Volume #, Number #

Why Cartography in the Future?

What to advise a cartography student about the future? This question many be weighing heavy on many members at this time with early registration for spring classes just around the corner. Cartography Specialty Group (CSG) members working outside of academics may also be wondering about the same issue in lieu of GIS certification and other workplace issues. The CSG as a whole can ask itself the same question when facing the facts that membership in the group has dropped from a high of around 682 in 1989 to 451 in 2000*.   In the October Jobs in Geography section of the AAG Newsletter, cartography is only listed in 9 of the 59 advertisements (15.25%)**. Considering these points, one could suggest the future for cartography is bleak. The end of cartography has arrived, when the last manual cartographer puts down his pens and X-ACTO knives, the era is over. Oh yes, we might have people taking up the practice to demonstrate how it was done (like Civil War re-enactors) but the functional era of cartography will have come to an end.

A pessimistic view of the current state of cartography in the discipline and the industry could foster this conclusion but it is a false conclusion. The future of cartography is bright and it up to CSG and professionals to demonstrate it to the public. Cartography is not dead and its theoretical foundation and concepts are as important today and into the future as they were 25 to 2,500 years ago. Why should anyone believe this?   Let's revisit the facts above. The AAG currently has 54 specialty groups and Cartography ranks 6th in total membership currently. Yes, it is true that CSG was either the 1st or 2nd   largest group for most of its' existence, but to remain in the top ten means that a significant number of members still believe that cartography has a unique merit within geography. The number of academic positions listing cartography** within its advertisement is higher than many other systematic specialties. Academic departments advertising in the AAG Newsletters are still seeking individuals who can educate future generations in cartographic principles. Cartographers should see these points as positives.

Outside the AAG, cartographers have seen reasons for being positive about the future.   URISA's GIS certification program and NASA's GIS workforces review have many positives for cartography. For both organizations, cartography is a critical factor.   Does cartography dominate here? No! But it is important to understand that cartography has been recognized as having an important role in the future development for GIS professions.

The role of cartography in the AAG and GIS profession is significant, but I think cartography needs to gather its primary strength from within. One of the internal strengths for cartography is the fact that more maps are being made today than in any other time in history. The World Wide Web brought about this incredible growth in map production. Companies like MapQuest, Vicinity and I-MAPS are creating maps for companies and individuals at astonishing rates.

Map production numbers gives cartography one reason for optimism. New areas for cartographic research are another reason to be positive. One of the biggest challenges for academia, and cartography as a whole, is implementing all the new tools for cartography. Technologies such as SVG, GML, XML, PHP, WAP, WIFI and Bluetooth are adding a whole new set of possibilities for cartographers to improve the communication and visualization of Geospatial data. As cartographers look forward to the future, mapping applications such as location based services through wireless networking and distributed virtual reality visualization hold a great promise for research and discovery.

The technological and professional premises discussed above give justification to advise the next generation of cartographers to go further and seek new and exciting challenges in cartography. But one of the simple parts of cartography carries more weight than all the others. The foundation of cartography and all its history is based on the MAP. Cartographers are the caretakers of the map. The original intellectual act of affixing spatial information on a surface so that others could see, understand and explore its meaning is one of the greatest actions of humanity.   The map holds a similar standing to writing, language, arts, and mathematics. Hopefully, you as members of the CSG see that cartography has a future for many reasons.   As president, I have endeavored to express why I see a bright future for cartography. As a group, it is our responsibility to help lead others in their use of the map within humanity.

* The membership numbers are bases on data from the AGG office for years 1987 to 2000.
** In the Jobs in Geography Newsletter several of the advertisements counted in the 9 of 59 listed geocomputation and geovisualization. These terms were counted as part of the cartography total.

Rex G. Cammack
rexcammack@smsu.edu
Department of Geography, Geology and Planning
Southwest Missouri State University
901 S. National Ave
Springfield, MO 65804
(417) 836-5173

ICC DURBAN 2003 CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

Judy Olson
USNC-ICA Chair

The next International Cartographic Conference will be in Durban, South Africa, 10-16 August, 2003. People in the area of geographic information and display are invited to submit abstracts (300-500 words) to the Local Organizing Committee. Abstracts must be received by 31 October, 2002.

Any U.S. participant who wants to apply for funding for the conference from the U. S. National Committee (USNC) for ICA must send a copy of the abstract BOTH to the Durban Local Organizing Committee AND to the U.S. National Committee. E-mail, mail, and fax are all acceptable:

Local Organizing Committee, ICC 2003

Attn: Prof. H. L. Zietsman
Department of Geography and Environmental Studies
University of Stellenbosch
Private Bag X1
Matieland, 7602 South Africa
e-mail: icc@maties.sun.ac.za
fax: +27 21 808-2405

USNC-ICA

Attn: Judy Olson
314 Nat Sci Bldg (Geography)
Michigan State University
E. Lansing, MI 48824
e-mail: olsonj@msu.edu
fax 517-432-1671

Students submitting abstracts should have submitted an application to the ESRI/IGIF fund http://www.igif.org as well as to the USNC-ICA to maximize chances of an award, to maximize the amount of awards, and to spread USNC dollars that may be available. It is not, however a requirement if you have missed the ESRI/IGIF deadline (Sept. 1).

Funding by USNC is contingent upon the success of grant applications and fundraising efforts. USNC made travel awards to over 30 participants in the last ICC (Beijing 2001), with young scholars receiving higher numbers of awards and higher levels of funding. Awards ranged from $650-$1500 for Beijing; we hope for higher high-end awards for Durban.

The full Call for Papers for ICC 2003 appears on the web page of the Local Organizing Committee http://www.icc2003.gov.za . A backup copy can be found at http://www.msu.edu/~olsonj/ica/papers.htm .

If you would like to be on the mailing list for infrequent but critical messages direct from USNC, please write to me at olsonj@msu.edu .

Please share this information generously. We are especially concerned about reaching students, scholars with Phds within the last 10 years, minorities, persons with disabilities, and women.

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS 2003-2004

Matt McGranaghan

The 2002-2003 Cartography Specialty Group Nominations Committee requests nominees for the following offices up
for election:

     Vice Chair (2003-2004)
     Academic Director (2003-2005)
     Non-Academic Director (2003-2005)
     Student Director (2003-2004)

Continuing officers for the coming year include Judith Tyner (who will be come the new chair), Lawrence Handley (secretary/treasurer through 2004), Max Beavers (Academic Director through 2004), and Rex Cammack (who will become the Past Chair).

Please contact Matt McGranaghan by December 1, 2002 to suggest possible candidates:

CSG-SPONSORED SESSIONS AT AAG 2003

A preliminary list of CSG sponsored sessions at the AAG annual meeting in New Orleans (March 5-8, 2003) will be distributed via CSG listserv when it becomes available around the end of October.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC WINS BRITISH CARTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY AWARDS

David Miller

National Geographic Maps received two awards on September 13, 2002, at the annual meeting of the British Cartographic Society in Portsmouth, England:

Antarctica: A New Age of Exploration, supplement to the February 2002 issue of National Geographic magazine, won the John Bartholomew Award "for excellence in thematic cartography." The map was designed by Bob Pratt, researched by Kristine French and Linda Kriete, and produced by Dianne Hunt and Steve Wells.

Afghanistan: Land in Crisis, a December 2001supplement, received a third-place award in this prestigious competition. David Miller, Senior Editor, National Geographic Maps, and Valerie Mattingley, United Kingdom Representative, accepted the award certificates and an engraved silver tray for National Geographic.

The awards ceremony took place on the gun deck of the H.M.S. Warrior, a 19th century British warship, amid the two-ton guns and other Royal Navy artifacts. The certificates will be framed and displayed at the Washington offices of National Geographic Maps. The silver tray which rules say cannot leave Britain will be displayed at the headquarters of the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge, England. The British Antarctic Survey was a major contributor to the success of Antarctica: A New Age of Exploration.

For more about National Geographic Maps, please visit
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/maps

MASTER'S THESIS RESEARCH GRANT AWARDS AND CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

Trudy Suchan

November 1 is the next application deadline for the Master's Thesis Research Grant Program. We have not received any applications yet this year and it would be a pleasure to make award(s) if good applications are received this fall. These grants are available to masters students working on cartographic research and who are enrolled in a geography degree program. Grants are available to $300 and may be used for items necessary to research such as travel, materials, equipment, and human subject fees.

An application form can be obtained from the Non-Academic Director (contact information follows). The student also will submit a three-page description of the research plan. Three people review each research plan and provide valuable commentary to the student on the proposal whether funded or not. Other deadlines for submission are March 15 and June 15 of each year. For more details on the program, go to

http://www.csun.edu/~hfgeg003/csg/master.html.

Trudy Suchan
CSG Non-Academic Director
U.S. Census Bureau
4700 Silver Hill Road, Stop 8800
Washington, D.C. 20233-8800
(301) 457-2419
trudy.a.suchan@census.gov

CARTOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES SEEKS ARTICLES

Scott Freundschuh

Cartographic Perspectives (CP), the academic and professional journal of the North American Cartographic Information Society, publishes papers on contemporary theoretical and practical issues about maps. Recent publications include papers on the production of maps, map use, historical maps, political and social cartography, spatial cognition and maps, geo visualization and maps, novel ideas for map design, map use and education, participatory mapping, and the like. Visit the NACIS web site at http://www.nacis.org for examples of recent publications.

CP is a fully refereed journal, published three times a year. Reviews are double blind. The goal of the editorial board of CP is to review and return manuscripts to authors within a 6 week period, and try to publish papers within 6 months of receiving them. If you are interested in using CP as an outlet for your research, please send your manuscript in digital form to Scott Freundschuh at sfreund@d.umn.edu An attached WORD document is most desirable.Otherwise, send 4 copies of your paper to:

Scott Freundschuh, Editor
Department of Geography
University of Minnesota
Duluth, MN 55812

NACIS MEETING IN COLUMBUS

The 22nd annual meeting of the North American Cartographic Information Society (NACIS) was held in Columbus, Ohio from October 9-12, 2002. The opening speaker for the conference, Paul Robbins of The Ohio State University Department of Geography, discussed residential politics of lawn care in the United States; and Mark Monmonier discussed the growing use of geospatial technolgies for public and private surveillance during the conference banquet on Friday evening. The conference featured fifteen different paper sessions covering a broad
array of topics, including automated map production, alternative cartographies, history of cartography, cartography education, visualization, map design, municipal GIS applications, geographic information management, interactive and animated mapping, geospatial data resources, cartographic research, internet mapping, and the intersection between cartography and GIS. In addition, a panel discussed future directions of
NACIS, cartography, and GIS. Workshops on cartographic production in Macromedia Flash, map design in ArcMAP 8, and evaluation of shaded relief software were offered on Saturday. The NACIS conference provided an exceptional forum for cartography and GIS professionals across a wide spectrum of government, academic, and private mapping organizations.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY CARTOGRAPHY AWARD

David Miller & Max Beavers

Undergraduate students and master's-degree candidates are invited to apply for the 22nd annual National Geographic Award in Cartography. This award recognizes student achievement in the art, science, and technology of mapping and seeks to encourage student research. The award consists of a U.S. $1,200 prize and National Geographic map products.

Students receiving the award will be announced at the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers (AAG) in New Orleans, Louisiana, March 4-8, 2003. This award is administered through the AAG Cartography Specialty Group (CSG).

How to Apply
Please include the following items in one envelope or package:
A statement of how this award would help you with your educational plans: Please type this on one sheet of paper and include your name, address, phone number, social security number, and cartography/GIS instructor's name.

An example and a brief description of a recent map or mapping project that you have done: Maps done in both 2002 and 2003 are eligible. This is a great way to make class projects pay off.

Copies of your transcripts official or unofficial. Please note that current National Geographic Society interns are not eligible for this award.

Questions? Please contact:

David Miller
Awards Coordinator
National Geographic Maps
Washington, DC 20036-4688
E-mail: dmiller@ngs.org

Entries must be postmarked by February 4, 2003.

Please send entries to:

Max Beavers
Chair, CSG Awards Committee
Department of Geography
Samford University
Birmingham, Alabama 35229
E-mail: RMBeaver@samford.edu

ATLAS OF OREGON NOW AVAILABLE ON CD

The Atlas of Oregon has been released on CD, featuring original maps and graphics from the print version in an interactive and animated format. This atlas includes more than 1,000 color maps, charts, and graphs covering a diversity of topics including geology, agriculture, economics, industry, technology, history, recreation, and transportation. This multimedia atlas maintains the cartographic design elegance of the original print version while serving the information through an efficient and unobtrusive interface. For more information about the Atlas of Oregon CD-ROM (edited by James E. Meacham and Erik B. Steiner) contact:

     University of Oregon Press
     http://www.uopress.com
     866-672-8527

HISTORIC MAPS IN K-12 CLASSROOMS

James Akerman

The Hermon Dunlap Smith Center for the History of Cartography at the Newberry Library is seeking elementary and secondary school teachers nationwide to test in the classroom a preliminary version of it new educational web site, "Historic Maps in K-12 Classrooms." The site uses original historic maps to teach the geographic dimensions of American History. When it is publicly launched in 2003, it will include images of
maps and other documents dating from the 15th to 20th centuries drawn from the renowned collections of the Newberry Library. Activities based on these maps will explore six major themes in American historical geography: discovery and encounter, migration and settlement, environmental history, transportation and communication, political and military geography, and the geography of communities. Macromedia Flash technology will allow users to pan around and zoom in on map images. Historical background and commentary on the map, supplemental images, interactive student exercises, and lesson plans appropriate for different grade levels (K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12) will accompany each map. Designed to accommodate a variety of K-12 curricula, these materials will exploit the particular ability of historic maps to excite students' imagination of past landscapes, events, and human geographical conditions.

The project staff would be delighted to make contact with teachers of all grade levels who are willing to test the site in their classrooms at any time through December 15, 2002. Interested teachers should register as a teacher-tester by submitting their name, the name and mailing address of their school, the grades and subjects they teach, and their e-mail address to:

     The Hermon Dunlap Smith Center
     The Newberry Library
     60 W Walton Street
     Chicago IL 60610
     smithctr@newberry.org (email)

or register on-line at http://www.newberry.org/K12.
Teachers not wishing to register at this time may visit the above site for more information or contact us at 312-255-3659.

NEW RESOURCE FROM USGS

Joseph Kerski

The USGS just published the following resource that I believe is an incredible value (at $7 + $5 for shipping) and utility for geography education, even if you teach outside of South Dakota. The Atlas of Water Resources in the Black Hills Area contains photographs, text, and diagrams about all sorts of topics--watersheds, aquifers, hazardous waste, and much, much more. It is one of the best USGS publications I have ever seen.

The Black Hills area is an important resource center that provides an economic base for western South Dakota through tourism, agriculture, the timber industry, and mineral resources. In addition, water originating from the area is used for municipal, industrial, agricultural, and recreational purposes throughout much of western South Dakota. The Black Hills area also is an important recharge area for aquifers in the northern Great Plains.

Population growth, resource development, and periodic droughts have the potential to affect the quantity, quality, and availability of water within the Black Hills area. Growth has resulted in competing interests for available water supplies. The Black Hills Hydrology Study was initiated in 1990 to address these concerns. This long-term study is a cooperative effort between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and the West Dakota Water Development District, which represents various local and county cooperators.

To order:
1 888 ASK USGS or
ask@usgs.gov or
303-202-4700

ACSM 30TH ANNUAL MAP DESIGN COMPETITION

The purpose of these awards is to promote interest in map design and to recognize significant design advances in cartography. The competition is open to all map-makers in the United States and Canada. Noted cartographers and designers judge the entries based on the following criteria:color, overall design and impression, craftsmanship, and typography. Entries will be displayed at a number of other national and international professional functions and will then become part of the permanent collection of the U.S. Library of Congress. Note that this competition is for map design, so judging will be based on cartographic design criteria, such as creativity, text (spelling and grammar, too), balance, unity, clarity, use of color, title, and subject matter. Students are particularly encouraged to apply for the NGS award. The deadline for this year's competition is January 15, 2003. Maps completed during 2002 are eligible. Each award is described below.

Professional Category
Best of Show
Best of Category:

     Thematic   A map or series of maps on a single
     sheet designed around a specific thematic purpose
     not described above, i.e. analytical, educational,
     historical, illustrative, scientific, topographic,
     travel maps.

     Book/Atlas   Any book or atlas containing
     original cartographic products.

     Reference   A map or series of related maps on a
     single sheet designed specifically for political
     and/or physical reference, without any other
     specific thematic content.

Series A map or series of related maps on
multiple sheets.

     Other   Unique, whimsical, or difficult to
     categorize maps.

Student Category

National Geographic Society Award for Best Student Map Design:
     The competition is open to all student map-
     makers in the United States and Canada who have
     completed and/or published the submitted map
     during 2002.

Submit three copies of entries in the Professional category and two in the Student category. The fees are $10 per
student map and $20 per professional map. The entry form is available at: www.acsm.net/mapentryform.pdf.

Please send entries to:

ACSM Map Competition
6 Montgomery Village Avenue
Suite 403
Gaithersburg, MD 20879
For further information call (240) 632-9716 ext.109.

Calendar

2002 - 2003

November 20, 2002.
GIS Day 2002.
http://www.gisday.com

March 2-5, 2003.
Geospatial Information and Technology Association Conference.
San Antonio.
http://www.gita.org

March 4-8, 2003.
Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting.
New Orleans.
http://www.aag.org/

March 29-April 2, 2003.
American Congress on Surveying and Mapping Conference.
Phoenix.

July 7-11, 2003.
ESRI International User Conference.
San Diego.
http://www.esri.com/events/uc/

August 10-16, 2003.
International Cartographic Conference.
Durban, South Africa.
http://www.icc2003.gov.za
http://www.msu.edu/~olsonj/ica/papers.htm

October 8-11, 2003.
North American Cartographic Information Society Annual Meeting.
Jacksonville.
http://www.nacis.org/meetings.html

Newsletter Deadline

Submission of items for the CSG newsletter must be
received by January 31st for the winter issue. Please send
articles and calendar items to:

     Max Beavers
     Department of Geography
     Samford University
     Birmingham, Alabama 35229
     rmbeaver@samford.edu

Address Changes

The CSG receives its email addresses and mailing labels from AAG Headquarters. Changes or corrections to the mailing list should be sent to:

Director of Membership
Association of American Geographers
1710 Sixteenth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20009-3198
address@aag.org

2002-2003 CSG Officers

Chair (2002-2003)
Rex Cammack
Department of Geography, Geology, and Planning
Southwest Missouri State University
Springfield, Missouri 65804
rexcammack@cart1.smsu.edu

Vice-Chair (2002-2003)
Judith Tyner
Department of Geography
California State University, Long Beach
Long Beach, California 90840
jztyner@csulb.edu

Secretary/Treasurer (2002-2004)
Lawrence Handley
U.S. Geological Survey
National Wetlands Research Center
700 Cajundome Boulevard
Lafayette, Louisiana 70506
Larry_Handley@usgs.gov

Academic Director (2002-2004)
Robert Maxwell Beavers
Department of Geography
Samford University
Birmingham, Alabama 35229
RMBeaver@samford.edu

Academic Director (2001-2003)
Alison Feeney
Geography Earth Science Department
Shippensburg University
Shippensburg, Pennsylvania 17257
AEPhil@wharf.ship.edu

Non-Academic Director (2001-2003)
Trudy Suchan
United States Census Bureau
4700 Silver Hill Road, Stop 8800
Washington, DC 20233-8800
trudy.a.suchan@census.gov

Student Director (2002-2003)
John Kostelnick
Department of Geography
University of Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas 66045
kostel@ku.edu

Past Chair (2002-2003)
Matt McGranaghan
Department of Geography
University of Hawai'i at Manoa
2424 Maile Way
Honolulu, Hawaii 96822
matt@hawaii.edu

Newsletter Editor
Robert Maxwell Beavers
Department of Geography
Samford University
Birmingham, Alabama 35229
RMBeaver@samford.edu

Return to Top