Volume 23, Number 1 
Winter 2003

 
  • Words from the Chair 
  • CSG Business Meeting in New Orleans
  • Iraq Map Available from USGS
  • National Map Report
  • Careers in Cartography
  • Masters Thesis Research Grant Awards
    		•
  • Cartographic Perspectives Seeks Articles
  • 2003 Walter Ristow Prize
  • CSG Sponsored Sessions at AAG
  • Calendar
  • Newsletter Deadline
  • Address Changes
  • 2002-2003 CSG Officers
    		•

    Return to Other Newsletters

    Words from the Chair

    Rex Cammack
    It has been a long road for the name change for the Cartography Specialty Group and I would like to use my final message as chair to address this issue.Back at least four years ago members of the CSG suggested adding visualization to the name of the group.I was in a small group of colleagues when I first heard the idea.Everyone in the group had a different opinion on the subject.Some in the group were passionate about making the change.Some felt it was the last chance for cartography to maintain its importance and others thought that making the change was insignificant. My first opinion was "better safe than sorry" and changing the name would protect the status of cartography within the AAG.Since that first discussion, I have been involved in numerous discussions about this issue and the related topic of the current health of cartography today.During the debate, pro and con papers from Jeremy Crampton and Keith Clarke respectfully, added to the debate by carefully demonstrating the merits of their points of view.In the end with this collection of ideas and debate, I have come to the realization that the name change itself was not the most important thing.The single most important issue was the synergy of ideas that came from the process.Open discourse and debate can lead to community development and internal enlightenment.For myself I have an improved understanding of visualization and its underpinning in regards to cartography.Visualization is a part of cartography.Visualization is important to the cartographers and their craft.Yet does it merit having a title role?For me, after all this dialog and debate, I remain in favor of cartography by itself.

    With my role as Chair of CSG, I should not and will not dictate that no name change will take place, so I started the process of having the name change added to this year's ballot. In order to change the name of the specialty group, the membership must amend the CSG constitution.The process for creating amendments is defined within the constitution.The first step is to have the board of directors form the proposed amendment and vote on it.The board of directors is made up of the Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary/Treasurer, Non-academic director, two academic directors, and student director.All constitutional amendments must receive 5 votes in favor to be placed on the ballot.The vote was three for and three against with one vote uncounted.Since the amendment failed to receive five votes it was not placed on this year's ballot.Although the name change did not receive the sufficient votes to be placed on the ballot, it is important to recognize that the dialog leading to this vote was beneficial to the CSG.Challenging questions such as a name change are important for the vitality of the CSG.The forum and means of discourse between members on such issues will only strengthen the foundation for the CSG.

    In closing, I would be remiss if I did not to thank the outgoing members of the board of directors.Trudy Suchan has been the non-academic director for the pass 2 years and has worked hard on CSG research grant program.Alison Feeney is completing her last year of outstanding service as academic director.Jason Kostelnick is doing and excellent job helping to organized the CSG, GIS and Remote Sensing Student poster competition.Matt McGranaghan has successful complete his tour of duty as past chair and has served CSG diligently for three years.The CSG tips their collective hats to all for their excellent work.In New Orleans Judith Tyner will assume the duties of chair.Lawrence Handley will continue as Treasurer and Secretary and Robert Maxwell Beavers will serve as academic director and newsletter editor.Both have done an exceptional job and are great to work with.For myself I am looking forward to sliding into the past chair position with all the perks that position entails.One of them being that I am looking for volunteers to run for offices in 2004 -2005, it's never too early to start a campaign.

    Hope to see everyone in the BIG EASY.
     

    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 

    CSG BUSINESS MEETING IN NEW ORLEANS


    The annual CSG Business Meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday, March 5th, 7:30 to 8:30 pm as part of the annual meeting of the Association of American Geographers in New Orleans, LA.Please join us as we meet to summarize events and discussions over the past year and to make plans for the upcoming year.Check your program for room and schedule changes.

    IRAQ MAP AVAILABLE FROM USGS

    Joseph Kerski

    An Iraq Map has recently been released by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA), and is available to the public for $10.00(US) plus handling. Quantities are limited and the USGS may obtain the digital files of the map from NIMA for future printing. (This could result in a price change). I examined a copy of this map this week and it is quite interesting; the map includes insets, something rare on a NIMA map.

    The stock number is #114341.

    The map includes portions of the surrounding countries ofSaudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Cyprus,Lebanon, Israel and Turkey.

    Print Date: 2002
    Dimensions: 34"(H) x 60"(W) Survey Date: 2001
    Contour Interval: VARIES, BY SHADED TINT
    Contour Units: METERS
    Language: ENGLISH
    Horizontal Datum: WGS 1984
    Vertical Datum: MEAN SEA LEVEL
    Scale: 1:2 million

    Insets are:
    1) (Regional) Holy Sites,
    2) Iraq Holy Sites,
    3) Iraq Provinces,
    4) Kurdish Region,
    5) Southern Marsh Region,
    6) Power Infrastructure,
    7) Oil Industry,
    8) Distances between Iraq Population Centers in miles,
    9) Distances between Iraq Population Centers in km.

    The map also portrays boundaries, populated places,transportation, etc.

    For questions about this and other NIMA products contact:

    USGS Information Services
    Box 25286
    Denver, CO 80225
    Fax 303-202-4693
    1-888-ASK-USGS

    NATIONAL MAP REPORT

    Keith C. Clarke, of the University of California, Santa Barbara recently chaired a Committee for the National Academy of Sciences that reviewed the USGS Concept of the National Map. The committee activities included a workshop at the academy, held last September, that provided input to the committees process. The preliminary report was released February 3rd, 2003, and is available on the NAS website at http://www.nas.edu.

    CAREERS IN CARTOGRAPHY AND GIS BROCHURE

    The Cartographic and Geographic Information Society (CaGIS) is updating its Careers in Cartography and GIS brochure, which can be found on their website:
    http://www.acsm.net/cagis/CaGISCareerWeb/index.html

    This brochure is for students considering cartography and GIS careers, and is published by the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM) and CaGIS.


    MAPS AND THE INTERNET SYMPOSIUM/WORKSHOP, South Africa Aug. 5-7, 2003 

    Michael Peterson

    The Maps and the Internet Commission of the International Cartographic Association (http://maps.unomaha.edu/ica) will hold its annual meeting in Stellenbosch, South Africa, prior to the International Cartographic Conference (ICC) in Durban, South Africa (http://www.icaci.org/).The meeting will be held at the University of Stellenbosch near Capetown, South Africa, on Aug. 5-7.The ICC conference follows August 10-16.

    The meeting in Stellenbosch will consist of both a symposium and a hands-on workshop.The symposium will consist of paper presentations. Ideally, these presentations should be associated with the workshop to be held on the last day of the conference, August 7.Abstracts (500 words) are being accepted through April 30th for either the symposium or the workshop.Abstracts should either propose both a 15 minute symposium presentation and 1 hour hands-on workshop, or a 25 minute symposium presentation.

    Stellenbosch is the oldest town in South Africa after CapeTown.It is one of the most scenic and historically well- preserved towns in Southern Africa, characterized by Cape Dutch, Victorian and Georgian architecture.The city is situated in a magnificent mountain valley and boasts a mild Mediterranean climate.Forty-five minutes from Cape Town,Stellenbosch is the center of the country's wine industry.

    Abstracts are being accepted through April 30, 2003. Please send abstacts to Michael Peterson at geolib@unomaha.edu.


    MASTER'S THESIS RESEARCH GRANT AWARDS AND CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

    Trudy Suchan
    November 1 is the next application deadline for theMaster's Thesis Research Grant Program. We have not received any applications yet this year and it would be apleasure 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 andprofessional journal of the North American CartographicInformation Society, publishes papers on contemporarytheoretical and practical issues about maps. Recentpublications 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 website 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

    THE 2003 WALTER W. RISTOW PRIZE IN THE HISTORY OF CARTOGRAPHY AND MAP LIBRARIANSHIP

    Steven J. Vogel


    The Walter W. Ristow Prize seeks to recognize achievement in cartographic history and map librarianship and is offered annually by the Washington Map Society.

    Who May Apply: The competition is open to all full or part-time upper-level undergraduate, graduate andfirst-year postdoctoral students attending accreditedcolleges or universities.

    Entry Criteria: Entries are to be research papers orbibliographic studies related to cartographic historyand/or map librarianship. In the case of undergraduate and graduate students, the entries shall have been completed in fulfillment of requirements for course work.A short edition of a longer paper is permitted; papers of shorter length have been highly competitive.The text may not exceed 7,500 words, in English.Papers must be fully documented in a style of the author's choice (endnotes preferred).Inclusion of clear graphics supporting the paper is appreciated.

    Deadline: Entries must be postmarked by June 1, 2003 and sent to
    Bert Johnson, Ristow Prize
    2101 Huntington Avenue
    Alexandria, VA 22303-1547
    USA.

    Format: Entries must be submitted in four unbound copies with appropriate title page and cover sheet.The cover sheet must include the entrant's name, address, telephone number(s), and e-mail address (if available) for timely contact.Please be certain that identifying material does not appear on any page except for the cover sheet.

    Judging Criteria: Entries will be judged on three broad criteria: importance of research, (e.g., originality,sources); quality of research (e.g., accuracy, sourcereliability); quality of writing (e.g., clarity, command ofcartographic terms).

    Judging Methods: Entries will be assessed by three judges of suitable cartographic background.Judges will receive anonymous copies of entries, read them independently, and report their assessments to a collator.

    The Award: The winner will receive $1000 (increased this year), a one-year membership in the Washington Map Society, and the paper will be published in The Portolan, the journal of the Washington Map Society.

    Walter W. Ristow, co-founder and first president of theWashington Map Society, is Chief, Emeritus of the Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress.

    For further information about the RISTOW PRIZE contact Bert Johnson at the above address or at mandraki@erols.com.For information about the Washington Map Society contact
    Stacy Hoppen, Membership Chair
    P.O. Box 15530
    Washington, DC 20003
    USA;
    (stacyhoppen@hotmail.com),
    or
    http://www.washmap.org.

    2002 Ristow Prize Winners:
      First Place

    Gary Spur, a graduate student at the University of Texas at Arlington, for his paper entitled "Maps of Conquest: Indian and Spanish Maps of Mesoamerica"
    Honorable Mention
    Rushika Hage, a graduate student at the University of Minnesota, for her paper entitled "The Island Book of Hendricus Martellus: ChartingLands Known and Unknown"


    CSG SPONSORED SESSIONS AT AAG 2003

    Spatialization I
     Wednesday, March 5, 1:00-2:40 pm
    Organizers: Sara Fabrikant, Andre Skupin
    Chairs: Andre Skupin
      Guoray Cai, "Spatial metaphors for visualizing similarities of textual documents"
      Katy Borner, "Towards a Cartographic Map that Shows the Evolution of Knowledge Domains"
      Sara Fabrikant, "Distance and Similarity in Semantic Networks"

    Spatialization II
     Wednesday, March 5,3:00-4:40 pm
    Organizers: Sara Fabrikant, Andre Skupin
    Chairs: Sara Fabrikant
     Marco Ruocco, "Landscape information, cognition and visualization: towards a theory of camera motion over landscape"
      William Pike, "Concept visualization for web-based group collaboration"
      Andre Skupin, "Going SOMwhere?"

    Illustrated Paper Session: Geographic Visualization
     Wednesday, March 5, 3:00-4:40 pm
    Organizers: Scott White, Robert Maxwell Beavers
    Chairs: Scott White, Robert Maxwell Beavers
      Robert M. Beavers, "Leavin' Me Blue for Dixie: Representations of Poverty in Alabama"
      Carol A. Gersmehl, "Use of School District Census for
    Urban GIS Analysis"
      Teresa Howard, "Playa Basin Characterization through Visualization"
      Scott White, "Visualizing Streamflow Patterns and Discharge during a Large Flooding Event"

    RSSG, GISSG and CSG Illustrated Paper Student
    Competition Session One
     Thursday, March 6, 8:00-9:40 am
    Organizers: L. Monika Moskal
    Chairs: L. Monika Moskal, John C. Kostelnick
      John Van Hoesen, "Predicting the spatial distribution of perennial snow and ice in the interior Great Basin,
    Southwestern U.S."
      Haiyan Yang, "The Influence of National Flood Insurance Program to Coastal Development in Texas"
      Brian Wardlow, "An Agricultural Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) Mapping Protocol for the U.S. Central Great Plains Region"
      Derek M. Burgess, "Classification of Salt Water Marshes from CASI and LIDAR - Bolivar Peninsula, Texas"
      Kin M. Ma, "Classification methods comparison of Michigan Landsat images (1975-2000) and land use
    change analysis"
      Feng Qi, "Knowledge Discovery from Natural Resource Maps"
      Matt D. Dunbar, "Quantifying, assessing and visualizing 60 years of forest cover change in northeastern Kansas"

    RSSG, GISSG and CSG Illustrated Paper Student
    Competition Session Two
     Thursday, March 6, 10:00-11:40 am
    Organizer: L. Monika Moskal
    Chairs: L. Monika Moskal, John C. Kostelnick
      Jason Manning Ardoin, "GIS Models of the Archaic Mounds at Watson Brake and Caney in Northeast
    Louisiana"
      Julie Hwang, "Applying Artificial Intelligence Methodology to Geo-referencing with Imperfect Information"
      Chuanrong Zhang, "Using GML Build an Feature Oriented Database for Conservation of Lunan Stone Forest Landscape"
      Mark Fedders, "Validation of an ASTER DEM in a Flat Area"
      John Rogan, " A comparison of machine learning algorithms for land cover monitoring"
      Pragya Agarwal, "Mapping proximity relations in urban environments"
      Brian R. Sims, "Assessment of Interpolation Methods and Spatial Resolutions on Urban Digital Surface Models Derived from LiDAR"
     
    Maps and the Internet
     Thursday, March 6, 1:00-2:40 pm
    Organizers: Michael P. Peterson, Rex G. Cammack
    Chair: Rex G. Cammack
      Tara M. Koman, "Wastewater System Management and Web-GIS Technology Integration"
      Michael P. Peterson, "The Development and Distribution of Frequently Updated Maps"
      Rex G. Cammack, "Paper Maps: The Newest User
    Interface for Spatial Information Across the Internet and Wireless Networks"
      Ming-Hsiang Tsou, "Integrated Mobile GIS and Wireless Internet Map Servers for Environmental Monitoring and Management"

    Calendar

    2003

    February 22-24, 2003.
    International Conference on National and Regional Atlases.Kolkata, West Bengal, INDIA.

    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.

    May 27-31, 2003.
    Joint annual meeting of Association of Canadian Map Libraries and Archives (ACMLA), Canadian Association of Geographers (CAG), Canadian Cartographic Association (CCA), and Canadian Regional Science Association (CRSA).
    Victoria, British Columbia.
    http://office.geog.uvic.ca/ontheedge2003/index.html

    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
     


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