – PoliceService Northern Ireland. I’ve includedhere some of the comments from people who were happy for their comments to be used. I’ve obviouslypicked out some of the best, but theywere all positive.

‘excellent presentations - definitelyhelps day to day work’

‘most enjoyable and enlightening -filled in lots of gaps - thank you’

‘very informative: nice friendlyrelaxed atmosphere’

‘gave a good insight into whatmakes better looking and functional

maps’

‘I found this seminar very interesting. I definitely gained new

techniques for creating digital mapsparticularly within a GIS’

All attendees were presented with acopy of the BCS booklet,Cartography: an introduction, which I recommend to anyone who does

not possess a copy as yet. One dele-gate (who will remain nameless, butyou know who you are!) welcomedthis gift as a reason not to takenotes during the course of the day.In my opinion the day was a resounding success and lays a firmmarker for future BCS events inNorthern Ireland. My thanks must gothe Away Team; Peter, Mary, Gilesand Clare for taking the time tocome over to host the day. To theHome Team, Trevor and Claire (can’tthank myself) for their presentationsand lastly Valerie and all the LPSstaff for their warm welcome back toColby House.

Davie CairnsSenior Mapping Officer

Police Service of Northern IrelandHome Team Member

...is Belfast any better?


From 3rd to 8th July, over 1,300delegates from all around theworld descended upon the ‘City of

Light’ to gain an ‘enlightened view oncartography and GIS’ at the 25thInternational Cartographic Conference(ICC) of the International CartographicAssociation (ICA). The event markedthe 50th anniversary of the firstGeneral Assembly of the ICA, held inParis in 1961. This time, the main conference venue was the Palais deCongrès, an enormous modern buildinglocated to the northwest of the city,which has played host to a number of distinguished international events – not least the Eurovision Song Contestin 1978!

The scientific programme of the conference was, as might be expected, enormously wide ranging,with several hundred presentations.These included a special session celebrating the work of French cartographer Jacques Bertin (1918 – 2010), which was attended by members of his immediate family. With up to 10 sessions running in parallel, there were hard decisions to be made about what to see.

My personal highlights included the development ofnew software for rock-drawing,

...by Bernhard Jenny (Switzerland), who,when asked if the Swiss might consideradopting methods derived from othernational traditions, remarked that suchan approach was unlikely because ‘wewill do it the Swiss way’. Another wasthe study undertaken by Paulo Raposo and Cynthia Brewer (United States)comparing various designs for a newseries of USGS (United StatesGeological Service) topographic mapsto incorporate aerial imagery, whichrevealed that the landscape held moresway over users than the cartography!As a presenter, I was particularlypleased to discover the Parisian

method of controlling speakers wasmore familiar to me than the trafficlights of doom at ICC 2009.

At each end of the week, I had the honour of representing the UK at theICA General Assembly meetings alongside David Forrest. Not only didthese offer a privileged insight into theworkings of the ICA, and the truly international nature of the organisationand its activities, but also the opportunity to vote on a range ofissues, from changing Bulgaria’s national representation to the ICA todeciding the location of ICC 2015.Counting the votes sometimes took awhile and it was good to see at least

ICC Paris 2011: a reflection


one ICA Vice-President making gooduse of his time by reading our nationalreport in the Cartographic Journal.

Aside from the scientific presentationsand delegate meetings, there wereopportunities to attend technical visitsand enjoyable social events at interesting venues. For example, thevisit to IGN (Institut GéographiqueNational) provided a thorough exposition of the current activities ofthe state mapping agency and anopportunity to see cartographers proudly working on the ‘fourth map of France’, no doubt in the spirit of Cassini.

Paris exudes vitality and thereseems to be a real energyemanating from the city,

...which helped to sustain many a longwalk in the wee hours, often due to theMetro shutting rather abruptly, an experience of mine not too dissimilarto that of Moscow in 2007. Havingsaid this, I should note that my enthusiasm for joining a scheduledwalk along the Paris Meridian swiftlyevaporated when I realised that itbegan at 6.30am and not 6.30pm. For me, the most fascinating event wasa drinks reception in the MuséeNational de la Marine at the Place duTrocadero, in which delegates mingledalongside Napoleon’s barge and exquisitely detailed model ships fromdifferent ages.

Later in the week, a special receptionfor national representatives and

commission chairs was held at theGerman Embassy for a preview of ICCDresden in 2013. Speaking of theinternational role of cartography witheloquence, the Science Attaché wasaccompanied, rather amusingly, by afilm playing in the background that promoted Dresden and illustrated various inventions to which the city had given birth, including the bra andfilter cigarettes.

Towards the end of the conference, the Bibliothèque national de Franceprovided the venue for the much anticipated ‘Gala Evening’.Unfortunately, being an evening of aperitifs, it fell rather short in meeting the expectations of the delegates, the size of whose appetitesechoed the venue’s huge pair ofCoronelli globes made for the Sun KingLouis XIV in 1683.

The international exhibitions ofthe ICC showcase the latestdevelopments in the industry

...and also display the best examplesof cartographic products, which compete for a series of internationalprizes. It was noticeable that electronicmapping products in the map exhibitionwere still not adequately catered for,which is a pity when the genre is notonly firmly established but constitutesthe nature of ubiquitous mapping today.As usual, the quality of exhibitors andmaps was extremely high and it wasparticularly pleasing to see a UKentrant win the Thematic Map category- Ken Field’s The Beautiful Game,

which was described by the judges as ‘cheeky’!

In all, ICC 2011 was an excellent conference, with a good range of highquality presentations and exhibitions.In talking to delegates and sharing intheir enthusiasm, what struck me themost was the passion and identity thatcontinues to fire and shape our field.This conference marks the end of Prof.William Cartwright’s successful leadership of the ICA, with Prof. GeorgGartner of Vienna Technical University(TU Wien) taking over as the newPresident in the Closing Ceremony.Having participated in his series of successful Symposia in Vienna, I lookforward to seeing how Prof. Gartner willsteer the ICA and have no doubt thatthe international standing of cartography will continue to go fromstrength to strength.

Alexander [email protected]


ICA 2011

Cou

rtes

y of

w

ww

.str

ange

map

s.w

ordp

ress

.com


LegendsThe purpose of a legend is to explainmap symbols. Not all maps need alegend, but the more technical orspecialist the map, the more it’s likely to need one. Any legend shouldbe comprehensive and include all thesymbols shown on the map, even if they are familiar; only omit basicinformation (like roads and rivers) ifyou really don’t have room. Symbolsshould be shown in the legend exactly the same size, colour andmanner as on the map.

When considering the layout of a legend, group related features together. For example, anything to do with railways (track symbols, stations, level crossings, etc.) should appear together. It’s alsousual to group symbols of the same graphic type together where appropriate, so all the point symbolsshould be in the same part of thelegend and likewise the line and thearea symbols.

Legends for thematic maps need toreflect the type of data shown. If theinformation is qualitative (like landuse or vegetation) then often the legend looks more authoritative if the coloured legend boxes are

separated, showing that each item is discrete. In contrast, if the information is quantitative (rankedstatistical data), then the legendboxes should adjoin. Decide if thehighest value is going to be at thebottom or, more usually, at the top.The labels should either show thedata range for each box (201–300)or the cartographer can label thebreaks between classes, which maymake the legend easier to read. Ifyou are showing proportional symbols (such as scaled circles orsquares) then the legend shouldshow at least three representativesymbols which often include thesmallest and largest symbol used.

Omnium GatherumNotes from theCarto-Guru

David Irvine – TravellingCartographer

As Maplines only comes out threetimes a year, much water goesunder the bridge between issues.You can imagine my surprisewhen I logged on to David’s blogto discover that he was now walking from John O’Groats toLand’s End!! The last time Ilooked he was in the southernhemisphere. The blog has all thedetails. We will try to pin himdown and see if he will give us adetailed account of his travels fora future issue of Maplines.

Follow David’s travels on his blogon: http://davetreks.blogspot.comwhere there are many wonderfulphotographs.

The Lost Rivers of London #10Black Ditch: Possibly rising nearSpitalfields, this river ran to MileEnd, curving into Poplar to end inthe Thames at Limehouse Dock. Itmay have been known by othernames but by the late 18th century,it was called the Black Ditch.

Contributions to Omnium Gatherumare always welcome. If you have any

map-related stories, facts orannouncements please send themto Martin Lubikowski on the Editors’

email address, see page 2.

Gough MapThe AHRC-funded LinguisticGeographies project website featuring the late medieval GoughMap of Great Britain is now up andrunning at: www.goughmap.org

The site's features includeamongst other things:

• A zoomable, pan-able digital version of the Gough Map – thismap is fully searchable and browse-able by place name (current and medieval) and alsoby geographical features. Onceclicking on a chosen location,information regarding that location's geographical appearance, etymology, appearance on earlier maps,and much, much more isrevealed

• A series of essays discussingthe map

• Latest news

• A report on the recent'Language of Maps' colloquiumheld in Oxford, 23-25 June

• A blog

This is an outcome of the collaborative project involvingQueen's University Belfast, KingsCollege London, and the BodleianLibrary.

MapHistMapHist, the Map HistoryDiscussion List, is an e-mail discussion group whose primaryfocus is historical maps, atlases,globes and other cartographic documents. The list is open to allpersons interested in the history ofcartography and discussion isencouraged on all aspects of thisbroad subject.

The primary purpose of MapHist isto encourage individuals to communicate current research; evaluate methods and tools ofanalysis; announce important acquisitions and news; announceposition vacancies; announce newpublications; investigate library holdings; and to share informationbetween conferences and theappearance of relevant journals.

Visit: www.maphist.nl

HucknallML Design recently produced anillustrated map of Hucknall towncentre for the Hucknall Tourism andRegeneration Group. This is part ofthe effort to bring new life to formermining areas.

The Gough Map and MapHistarticles appear courtesy of The Map

Room weblog, © 2011 Jonathan Croweunder a Creative Commons Licence.

Pass it On...Earlier this year The BritishCartographic Society was happy tosign up as one of the first officialSupporters of the London MappingFestival (LMF, as it has come to beknown). You may have heard of LMF,maybe you attended the launch or ifyou were at the Symposium in Juneyou would have had the opportunityto see the festival’s History ofLondon in Maps exhibition.

So what is LMF?LMF is an exciting and unique collaboration between all parts ofthe mapping and geographical communities to promote greaterawareness and understanding ofhow maps and digital geographicaldata are created and used. TheFestival launch on 6th June 2011 at the British Computer Society inCovent Garden included very amusing and hugely informativetalks by Simon Calder, Senior TravelEditor, The Independent, TV & RadioBroadcaster, and Nigel Woof, ChiefExecutive of Map Action. The Festivalwill run until the end of 2012, tocelebrate the UK’s mapping community, including cartography,GPS, remote sensing and aerial photography, GIS and surveying.

How is LMF run?LMF is not run by one organisation but by a steering group which actsas an umbrella and includes representatives from the commercial, academic and learnedsociety sectors. Several BCS members are on the steering groupincluding our President Peter Jolly.Any organisation with an interest in

mapping or related technologies iswelcome to sign up as an LMFSupporter and be part of this exciting initiative. Currently we haveover 40 Supporters including LondonTransport Museum, Steer DaviesGleave, AGI, TAG Fine Arts, LondonMap Fairs and Blue FoxTechnologies.

What will LMF do?LMF draws together and cross-promotes a whole range ofexisting events that are currently run by LMF Supporters around thecapital. For the duration of theFestival all these events will advertise the LMF logo and in returnthey will be promoted by the LMFteam, in the monthly enewsletter, onTwitter and on the LMF website,thereby publicising the event to awider audience. For example, theGIS Special Interest Group Meetingplanned for November is already partof the LMF calendar.

Throughout LMF Supporters willarrange some additional activitiesthat complement the existing eventcalendar. These include a mappingbased pub quiz, geocaching routes,and activities for schools. TheFestival will be officially closed on10 January 2013 with a grand charity dinner at Canary Wharf in aidof the festival’s chosen charityMapAction www.mapaction.org.

How can you get involved withLMF?There are two ways to get involved,either as an organisation or as anindividual. In both cases first visitwww.londonmappingfestival.org to

find out more about LMF.As an organisation join us as aSupporter. The Supporter’s fee isjust £200 (+VAT if VAT registered).The minimum exposure this providesis your logo and company descriptionon the LMF website. The maximumis entirely up to you; contributions tothe enewsletter and events, runningnew activities or simply providing avenue, giveaways etc.

As an individual you are welcome toattend any of the events advertisedon the calendar, some are free toattend others have a delegate fee.To ensure you are amongst the firstto hear about new events sign upthe e-newsletter, www.londonmap-pingfestival.org/newsletter/ or followus on Twitter (#lmfest).

And FinallyAs an official supporter BCS is committed to promoting the festivalas widely as possible. Please helpus do this by letting others knowabout it and encouraging yourfriends, family or work colleagues toget involved. In the words of the festival slogan ‘Pass it on…’If there is one word we have heardover and over again when talking toprospective supporters it is the word‘exciting’. This unique collaborationpromises to be exciting, innovativeand just lots of fun. Join in and bepart of what will be a unique opportunity for the UK mapping community to tell the world all aboutwhat it does.

Fiona CocksLead Coordinator of the LMF

Steering Group


a miscellaneous collection of people and things

The London Mapping Festival 2011 – 2012


David Brawn is pleased toreport the successful negotiation of partnering

agreements with two of the UK’sleading digital mapping platforms,Memory Map and Mapyx Quo.

‘We have been working on the agreements since meeting at theOutdoors Trade Show last year, so itis very pleasing to report successfulagreements with these leading UKcompanies. Tour & Trail Maps, conventionally published byDiscovery Walking Guides Ltd, willnow be available as direct digitaldownloads to more than 300,000clients of Memory Map and Quo.This gives my Tour & Trail mapping avastly increased reach in the digitalmarket place and I expect this toalso be reflected in an increase in conventional map sales of Tour &Trail Maps’.

Memory Map and Mapyx Quo agreements have coincided with abatch of new Tour & Trail Maps beingpublished for La Gomera, La Palma,Axarquia and Tenerife Hikers’ Maps,all these new editions being ‘Super-Durable’ versions printed onPolyart.

David, and DWG, have a unique viewon the link between digital and printed maps: ‘We see a synergybetween digital and printed products.What you see on screen is also themap you want to unfold across yourdesk/table for overall planning ofyour adventures. Every time a client downloads a digital map we willexpect them to buy the printed version in the near future, unlikeother map publishers who see a ‘digital sale’ as a ‘lost printed sale’.Since Tour & Trail Maps have beenoffered as digital downloads we haveseen a very satisfying increase inour printed map sales.’

‘Digital has revolutionised how mapsare used, just think sat-nav, while publishing is being reluctantly revolutionised by digital downloads,think Kindle. I have an interestingtest project producing interactiveresort maps that will be publishedas smart phone apps while the

conventional printed map will be aspin off from the digital project. Inthe immediate future I will be producing new T&T mapping in printed and digital versions alongwith interactive resort map appswhile DWG is working on wholly digital versions of our ‘Walk!’ guidebooks which will be downloadablecomplete with Tour & Trail mappingas apps downloading direct ontosmart phones.’

David’s comment on the future of cartography and mapping could ringtrue for many BCS members. ‘Digitalhas presented cartographers with awonderful opportunity to use theirskills and expertise producing themapping and map applications people want to use without theexpense of conventional map publication. Thanks to GPS equippedsmart phones the market for thesenew cartographic apps is numberedin millions of users and growing daily.Even the most esoteric of mapping ideas could find a viablesmart phone market even though theconventional equivalent printed mapmight be declared ‘uneconomic’.

In these exciting digital times I amconfident we will see the rise of newcartographic entrepreneurs deliveringtheir products (low price or free) in digital apps form to the rapidlyexpanding smart phone market.’

David BrawnDiscovery Walking Guides

People • Companies • Products

Tour & Trail Maps on Digital Platforms

New Managing Director for UK GIS company Cadcorp

Cadcorp, the UK based developerand supplier of GIS and web mapping software, has appointed Dr. Martin McGarry as ManagingDirector.

The appointment was announcedrecently by CEO, Mike O’Neil. ‘It is a logical progress for both Martin andCadcorp,’ he explained. ‘Martin hasnine years’ service with the company and in that time has donean excellent job as Sales andMarketing Director and more recently as Operations Director. Itwas always the intention that Martinwould take over the role of Managing Director. As Chairman ofthe Board of Directors and CEO, Icontinue overall management of thecompany which we founded 20 yearsago. I have every confidence in

Martin’s abilities to continue to buildon our success.’

Martin McGarry joined Cadcorp in2002 as Sales and Marketing Manager, prior to which he hadspent five years as managing director at Informatix SoftwareInternational Ltd. in Cambridge. With a PhD in civil engineering fromthe University of Leeds, he beganhis career in computing as a programmer with Applied Researchof Cambridge where he worked onthe GDS system. He continued hiscareer with Amazon Computers,McDonnell Douglas, EDS, HewlettPackard and the Convergent Groupbefore joining Informatix in 1997.

Richard SpoonerCadcorp

www.cadcorp.com

Steer Davies Gleave sponsored theInternational CartographicAssociation’s Workshop on ‘UserIssues in Geospatial PublicTransport Information’, which washeld in Paris on July 1-2.

This was the first international workshop focusing on the use andusability of public transport maps,websites and mobile services. Thetwo day event incorporated presentations, discussion sessionsand a display of maps and websites. Steer Davies Gleave’sClare Seldon presented two papersat the workshop:• Empowering users to make alternative travel choices: a look

at how Geospatial informationcan aid that decision process

• Automation tools for the production of public transportmaps: a Roman tale

The workshop also saw SteerDavies Gleave demonstrate theironline journey planning capabilities,looking at how users can accessreal-time, dynamically sourced public transport information inorder to plan a journey.

More information on the outcomesof the Workshop will be availableat www.univie.ac.at/icacomuseMore about Steer Davies Gleave -www.steerdaviesgleave.com


Corporate NewsPeople • Companies • Products

BCS has nearly 70 CorporateMembers including GI system suppliers, map publishers, value-added re-sellers, governmentdepartments, agencies and tradingfunds, emergency services andacademia, representing a widediversity of cartography, map making and geographical information science.

My first contact with Corporate Members was in the Spring whenI canvassed for their support in sponsoring the 2011 Symposium.Some members I have known formany years; others were new tome. I was pleasantly surprised atthe enthusiasm shown towardsBCS and the way they stepped upto the plate with sponsorship ofone kind or another. This kind ofsupport is vital if the Society is tocontinue to prosper and grow.Thank you!

I will be contacting all CorporateMembers after the summer breakto explore how they will gain valueand benefit from advertising inMaplines. I would encourage youall to place articles, press releases and advertising inMaplines which has a developingreadership in the UK and abroad. I would therefore encourage youall to consider Maplines as a cost effective way of communicatingwith the wider UK cartographiccommunity.

John Pepper Corporate Liaison Officer

Advertising in Maplines connectsdirectly to key decision makers inthe UK Cartographic community.

For more details contact the Editors:[email protected]

STEER DAVIES GLEAVE

SubscriptionsThere are four methods of payment:• on-line at www.cartography.org.uk• personal cheque payable to TheBritish Cartographic Society (or forOverseas Members a SterlingDraft payable in London).

• Visa/Mastercard/Deltacredit/debit card. You can do thisover the phone to the AdminOffice (0115 9328684).

• Standing Order (UK bank accountholders only).

Receipts are being sent out as usualbut please note that membershipcards will only be replaced if lost ordamaged.

New Members:The Society has the pleasure of welcoming the following new members who have joined theSociety since publication of theSpring 2011 edition of Maplines.

Corporate Members:Croydecycle, EOSGIS SL (Spain)Nick Rowland AssociatesIM&GIS Royal HaskoningQueensland Department of Transport

UK Members:Dr M. Athanson, Mr D.P. Atkinson, Mr J. Bartholomew, Dr B.J.F. Clark,Mr G. Da Rios, Mr D. Eamer, Mr M. Garritty, Mrs A. Gentleman, Mr M.J. Hagger, Dr J. Harley, Mr M. Longman, Mr C. Patchett, Mrs L Sawyer, Miss J.C.A. Sprague,Mr S Turner.

Overseas Members:Mr P. Fay (USA), Mr S. Gates(Australia), Mr P. Halton (Ireland), Mr R.H.P. Smith (Spain)Mr P. Wilson (USA).

Honorary Fellows:At its meeting in June 2011, Councilwas pleased to award Fellowship status to Mr Alan Godfrey MBE.

BCS CouncilAs reported in the Winter Edition ofMaplines the next round of BCSCouncil elections will take place inNovember, if any member wishes tobe nominated they are reminded thatall nomination forms must bereturned by 1 September 2011.Forms can be obtained from theAdministrator.

Administrators PleaOver the past few months membersmay have noticed that I have beensending out a lot of emails and,although I believe that I have ‘finetuned’ the address lists the occasional one or two are beingreturned with ‘undeliverable –address not found’. So if you havechanged your email address or areabout to in the near future please letyour Administrator know [email protected].

And finally...As I start one of my busiest times ofthe year – preparing the end of yearaccounts!! I can look back on the

few happy days I spent in early Juneat the BCS Symposium at ShrigleyHall near Macclesfield in Cheshire.My home is not too far away fromShrigley, some 50 miles, and to getthere my journey took me throughparts of The Peak District NationalPark and on the route betweenBuxton and Whalley Bridge drivingalong the Goyt Valley I saw some ofthe most fantastic views ever and Iwould recommend members to trythe same.

The Symposium was just as good asever and I always look forward to theopportunity to meet old and makenew acquaintances and this yearwas no exception. I think the organising team can feel very proudof themselves for such a well runevent. My feet, as small as they are,seem to have a problem with stairsand Shrigley Hall seems to have anabundance of them; after four days I lost count of how many times Itripped on them.

I am hoping for all of us that weenjoy a good Summer. The weatherof late has not been too good whichis perhaps a good thing in that I canget on with the accounts and notlook enviously at my wife sunbathing in the garden.

My regards to you all.Roger Hore,

BCS Administrator


BCS Admin Report

22nd Jul 2011 - 31st Aug 2011Out of the Shadows: MacDonald(‘Max’) Gill decorative mapposters and visual geniusUniversity Gallery. For the first timein many decades a wide range ofMax Gill’s extraordinary works willbe brought together through a pioneering exhibition at theUniversity of Brighton Gallery.Hosted by the University’s Faculty ofArts, it will display decorative mapsand other selected material. Openfrom 22 July, this rich visualpanorama will provide a long over-due opportunity to appreciate thework of a remarkable, influentialand multi-talented artist, designerand architect of the first half of thetwentieth century.

An important one-day symposium,drawing on a wide range of personal, professional and historical expertise in the field willbe held on 22 July to coincide withthe opening of the exhibition. Thiswill provide an opportunity to share,promote and encourage researchand scholarly activity about Max Gilland his work.You may also be interested in theblog post of the conservation andarchive team member on this exhibition project, Sirpa Kutilainen.Visit the diary/blog Conserving theArchive. Further enquiries about theexhibition and the symposiumshould be addressed to:Madeleine Meadows: [email protected]

The London Mapping Festival(LMF) 2011 – 2012Open to Everyone An 18 month programme of activities designed to promote the unique range of mapping, innovative technologies and applications that exist for theCapital. For more information see article onpage 19.For more information see: www.londonmappingfestival.org

Calendar

Calendar


Publicise your events on this page.Send your information through tothe Editors. See page 2 for new

details.

For more calendar entries visit theBCS web site:

www.cartography.org.uk/calendar.asp

Become a Fellow of the BritishCartographic Society.

Contact BCS Administration for further information.

5 – 7 September 2011 Society of Cartographers’ 47thAnnual Summer School Universityof Plymouth, UKFor more information see: http://soc2011.soc.org.uk/

17 September 2011 Dip Geog Reunion Putteridge BuryCampus, University ofBedfordshire, UK. The event commences 11am withbuffet lunch. £30 per head.For more information contact IanNancollas on:[email protected]

October 13, 2011London The Annual E.G.R. TaylorLecture will be held at 5.30 for6.30pm at Royal GeographicalSociety (with IBG), 1 KensingtonGore. Instruments, geography andscientific enquiry: guides to travellers and method in nineteenth-century Britain andFrance will be presented byCharles W. J. Withers, Professor ofHistorical Geography, Institute ofGeography, University of Edinburgh.In keeping with E G R Taylor’s interests in the history of geography, instrumentation andtravel, this illustrated lecture willexamine printed guides to travellers as they helped promotegeography as an emergent sciencein the nineteenth century, highlighting amongst others thework in the RGS of Julian Jacksonand William Hamilton. Drawingupon work in book history, geography and the history of science, the lecture will illuminatethe key but under-explored role ofinstruments and instrumental training in understanding geography’s many narratives ofexploration. Lecture tickets: LectureAttendance free, no bookingrequired. Supper tickets: £25.00must be purchased in advance (bymidday on 7 October) T: 020 7591 3100.

September 15, 2011Oxford In 1712, the antiquary anddiarist Thomas Hearne wasappointed Keeper of the AnatomySchool, now the main referencearea in the Lower Reading Room ofthe Bodleian Library. In 1721, hewrote a list of its contents, amongwhich was ‘A very odd mapp ofChina. Very large, & taken from Mr.Selden’s’. This is what we nowknow as the Selden Map of China.It was left to University of Oxfordby the London lawyer John Seldenin 1659, and has been famous asan interesting curiosity ever since.

Rana Mitter, Professor of theHistory and Politics of ModernChina, announces a Colloquiumabout the map 0930-1830 in theConvocation House, The BodleianLibrary. Attendance is free. To register, please email:[email protected].

7 – 8 September 2011How to do more with less: promoting and running a map collection in a time of austerityMap Curators’ Group (MCG)Annual Workshop Park Inn, York. How is your map collection succeeding with less money andfewer staff? Come and share yourpositive experiences with your colleagues!

The programme, which is to be confirmed, will include map collections:• using free software to enhancetheir user experience or improveefficiency,

• collaborating with other departments in their institutions,

• undertaking co-operative ventures with other institutionsin order to achieve results withreduced resources.

For more information see: www.cartography.org.uk

November 5, 2011 Paris The 10th edition of the ParisMap-fair will be held at the HotelAmbassador, 19, Bd Haussmann, inthe heart of Paris, just 2 minutesfrom the famous Opera Garnier andthe major department stores; andalso located not far fromMontmartre and the Louvre museum. The fair is organised bythe well-known antiquarian book andmap dealer Loeb-Larocque andAgnès Talec. The fair includesmaps, atlases, globes and a fineselection of travel books. With participants from France, UK, Spain,Italy, USA, Belgium and theNetherlands. There is a collectors/dealer dinner on Friday night.

‘Maps and Society’ LecturesLectures in the history of cartography convened by Catherine Delano-Smith (Institute of Historical Research, University of London), Tony Campbell (formerly Map Library, BritishLibrary), and Alessandro Scafi(Warburg Institute). Meetings areheld at the Warburg Institute,School of Advanced Study,University of London, WoburnSquare, London WC1H OAB, at 5.00 pm on selected Thursdays.Admission is free and each meetingis followed by refreshments. All aremost welcome.

Enquiries: 020 8346 5112(Catherine Delano-Smith) or TonyCampbell: [email protected] For the location, see the onlinemap provided by Streetmap (theWarburg Institute is by the S of‘Square’)

The Twenty-First seriesProgramme for 2011-2012:

November 3. Professor JeanBoutier (École des Hautes Étudesen Sciences Sociales, Marseille).Without Cassini: Colbert and hisProvincial Cartographers, 1660-1683.

December 1. Dr Emilie d’Orgeix(Department of History of Art,Michel de Montaigne-Bordeaux 3University). French ColonialMapping in the Americas, 1635-1776


Quiz – Discovery Walking Guides

1. Identify this equestrian statue inthe Trafalgar Square and tell us the importance of the plaque in the

ground behind it.

2. At approximately what scale isthe Eiffel Tower shown here?

4. Approximately how far off thevertical is the Leaning Tower

of Pisa?

3. This is the tower of FlorenceCathedral, the third largest

Christian church in the world. Whatare the first and second largest?

Our Quiz sponsor DavidBrawn is offering three setsof the newly published Tour &Trail Super-Durable Maps forAxarquia, Tenerife Hikers'Maps, La Palma and LaGomera, as prizes in

Maplines Quiz.

1

3

2

4

Documents

Maplines Summer 2011